Concord, NC – Cardinal Gibbons (2-0) came to town Tuesday for an early afternoon women’s matchup at Cannon. The Crusaders were led by 2023 guard Rhian Lawrence who had a strong day notching a triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Lawrence’s back-court mate Olivia Young showed off her shooting touch from deep as the 2023 guard finished with 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Cannon’s ball movement appeared to be good throughout the game as the team’s strong passing ability was able to find players around the perimeter but weren’t able to get some of those good looks to fall.
Cannon now falls to 2-3, however, through the first five games you’d be hard-pressed to find a more difficult schedule to start off the season. Despite the tough loss, head coach Kelvin Drakeford has plenty of young and developing talent on his roster to help get back to form. Here are a few standouts from the game that caught our eye.
2023 guard Samahya Suffren – Suffren continues to be impressive with her incredible end-to-end speed in the open court. When she gets the ball with a head of steam, she becomes nearly impossible to defend. We see this a lot with Garner’s Jerni Kiaku (North Carolina Central University commit) where teams have issues stopping her in transition. The tough PG had a strong day as she finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds. She continues to be a force on the defensive end as well as she notched 4 steals.
2024 guard Lili Booker – Finishing with a team-high 15 points in Tuesday’s game, it’s time we put Lili Booker in the conversation of top PG’s in the area’s 2024 class. Booker is the kind of PG that can flourish in any system as she excels in both the half-court set and in transition. She brings excellent on-court awareness to the floor and is very quick and decisive in her decision-making. It is difficult to do all of the things required to be a top PG in today’s era and Booker is already doing them well.
2024 forward Jamyrah Cherry – With several shooters on the Cougars roster, Cherry fits in well with this group as she provides a viable option down low for the team with her presence in the paint and can step back and hit the jumper when needed. Cherry has developed a very nice game on the low block with some very solid post moves. Cherry is sure to be a big piece to the team as the season continues to play out.
