It seems like just yesterday when Cross Creek girls basketball coach Kim Schlein was raving about the possibilities of a young point guard named Michaela Bogans.
Now, Bogans a senior, is being discussed in a different way — as one who carries the brunt of Cross Creek’s potential success on her shoulders.
After coming off a junior season where she averaged 18.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game to help Cross Creek win another Region 4-AAA championship and make an Elite Eight run in the GHSA Class AAA state tournament, the expectations for the 5-foot-7 floor general have never been higher.
“I know she’s a hard worker and a go-getter, and if she’s controlling the ship, we know that the ship is going to go in the right direction,” Schein said about Bogans after she scored 11 points and dished out three assists in the Lady Razorbacks’ 64-48 home opener win against Grovetown last Tuesday. Schlein called it a good bounce-back win after losing to the Juwan Bailey-coached Newton Rams 62-39 on Nov. 11 during the first game of the season.
Bailey is in his second year at the helm of the Newton program after serving as long-time head girls basketball coach for Josey.
“The first game, I feel like we just didn’t play very well,” Schlein said. “Newton’s decent, but we just couldn’t get it together. I don’t know if it was just first-game jitters, or what. But I was really pleased with the way [the Grovetown game] went. The hustle and energy and the team work we showed. I was really pleased with that.”
The team work aspect of this year’s Cross Creek bunch is the chief reason why Schlein is confident that Bogans won’t crack under the pressure of being a senior leader. For Bogans, “controlling the ship” doesn’t mean that she’ll be expected to steer it all alone.
Bogans will have fellow senior Tahjae Hawes to complement her in the backcourt. Hawes scored a game-high 20 points in the Grovetown win. Also, players like senior Alaya Henry and junior JaNya Wiley settling into their increased roles will help.
Wiley scored 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting in the Grovetown win. Henry scored 8 points in the loss to Newton. Other players like Hephzibah transfer Janiah Blount Soloman should contribute this season as well. Soloman, a 5-foot-10 senior, is averaging 6 points and 7.5 rebounds in her first two games this season.
When asked if this felt like a younger team than what Schlein has been used to recently, she responded by saying “yes and no.”
“We’ve got [Soloman] from Hephzibah, so she’s new to the program,” Schlein said. “She’s learning us and we’re learning her right now. And then there are some players who are learning their roles. So we’ve still got a lot of kinks to work out on some things, but overall, our hustle and the way we played [Tuesday night] , I was pleased.”
It’s those kinks the coach mentioned that Bogans will be tasked at helping her younger, less experienced teammates straighten out. And that’s where those increased expectations for Bogans come in.
“I know she’s really got a lot of — I wouldn’t say pressure — but a lot of responsibility on her this year to help lead and control everything.”
Regardless of that, Schlein says the ultimate goals for her team are the same as they are every season — contending for region and state championships.
“Yes sir, that’s always the end goal,” Schlein said. “They know what it takes to get there, and I think they know we’re not there yet.”
One thing the coach is hoping will help her team get where it needs to be by the time the region slate starts is front loading the non-region schedule with good teams from larger classifications. Newton is a Class AAAAAAA school, while Grovetown is one notch below at Class AAAAAA.
Cross Creek will also play games against Carver and Class AAAA Hardaway on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, respectively.
“We’ve got more big games with big teams to play,” she said. “I try to do that with our schedule in the beginning to help us get ready for region and state tournament play later. We’ve still got some work to do, and these girls are willing to put in the work. So that’s what we’ve gotta keep doing. We have to keep pushing forward.”
