{"id":342208,"date":"2025-11-27T19:22:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T16:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dana.nwar.uk\/sa\/kenwoods-girls-basketball-team-ready-to-defend-its-class-4a-championship\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T19:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T16:22:42","slug":"kenwoods-girls-basketball-team-ready-to-defend-its-class-4a-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/kenwoods-girls-basketball-team-ready-to-defend-its-class-4a-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenwood\u2019s girls basketball team ready to defend its Class 4A championship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Even with only one returning starter and a younger roster, Kenwood\u2019s goal is the same.<\/p>\n

\u201dWin city and state,\u201d senior guard Danielle Brooks said Monday.<\/p>\n

The Broncos graduated seven seniors from their Class 4A championship team last season, so this will largely be a new group. Senior guard Amillya Henigan will likely step into a larger role, and Kenwood picked up transfer forward Darryelle Smith from Fenwick.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Danielle have played against each other, played with each other, so she knows my style and I know her style,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Coach Andre Lewis said it has been interesting and exciting to embrace the challenge of building something new. The Broncos benefitted from continuity last season. The players more or less had a sense of how everyone liked to play, which isn\u2019t the case right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of talented kids,\u201d Lewis said. \u201dWe\u2019re a deeper team. We don\u2019t know from a standpoint of who\u2019s going to do what besides our backcourt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks will be a big part of what Kenwood does. Last season, she drew attention as one of the best scorers in the area. Now, however, she\u2019ll be relied upon as a veteran who has experienced winning a state championship.<\/p>\n

Brooks has committed to UIC because of her bond with coach Ashleen Bracey. With that taken care of, she can now focus solely on her final high school season.<\/p>\n

\u201dI know everybody is expecting what I\u2019m going to do,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s going to come at me (because) I was one of the starters last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks is the one known quantity for the Broncos. After her, the team is filled with talented players who haven\u2019t proven themselves on the varsity level.<\/p>\n

Lewis said freshman forward Zaire Lester will start. She\u2019ll bring an imposing interior presence as a shot-blocker but also can provide some offensive punch as a shooter. Freshman center Janiah Daniel will bring a similar pick-and-pop element and is also able to handle the ball.<\/p>\n

Having frontcourt players who can play in space is a luxury at the high school level, but it\u2019s necessary for the Broncos, who like to space out defenses and attack the basket.<\/p>\n

Kenwood will open the season Tuesday against St. Ignatius, which finished as the Class 3A runner-up last season. It\u2019ll be a good early-season test for the Broncos to see how they match up against a formidable foe.<\/p>\n

Lewis regularly packs Kenwood\u2019s schedule with stiff competition. The Broncos will also face Loyola, Phillips, Benet, Batavia, Naperville Central and Homewood-Flossmoor in their first nine games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to seeing how we play and if we can execute against an opponent in a hostile environment,\u201d Lewis said. \u201dHow do we manage that? Can we stay focused? Can we stay disciplined? Can we execute what we want to do and play how we want to play? Can we impose our will?\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks\u2019 leadership will be key in that regard. She is reserved by nature but will be thrust into a more vocal role this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s talking with everybody,\u201d Lewis said. \u201dShe talks more with the coaching staff, as well. So just that communication thing, she\u2019s doing much more than she ever has.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Even with only one returning starter and a younger roster, Kenwood\u2019s goal is the same. \u201dWin city and state,\u201d senior guard Danielle Brooks said Monday. The Broncos graduated seven seniors from their Class 4A championship team last season, so this will largely be a new group. Senior guard Amillya Henigan will likely step into a [\u2026]<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[24400],"class_list":["post-342208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1","tag-fuck-my-wife"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}