The starting lineup for the 2023-24 Berkeley High varsity girls basketball team would likely be one of the top junior varsity lineups in the state.
However, coach Crystal Peace is playing those youngsters on the varsity, as starters. As it turns out, that young lineup also is a pretty good varsity team.
Peace has a starting lineup consisting of a sophomore, two freshmen, and two sophomores. Another sophomore and an eighth-grader are off the bench. The results have been surprising. Berkeley enters play on Feb. 6 with a 16-5 overall record and a 5-2 record in region 6-AAAAA. The Stags are sitting in second-place in region six with both of their losses coming to region leader Goose Creek.
‘I’ve never been afraid to use young players if they can contribute but I’ve never had this many on the floor so much,” said Peace, a former two-time all-state player at Berkeley now in her 14th season as head coach. “At times, we play like a team that is as young as we are but they’ve been pretty good for the most part. They work hard. They are serious about the game. They work with trainers outside of school. They want to be good.”
Though a freshman, Amani McCray already owns veteran status among the team. McCray has been a contributing varsity performer since the seventh-grade. She is currently leading the team in scoring ( 9 ppg) and rebounding (9.1 rpg). McCray averaged 7.5 points and 6.5 rebounds last season. Berkeley finished11-3 overall and placed fourth in the region.
“She is capable of being our leader,” Peace said. “Age doesn’t matter. She has been around but sometimes it’s still hard for a freshman to be a leader.”
Eighth-grader Alaina Carter is averaging 7.8 points and 2.7 assists per game this season. Freshman post Imani Levey (5-11) is adding 7.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore Madison Thomas adds 6.8 points per game and eighth-grader Kennedy Caldwell is adding 5.9 points per game.
Rounding out the roster are seniors Jazmyne Fields and Jordan Watson; juniors Christiana Robbins, Ta’lia Porchia and Riley Guerry; sophomore Parris Capers and eighth-grader Kaelynn Caldwell.
Peace took her team to camp at Liberty University, where she played collegiately, last summer and saw the potential for a solid season. Berkeley has won 16 games twice under Peace and this year’s team has an opportunity to top that win total this season.
Berkeley went 21-62 in the first four seasons under Peace but has 118 games since those rebuilding years.
“If you work hard and stay true to your beliefs, good things come in time,” Peace said. “You have to experience certain adversity in order to grow. I talk to these girls all the time about that very thing. We’re young and we’re going to make mistakes. But if we continue to work and try to learn from the mistakes, winning will take care of itself.”