Seniors lead Harry S Truman girls basketball back to districts
BRISTOL TOWNSHIP >> The Harry S Truman girls basketball team has come a long way this season, making the 24-team District 1 Class 6A playoff field for the first time since the 1985-85 season.
The Lady Tigers are led by seniors Sabria Lytes at center, forward Jayda Campbell and point guard Daeja Moore. Sophomore Alexis McCoy and junior Briana Cliney are the other two starters at Truman with freshman Daisha Campbell the first reserve off the bench and sometimes starter.
At 6-1, Lytes is not only the tallest player on the team, she is the leading scorer, averaging 12.3 points-per-game. Sabria is also the leading rebounder, averaging 10.7 caroms-per-game. Jayda Campbell is next with 9.9 PPG and Moore is third on that list with 9.3 PPG and she averages 3.6 steals-per-game.
The team is guided by sixth-year head coach Collette Munford, a 1989 graduate of Bensalem.
“When I took over the program, I had to build it from scratch,” said Munford. “Most of these players came through my feeder program.”
While this is only Lytes’ third year in the program, both Jayda Campbell and Moore were part of it since fifth grade.
“I told them they were going to be the first to make a real impact when they got to high school,” said Munford. “Now, everything I predicted has come to light.”
Munford was hired by former Truman athletic director George Collins, who is now retired. She spent her first season guiding the Truman JV girls team then took over the varsity program when former head coach Dave Wisniewski jumped to Conwell-Egan Catholic.
During Munford’s inaugural campaign at the helm, the Tigers went 0-20, 0-14 in the Suburban One League (SOL) National Conference. Her second season, Truman won two non-league games but still went 0-14 in the SOL.
The Tigers are currently 13-9, overall, 4-8 in the SOL.
Seeded at No. 21, just above SOL National Conference rival CR South (No. 22), Cheltenham (23) and Kennett (24), Truman could face No. 12 Upper Dublin in the first round of districts Feb. 18 in Fort Washington.
“I think our record could be better than that; we still have a lot of work to do,” said Munford.
“But win or lose (in districts), I’m so excited to see how far this program has come and the direction that it’s going.”
The Lady Cardinals should be a formidable foe in the postseason, having gone 11-2 thus far in the SOL American Conference behind unbeaten league champion Plymouth-Whitemarsh. Upper Dublin wraps its season tonight with a battle against SOL American rival Quakertown.
Final seedings will be posted on the District 1 website at www.piaad1.org Sunday, Feb. 12 at the conclusion of the steering committee meeting.
Contact Steve Sherman at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
