L-R: #1 ANNA GRACE WELLS JR-FORWARD, #5 CAMRYN KING JR-GUARD, #33 SAM JAMES JR-GUARD, #21 ONDREO SAWYER JR-GUARD
Last season, both Unity teams made runs to the state championship. The girls would fall to an extremely tough Horizon Christian team by seven, while the boys were on the other side of the 8-Ball, dominating Horizon Christian by more than 20 points; the season also marked the program’s first all-time win in the Rome Rotary Christmas Tournament for the boys.
“We talk about the way that our mindset impacts how we play,” says Head Coach Davy Fisher. “We want to play and act as champions. Over time, that will lead to success. Our guys bought in, and really chased the process.”
Coach Fisher will have some players who made waves over the last few years returning in 24-25. Ondreo Sawyer, Sam James, Davis Blankenship, Peter Whitehead, and Elliot Whiteside are looking to carry the load for his squad and were able to receive some really valuable minutes last year. He will rely on their leadership because there are no seniors on this Unity team. Gentry Allen and Bo Madsen are some newcomers who could possibly come in and make an immediate impact. Even though he will have no seniors, Coach Fisher’s squad looks poised and will be in good shape to remain successful.
Coach Fisher wants his team to be on the same page all the time. Coming off of a state championship, you have to work hard, which is exactly what he expects his team to do; let the meticulous things build up to what is to come, and do what you can control.
For the girls, they may have lost the state championship, but either way, you could say it was a successful season. Not many schools get to say they made it to the state championship, let alone the state playoffs.
“The success that we see is a byproduct of how we treat our practices,” says Head Coach Mel Thornbury. “Over the course of last season, we grew in so many ways. Now that it’s over, I’m excited to see how they are going to grow this year.”
With the loss of a big senior class, Thornbury will rely on a group of juniors to take them to where they need to go. Sydney Thompson, Anna Grace Wells, and Cam King will be the leaders of the squad. Aisha Percente, who showed a lot of flashes last year, will return as a sophomore. While not having a single senior, there is still a lot of leadership returning for Unity. Coach Thornbury’s expectations are the same as many coaches; control what you can, and the rest will play itself out. Of course, you want to win a state championship, but it’s the little things that will ultimately lead you to those goals.
Even with a lot of youth on the horizon for both squads, both programs have a lot to offer and are an exceptional reflection of what it’s like to be a community.
