Tyler Legacy Lady Raiders integrating new pieces as practice begins

Published 11:58 am Thursday, October 20, 2022

Tyler Legacy’s girls basketball program has won 109 games during the past four seasons.

But as practice officially began on Wednesday, a lot of those faces that were apart of those wins are now gone.

There are some returners from last season — Rose Rook, Ella Rook, La’Daija Gallon and JaKayla White — but everyone else will be a varsity newcomer.

“There’s a lot of new faces,” Legacy head girls basketball coach Ross Barber said. “We’re going to have some growing pains early on, but I really like this group’s attitude and effort. We’re going to get better, and that’s going to be the fun thing about it. This group can be really good. We’ve got a lot of great kids, a lot of kids that are going to step up and contribute this year. That’s the fun part as a coach is just getting to start over with a blank canvas.”

Among the departure were four-year starter Aaliyah Campbell, who is now at Angelina College, and Nyla Inmon, who is now at Kilgore College.

“We lost 92 percent of our production from last year,” Barber said. “But again, we’ve got some good pieces back and we’ve got some good young talent that I’m excited about. They’re working hard. And I just think a lot of teams are going to underestimate us. As long as we can get out and play hard and we get better every day, I really feel like we’ve got a chance to surprise some people.”

Rose Rook and Ella Rook have been on the team since the 2019-20 season and are now seniors. Rose knocked down 11 3-points in a win over North Mesquite last season.

“It’s gone by really fast,” Rose Rook said. “I know I need to step up and be a leader now that I’m a senior. We lost a lot of seniors last year. But I think we have a good work ethic and everyone is willing to put in a ton of work. I think we will be good. A lot of people are doubting us, but I think we will be good, and I think it will be a lot of fun.”

The Lady Raiders (30-6 last season) will have scrimmages at Lindale on Oct. 29 and at Sachse on Nov. 1. They will host Lake Highlands at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 for the season opener.