Four winter sports programs at St. Andrew’s School are in distinctly different stages as seasons get under way.
The Lions boys basketball team is at its peak, having won two consecutive GIAA Class 3A state crowns and going for a third.
The girls basketball squad is building toward competing for championships as third-year coach Jimmy Stettler sees improvement in athleticism and talent level.
The swim program has a new leader in head coach Alicia Harvey and a tough act to follow in the graduated Gaby Van Brunt, a two-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier who brought 11 individual state titles to the Wilmington Island private school before joining the University of Alabama squad this fall.
The St. Andrew’s cheerleading squad is doing something totally new – it will be on the sidelines for home games for the boys and girls basketball teams, as it does for football games.
Cheerleaders said during the media day Tuesday for Lions winter sports that they want to provide support, especially for the girls basketball team which doesn’t draw crowds like the state champion boys hoops squad does.
Photo (l-r): senior Nataly Taylor, cheerleader coach Jennifer Schwalbe, senior Addison Patterson, senior Ellie Rich.
The boys should have the attention of every opponent on their schedule and possibly quite a few other teams in the Coastal Empire after two straight state titles. The Lions went 53-5 over that stretch, including 28-1 last season.
They will have to go for three in a row without graduated senior Zyere Edwards, the two-time GIAA Player of the Year in Class 3A. Edwards, now playing at Augusta University, averaged 22.5 points, 4.4 assists and 4.0 steals for the Lions.
“He’s a unique talent and basketball player who has some God-given abilities and instincts,” SAS ninth-year coach Mel Abrams said. “So you don’t replace him.”
The Lions instead will rely on experienced players such as Edwards’ brother Zayden, now a junior who averaged 11.3 points, 4.2 assists, 3.5 steals and a team-high 6.9 rebounds; and sharpshooting senior Will Thompson, who averaged 11.3 points and made 42 percent of his 3-point attempts.
“We have some key guys, but I think this year will be more of a collective effort to try to reach the end goal,” said Abrams, noting the contributions of seniors Jaylen Sheppard, RaKari Harrison and Jonathan Ricket.
For these and other players, it’s their turn, Abrams said, to play more significant roles and determine how the Lions fare in 2023-24. They have years of experience and understand the culture of the program, he said.
“It’s an opportunity for them to write their own story and to have much more of an impact on the outcome of the season,” the coach said.
Complacency will not be an issue, players pledge, just like it wasn’t last season. Thompson said he’s observing the team’s work ethic and has personally put extra time in the gym – and expects teammates to do the same.
Sheppard said that with the graduation of Zyere Edwards and other key contributors on offense, the Lions can’t expect to simply outscore the opposition.
“We can’t relax on defense,” he said. “We don’t have the scorers to put points on the board.”
Zayden Edwards said it’s about maintaining the standard they’ve set as state champions and staying focused on the main goal.
“You can’t really harp on what you did last year,” he said. “Last year is last year. At the end of the day, you still have to play 28, 29 games. Just maintain that standard, not relaxing.”
Photo (l-r): St. Andrew's School boys basketball coach Mel Abrams, senior Will Thompson, junior Zayden Edwards, senior Jaylen Sheppard.
Girls basketball on the rise
The Lions girls hoops team went 3-17 in Stettler’s first season in 2021-22 and 5-21 last season. They’re taking incremental steps as he develops a culture to build and sustain success.
“We’re moving in the right direction, for sure,” he said. “Still have a long way to go, obviously, to get to where he’s (boys coach Abrams) been.”
In-season success comes from offseason efforts, and Stettler said the team may be very young (only one senior), but the players work hard.
“I’ll say going into this year, this is the most athletic and the most talented group that I’ve had yet,” Stettler said. “With the work that they put in, I think we’re going to continue that trajectory moving forward and improving upon each year.”
The Lions graduated four seniors who were excellent team leaders who built confidence in the underclassmen, the coach said.
Claire Fleming, as the lone senior this season, has taken on that role as a team captain.
“Long, athletic and just a coach’s dream, an outstanding leader – really, really good with the younger players,” said Stettler, noting that the forward has offensive skills and covers ground on defense.
Fleming, in her second season, tries to lead by example, and said with juniors and sophomores also stepping up, she doesn’t feel like it’s all on her shoulders. She said team chemistry has really improved.
“We’re a very close-knit team,” she said. “We’ve endured a lot. We’ve come back from a lot. We’ve had to build our program upward from the past couple of years. We’re excited to see where all of our hard work in the offseason is going to take us.”
Other key players, Stettler said, include junior point guard Gray Holmes, an all-region honoree last season who is “one of the best on-ball defenders in the city”; and junior guard Addison Yates, a three-year starter, team co-captain and strong shooter who has been slowed by injuries the past two seasons.
He said the development of sophomores Coco Carnahan and Maya Salter, as they are asked to step up in minutes for the departed seniors, will be crucial in determining the team’s season, as will be staying healthy on the nine-player squad.
Carnahan noted that players put in a lot of work over the summer, emphasized accountability and have built trust in each other.
Photo (l-r): From left, senior Claire Fleming, St. Andrew's School girls basketball coach Jimmy Stettler, sophomore Coco Carnahan.
Life after Gaby
Alicia Harvey, who has been on the local scene for scholastic swimming for many years, said this year’s Lions boys and girls swim teams may be small, but “we’re mighty.”
They’ve been mighty tough on opponents, especially the past four seasons when Gaby Van Brunt swam for the Lions. She won two individual state titles as a freshman and swept all three of her events each of the next three years.
Now impacting Alabama’s swimming fortunes, Van Brunt also will have a shot to make the U.S. Olympic team at the trials in 2024.
“Gaby is a true gift to swimming; she’s a great, great swimmer,” Harvey said.
St. Andrew’s has one girl listed on the current varsity roster, but she’s a good one in freshman Jossy Thompson. A year-round club swimmer, Thompson posted a qualifying time for the state competition in her debut for the Lions at their first meet this season.
“I feel pretty confident by the time Jossy’s a senior, she’s going to be really looked at because she’s strong now,” Harvey said. “Give her three more years.”
She also lauded her boys squad, which features Thompson’s teammates on the Georgia Coastal Aquatic Team in junior Ian Given and freshman Tristan Tsang.
Given posted a fourth- and two seventh-place finishes at the GIAA state meet as a sophomore. He said Van Brunt continues to be an inspiration to the squads.
“We all want to be like Gaby, obviously, so we’re trying to push toward that and grow bigger and stronger every day to get to where people like that get to,” Given said.
Given is targeting top-three finishes, maybe even a win, at this season’s state championships.
Junior James Crake added that the swimmers are showing the needed dedication.
“Make sure to get to every practice you can and really hone in on those skills and be the best swimmer you can at this point,” he said.
Photo (l-r): junior Ian Given, St. Andrew's School swim coach Alicia Harvey, junior James Crake.
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy Maria Dixon/St. Andrew's School
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