photo by: Shane Jackson

Lawrence High juniors Amaya Marshall (5) and Daphne Bracker Sturm (42) run up the court during a summer practice Tuesday morning at Southwest Middle School on June 15, 2021.

What makes this offseason different from the last one for Lawrence High’s girls basketball team? Chemistry.

Last season, because of COVID-19, there were no indoor practices, camps or trips to tournaments. But now all of those events are back on, and the Lions are feeling like an actual team because of it.

“I’ve seen this group really come together this summer,” LHS head coach Jeff Dickson said. “I feel like from top to bottom, we’re as close of a group as we’ve been in the last couple of years, which is super rewarding.”

The Lions started this summer with their team camp during the first week of June. They then went 6-2 at a summer league event hosted by Shawnee Mission South. And they have even more events on deck before the summer moratorium, which begins June 28 and lasts through July 4.

Through all of that, they’ve had plenty of opportunities to strengthen their bonds.

“When we are on the court, I feel like I can personally read what everyone else is going to do,” junior post Daphne Bracker Sturm said.

It helps that many of the Lions already played together for a season. They lost only one member of the 2020-21 team to graduation, so most of the players are back and are eager to prove themselves.

“I feel like the chemistry was already there because some of us have played together,” senior Layla Harjo said. “We all think alike; we are all striving toward the same goal.”

On top of that, the 2020-21 team, which went 2-18 overall, learned the hard way that chemistry is important.

“Last year, when things didn’t go our way, or we saw adversity, we didn’t really come together,” Dickson said. “Already this summer, I feel like we’ve got stronger bonds than we even finished the year with, so I’m super excited about that.”

The Lions will have more length inside this year, because Geme Ajekwu is coming back. Ajekwu didn’t play last year because of COVID-19 concerns. She and Bracker Sturm should bring a physical presence on both ends of the court.

Things have opened up for the players on the perimeter, too. Lawrence now has more space to knock down outside shots, and Harjo and junior guards Amaya Marshall and Serenity Keo have found more success on the offensive end.

“I think that our shooters have gotten so much better,” Bracker Sturm said. “In general, our shooting percentages have gone way up. I think that’s probably going to be our strength.”

Whatever happens, the Lions are confident that the upcoming season won’t be a repeat of the last one.

“We all know what happened last year,” Harjo said. “If we let that continue and dictate what we do this year, then it will be even worse. Since we have new upcoming things, I feel like it will just be a whole different story.”