Region: 7-AAAAAA
Coach: Ashley Clanton
2024-24 record: 22-6, Second Round Class AAAAAA State playoffs
Returning regulars:
G A’Dia McKelton, Sr.
G Tobi Owolabi, Jr.
G Gabby Thomas, Soph.
Others to watch:
F Taylor Johnson, Jr.
G Naiymah Thomas, Jr.
Outlook:
Coming off a sixth straight 20-win season and an unprecedented fifth straight unbeaten region campaign, the Norcross girls basketball dynasty will look to conquer its next challenge — replacing a heavy dose of graduating talent.
Head coach Ashley Clanton’s team had a number of recognizable faces depart from last year’s 22-win squad, but a trio of returners should help lead the Blue Devils to another state tournament run.
“We graduated a ton of experience in four of our five starters from last year,” Clanton said. “It was really a veteran team. So we’ve got a lot of young kids, Gabby (Thomas) and Tobi (Owolabi), are back and they played significant minutes for us, and A’Dia (McKelton) who played a good amount of minutes. So they’re going to have to fill different roles and we’re excited to watch them grow and blossom into different leadership responsibilities.”
Clanton’s team enters the year winners in 72 straight regular season region games, last falling to Parkview 39-31 on December 5, 2019. To ensure that another Blue Devils group cycles through with a goose egg in the loss column in region play, Norcross will rely heavily on its sparse group of experienced members.
“A’Dia is going to be our lone senior and we’re looking for a lot of leadership from her,” Clanton said. “She’s been a varsity kid all four years, so we expect that from her. She’s quick, she’s got a good sense of the game, does a nice job on back door cuts. Quick defensively. All three of them are good defenders, so we think we can get up and get after some people that way. And then Tobi and Gabby are big offensive threats. Tobi led us at the point position last year and continues to do that, and then Gabby’s kind of a kid that can score from the wing and be disruptive defensively.”
Since arriving at Norcross in 2019, Clanton has gone 141-38 and added the fourth state championship trophy to the program’s pedigree in 2022. But not since she took over has she had a team as young as this, providing her with a challenge in upholding the Blue Devils’ lofty standards.
“This year it’s going to be a little bumpy, I think, at the start, just trying to get people acclimated,” Clanton said. “I think it’s going to be a season where we see a ton of growth, more so than we have in the past. I’m excited to get in and actually get back to coaching small things. A lot of our kids have been pretty advanced by the time they got to their junior, senior years, and it’s been a couple of... Click here to read full article
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