The Air Academy’s girls basketball team has started out their season as one of the best teams in 5A. The Kadets currently hold a 9-1 record through 10 games with their only loss coming to Riverdale Ridge. They are looking to ride this momentum into league play as they play Lewis-Palmer on thursday.
The Kadets are currently ranked as the number one team in class 5a after last week’s rankings came out. This is due to the girls having a lot of depth in their roster and multiple top performers on the team. The depth of the Kadets makes it really difficult for teams to be able to match up with them.
The team has six top performers in multiple stat categories. Senior Caitlyn Kramer is 24th in the entire state for points per game at 20.1, Caitlyn is also a top performer in points per 32, field goals made, and blocks per game. Junior Lydia Flowers and Tatyonna Brown are both top 20 in the state for points per 32, then senior Mara Rodgers, junior Ramah Khammash, and sophomore Audrina Nelson are all ranked in the top 20 for points per 32 in 5a.
Senior Caitlyn Kramer gets a lot of the recognition because of her being a Colorado State commit but the Kadets have a lot of weapons. They have two other players that are averaging double figures. Junior Lydia Flowers is averaging 16.1 points per game which ranks her ninth in 5a for points per game and junior Tatyonna Brown is averaging 11.4 points per game and is also the team leading rebounder at 8.6 per game which ranks her at thirteenth in 5a for rebounds per game.
They started off their season by breezing through Liberty by a score of 67-32. A week later they would beat Fountain-Fort Carson, Pueblo East, and Vista Ridge to win the Fountain-Fort Carson tournament. Would then proceed to breeze through Rampart, the Classical Academy before losing their first game to Riverdale Ridge but would quickly bounce back with a revenge win against Thunderidge and then a win over Doherty.
The Kadets are averaging 61.7 points per game, 31.6 rebounds per game, and 18.5 assist per game throughout the first 10 games of the season, them having multiple offensive threats helps them average the amount of points they do, their size and length helps them average 30 plus rebounds a game which allows them to get more opportunities to score.
“When we play together as a team, that is when we are most difficult to beat.” Lydia Flowers, a junior, stated.
They are coming off of a dominant win of 62-36 over Lewis-Palmer on Thursday night. The team had multiple players score ten plus points or more.
“Last year really helped us prepare for this year, it has allowed us to bond together more as a team.” Caitlyn Kramer, a Senior said.
Last year’s lessons have helped the team become more mature and ready for the challenges of this season. They are looking forward to these challenges as league play has just begun.
“ We feel like we can compete with anyone in 5a and have a very good shot at going far into the postseason.” Tatyonna Brown a junior stated.
The girls are looking to keep proving why they are the best team in 5a when they host the Palmer Terrors on January 13 at home.
