Heading into the summer of 2015, the Douglasville Lady Tigers new they were facing a serious challenge after seven players graduated and headed to college. The Georgia club responded in outstanding fashion, and now the Lady Tigers are looking at an exciting future.
“I guess you would have to call this a re-building year for our program, because we lost a lot of very good players who went on to college,” said Coach Tonya Jackson. “We only had three kids coming back on our top team, but I thought that team had a very good summer.
“I was really happy with the way the kids grasped the systems we were using. They played strong defense all summer, they all knew their roles, and they played together as a team. It was great to see them play that way.”
The Lady Tigers will be looking to take another step forward at the All Star Girls Report sponsored Marietta Tournament of Champions. The event, which will be played from Sept. 25-27 at the Suwanee Sports Academy outside of Atlanta, Ga., will feature some of the nation’s finest travel squads.
The Douglasville squad will be led by the backcourt tandem of Amira Atwater (2016, 5-7, CG) and Dominique Leonidas (2016, 5-6, PG).
“Amira is our floor general. She is a leader on and off the floor, and she is very strong academically,” Jackson said. “She can get to the rim, she can shoot the three, and she is one of the best passers I’ve seen in a long time.
“Dominique is more of a true point guard, but she is also a real leader who is very strong academically. I’ve been doing this for 12 years, and Dominique is one of the best true point guards we have had in our program. She sets the tone for our team, and she holds everyone accountable, and she expects 100 percent out of everyone.”
Jackson is also expecting big things from two bigger players — Jayda Dooley (2016, 6-2, P) and Kyndall Golden (2019, 6-3, PF).
“Jayda gets is done in the paint, and she is very good out to 10 feet. She can step out to the three-point line, but she is strong out to 10 or 12 feet,” Jackson said. “Kyndall is a young player with a very big future. She can bang in the paint, and she can step out to shoot it. She also handles the ball very well, and she really runs the floor.”
