Doubted, counted out, underestimated at every turn.
The girls basketball team of Denton’s Ryan High School used all of the outside slights it felt along the way as fuel for a run to the program’s first state championship game.
The Lady Raiders were never ranked higher than their preseason No. 16 spot in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches’ weekly state rankings. They spent much of the year outside the 5A top 25 entirely and fell out for the final time in mid-January, nearly a month before the start of the playoffs.
Of the 24 teams playing for state championships this week, 21 were ranked going into the postseason. Humble Summer Creek, Paradise and Ryan are the only three that were on the outside looking in.
That didn’t stop the Lady Raiders from knocking off 5A’s No. 4 and No. 3 squads in consecutive rounds on their way to the program’s first regional championship and now a shot at winning it all.
“We never doubted ourselves,” junior forward Kinley Lewis said. “They wrote us off, so we got to write our own story.”
One chapter remains unwritten as Ryan aims to take home the first girls basketball state championship in Denton ISD history.
The Lady Raiders (31-7) face No. 1-ranked San Antonio Wagner (34-3) in the 5A Division I state final at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Wagner has won 25 consecutive games since suffering its last loss on Nov. 26 in a district clash with No. 16 San Antonio Pieper. All three of its defeats came by single-digit margins to state-ranked foes, including No. 5 Lubbock Monterey and No. 12 Liberty Hill.
Ryan’s own tough path has helped prepare it for the challenge that awaits against Wagner.
The Lady Raiders played a bevy of state-ranked opponents in nondistrict play, including games against fellow Denton ISD squads Braswell and Guyer, which were both ranked among the top 11 teams in Class 6A. Ryan also shared a district with No. 8 Argyle, a 5A DII regional finalist.
A strong bond between the players and coaching staff, led by head coach Monesha Allen, has helped Ryan navigate the ups and downs.
“[Allen] knows us personally,” junior forward Kaylin Jackson said. “She takes the time to talk to us, she takes the time to work with us personally. Her and our assistant coach, Shanice Ready — they’re really good at that. Just being able to trust them, and they trust us.”
Jackson and Lewis have been crucial parts of the Lady Raiders’ historic success.
The pair are both listed at heights of 6 feet or more, presenting problems for opposing players in all phases of the game. They are two of Ryan’s most prolific shot blockers and rebounders, but both can also handle the basketball, score inside and shoot beyond the 3-point line.
Those unique skillsets have shone for Ryan over the last two seasons since Lewis joined the program after spending her freshman year at Denison.
Junior point guard Zaviyana Madison has also been a crucial addition to the team this season after transferring in from Plano West. She scored 13 points in Ryan’s state semifinal win over Red Oak to complement an 18-point effort by Lewis and 10 points from Jackson.
Strong chemistry among that group and the team in general has been crucial to its success.
“We understand each other,” Madison said. “We can be sisters; we can communicate and take criticism and then keep going. Be one unit and push each other.”
The trio have helped the Lady Raiders take the next step forward this season.
Ryan advanced to the regional quarterfinal round of the playoffs last year before falling to eventual state finalist Mansfield Timberview. Ryan's last regional final appearance came in 2001 under former coach Latricia Trammell.
Allen took over for Trammell when she left for an assistant coaching job at Texas Woman’s University after the 2001-02 campaign.
The program had made the regional semifinals a few times under Allen but never advanced any further. More than two decades later, she has helped engineer a breakthrough for the Lady Raiders with their deepest playoff run ever.
The state semifinal win left her in tears, and she’s hoping for a few more of the happy kind Saturday afternoon.
“The next time I cry, I want to have tears of joy as well.”
JOHN FIELDS can be reached at 940-566-6869 and jfields@dentonrc.com.
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