GRAFTON, W.Va. (WV News) — Past, future and present will come together later this month on Friday, Nov. 24 as the Grafton girls basketball program is making final preparations to welcome the Taylor County community for its second annual Bearcat Bash.
After being established by Grafton girls basketball coach Hartsel Keener ahead of last season, the Bearcat Bash is once again set to highlight all levels of Taylor County’s rich and storied basketball heritage, featuring scrimmages between Bearcat basketball alumni, high school, middle school and the Alley Cat girls youth basketball teams.
“At its core the Bearcat Bash is set up to be a way for our community to connect with the teams that represent them on the hardwood on all levels,” coach Keener began.
“It gives our fans a great opportunity to come out and get to know the past, present and future of our program and to see first-hand all the wonderful things going on in terms of athletics in our community,” coach Keener added.
For coach Keener, the event will also act as a chance to offer the Taylor County community a small glimpse of what his much-improved team is capable of this season.
“We couldn’t be more excited for the start of the season,” coach Keener said with a smile.
The Bearcats have every reason to be excited.
The Grafton girls basketball team returns a core of from last season’s team that finished just below .500 at 11-12 overall consisting of stars Kenna Keener, Hadley Horne, Kambrie Delaney, Kelsey Massie, Emma Johnson, Lilly Crimm, Macy Johnson.
The Bearcats will also be bolstered by the return of Jodi Keene from injury as well as the the addition of a steady veteran guard in Liberty transfer Jazzy Ray has the Grafton girls basketball team primed for success in 2023.
“I believe our team has the pieces and talent to make some real noise but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” coach Keener said.
“Getting Jodi back and adding Jazzy completely changes the complexion of our team and allows us to be much more versatile with our lineups,” Keener added.
“That paired with adding another strong, talented freshman class gives us the luxury to have depth to turn to. There is easily 10-11 players I feel comfortable turning to in a varsity game with a few more getting closer every single rep,” Keener finished.
Following the Bearcat Bash, the Grafton girls basketball team will start preparations for its season opener early next month, hosting Logan as part of the Cardinal Classic on Dec. 2 before turning their attention to hosting the Sam Bord Tournament starting Dec. 6 and wrapping up on Dec. 8.
“We plan on taking things one game at a time and competing night in and night out for wins but we are looking forward to getting back after it on the court,” Keener finished.
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