KEYS COUGARS
Depth and experience are two of the key factors fueling excitement for the Keys Lady Cougars for the upcoming basketball season. After going 22-8 last year and making a visit to the state tournament, Keys returns six of the top seven players from that team. Leading the way are sisters Payton (5-7, Jr) and Paizlee (5-5, So,) Zodrow who averaged 12 and 16 points a game respectively. They along with senior forward Kenlee Comer are two-time VYPE Top 100 nominees this year. Paizlee led the team in the scoring last year as a freshman and got rave reviews from coach Kruz Lynch.
“In my opinion, Paizlee’s one of the best in Class 3A,” said Lynch. “I believe she will do nothing but get better as she gets older. Payton has started every game the last two years and we expect her to show a lot of maturity this year and Kenlee, likewise, will be a four-year starter.”
Other players that should add depth and make contributions for the Lady Cougars are Paige Forman (5-7, Sr.), Adali Welker (5-7, So.) who missed last year with an injury and who Lynch feels will be a strong scorer and rebounder, and freshmen Bentley Smith (5-11) and RyLee Peterson (5-5).
“Overall, we have more depth and experience than we’ve had in the past and look forward to making a run come February,” said Lynch.
The boys will welcome a new coach in Donnie Husband, and they also return a solid group of four starters from a team that went 18-10 in 2024. Leading the way is guard Joe Green (6-3, Sr.) who averaged 19 points a game last year.
“Joe is a very talented player and if he continues to work hard and gain some toughness to compete at a high level, the sky is the limit for him,” said Husband. Other returning starters for the Cougars include London Iron (6-4, Jr.) who put in nine points a game last season, Chase Jones (6-0, Sr.) with an eight point per game average, and Ben Kimble (6-2, Sr.) who added seven points per game. Also expected to see a lot of action will be Benton Martin (6-2, Jr.) who saw plenty of action last year. A handful of sophomores round out the roster in Colt Ward (6-5), Jacob Kirk (5-10), Garrett LeMasters (5-8) and Rider Marshall (6-1).
“If we develop the necessary work ethic and toughness, we could achieve,” said Husband.
