By Mike London
Salisbury Post
KANNAPOLIS — Before she headed to Indiana as a Team North Carolina coach for the first Special Olympics North America Unified Women’s 3X3 Games, Kayla Crayton put in a busy summer with A.L. Brown girls basketball.
The 2024-25 season was a tough one for the Wonders. About everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Youth, injuries and membership in a league that included fearsome bullies such as Lake Norman and Hickory Ridge. A 4-21 season ended with a 76-18 pounding from Hickory Ridge.
“Hickory Ridge. Lake Norman, no bad teams in that league and there were some tough nights for our girls,” Crayton said. “It was a long season. We kind of got put through the ringer.”
A.L. Brown will be one of the four 7As in the new-look, eight-team 6A/7A Greater Metro Conference this fall, and the schedule looks much friendlier than it did a year ago. That schedule will include a return to the Sam Moir Christmas Classic, after a yea away. That’s an event that is not nearly as daunting (at least on the girls side) as it was a few years ago when multiple Rowan schools had state-championship level teams.
Things might have been a lot different for Crayton in 2024-25 had guard Makenzie Goode-Roberts not been injured in the early games.
“Makenzie was our go-to, so when she tore an ACL, we not only lost points and ball-handling, we lost her leadership,” Crayton said. “But she’ll be good to go by basketball season and she wants to have a big senior year.”
The Wonders played quite a few games and scrimmages over the summer, hosting a number of Rowan and Cabarrus teams for Jamborees.
“We’ve talked a lot about starting over in November with a clean slate,” Crayton said. “Last year is over, and as hard as it was, the girls did their best and they learned from it.”
The list of experienced players Crayton will be counting on in the upcoming season includes Alana Campbell, London Gray, Myla McNeely, Michaela Buster, Alauna Massey.
Rising freshman athlete Imani Franklin and shooter Maddie Cook should be important additions to the mix
Franklin is a sister of Emari Russell, who starred for the North Rowan boys last season, signed with Livingstone and played in the East-West All-Star Game.
“We’ll definitely be a lot better,” Crayton said. “We’re excited.”
