One More Shot: Monroe girls set their sights on state title

ALBANY — As freshmen, they reached the Final Four. As sophomores, they made the Elite Eight. As juniors, they got back to the Final Four.

Now they’re seniors. There’s one round they haven’t played.

“This is their last shot,” Monroe coach Jennifer Acree said. “There is no next year. I believe that will be enough motivation for them and their younger teammates.”

The seven seniors have won 73 games in three seasons. Texas A&M commit Kie’Aundria “KJ” Acree leads a class that includes Taylor McKinzy, Glendalys Harvey, Mariah Toye, Karma Pope, Antasia Vickers and Miesha Ellis. The Lady Nadas enter the season ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll, behind defending state champion Sandy Creek and Luella.

Monroe knows the team at the top well enough. Sandy Creek ended the Lady Nadas’ season in the semifinals last year, when Harvey had returned from an injury but, in her coach’s view, was still short of full strength. That limited what Monroe could do defensively. Jennifer Acree tried to schedule Sandy Creek for a preseason scrimmage, but illness scuttled the plan.

If Monroe gets another shot at the defending champions, it may have a deeper team. The seniors have set the tone in practice, Jennifer Acree said, but three sophomores have given her another reason for optimism. Newcomer Justyce Cole joins Maleyah Hines and Naraji McDowell, who stood out as freshmen last season.

“I’m really happy with what I am seeing from our sophomores,” Jennifer Acree said. “They have got to be able to set themselves apart, and they are doing that in practice.”

The first chance to see how far Monroe has come will come against a familiar opponent. Lee County was the only local team to beat the Lady Nadas last season, and the teams split their two games. Many of the players have been facing one another since middle school.

“It’s always a rivalry game,” Jennifer Acree said. “They want to stop No. 32 and beat us, and we want to beat them.”

No. 32 has a chance to make the opener memorable for another reason. KJ Acree needs 21 points to break the Dougherty County Schools career scoring record and is fewer than 400 points from 3,000. Both marks are within reach this season. The first could fall on opening night.

Ask her what Monroe needs from her when a game gets tight, though, and she talks about poise.

“I’m going to be the coach on the floor and keep order,” she said. “We have to play our game, stay focused on what we do best and not let them rattle us.”

Jennifer Acree has built a schedule that should give her team plenty of chances to do that. Veterans follows Lee County. A Thanksgiving tournament takes Monroe to Jacksonville. New Manchester of Douglasville and St. Francis of Alpharetta, both 24-5 last season, will come to Albany. St. Francis visits just before Christmas.

Some of those games will put KJ Acree across from players she knows from AAU basketball. Her coach calls it “kind of like a farewell tour.”

There’s a reason she scheduled it this way. If Monroe is still playing in March, she wants her team to have already faced the kind of pressure that can decide a close game. McKinzy is the player the Lady Nadas turn to when they need a late 3-pointer. Harvey wants to hustle for more rebounds. Toye, a guard who has played with this group since seventh grade, wants her teammates talking more on the floor.

For Toye, the thought of winning a championship starts with who would be there to share it.

“Winning the state championship with this team would be amazing,” she said. “To go down in history together would be everything. It would show how hard we trained together for four years.”

Monroe is scheduled to face Lee County Saturday in the Dougherty County Tip-off Classic at Albany State West. Game times have not been confirmed but the day was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. with Westover girls playing Dougherty, followed by Westover boys against Dougherty. The Monroe girls would then face Lee County and the day would end with the Monroe boys against Lee County.