Best Wishes to the Jena Giant and the Jena Lady Giant

Season Begins With Big Wins

The 2023-24 Jena High School basketball season is in full swing with district action set to begin soon. Both teams are looking for a great year as early action indicates they will be a force to reckon with in District 2-3A.

Lady Giants

The Jena Lady Giants started the non-district portion of their schedule about a month and a half ago. The Lady Giants return a veteran squad led by Head Coach Karli Simmons. Last year, Coach Simmons led the Lady Giants to playoffs for the first time in her coaching career. The Lady Giants lost at Sterlington in the 1st round of the Division III Non-Select playoffs last season.

This year, the Lady Giants return many seniors from last year’s team who gained a lot of varsity experience. For the 2023-24 season, the Lady Giants are led by seniors Ava Francis, Rylee Hennigan, Cat Brinson, Baylee Burlew and Jewellia Champlin. All five of these seniors either started or came off the bench to get lots of varsity minutes last season.

The Lady Giants have a 6-7 record at the time of this article with some big wins over Grant, Monterey, Harrisonburg and Grace Christian. All four of those teams have winning records at the moment. The Lady Giants hosted their annual Holiday Classic as they went 1-2 in the tournament with a win over Harrisonburg 5026. District 2-3A on the ladies’ side seems to be wide open as none of the teams have separated themselves in the non-district portion of the schedule so far. The Lady Giants are just as much a contender as any other team in the district, just from the experience they return with from last season. It will always be tough to get a win at Caldwell and Bunkie but those teams will have to come to Jena as well and both teams struggled at Jena last season.

The Lady Giants are currently ranked #12 in the Non-Select Division III power rankings. They will have home games on January 5 and 9 . On the 5th, Calvin will come to town and on the 9th the Lady Giants will start district play with Bunkie. Everyone should come out and pack the gym to cheer on these Lady Giants. If you can’t make it to the game, remember that all district games will be aired on 102.7 KJNA.

Giants

The Jena Giants started their season about a month ago. The Giants got a late start due to the football team playing deep in the playoffs. The Giants did not get all of their players until the football season was over so their first game was on December 11.

Jena Head Coach Matthew Whittman is in his second year leading the program. The Giants were young a season ago and had to fight through injuries but one could tell the young team would be good with a year of experience and getting some key players back from injury. One of those players is senior Demariyon Hammock who missed all of last season after suffering an injury at the end of football season. Getting Hammock back this season provides the team with another experienced scorer and ball handler.

Senior Zy Hunter is back this year and is leading the team in scoring and rebounding this season. The Giants are 5-2 at the time of this article with Hunter averaging a double-double in points and rebounds in each of the Giants five wins.

The Giants went 2-1 in their annual Holiday classic with wins over Montgomery and Grant. District 2-3A, like on the ladies’ side, appears to be just as wide open on the men’s side. Buckeye has an impressive 17-0 record currently but it will be interesting to see how they do in the district portion of their schedule. Bolton lost a lot of experience from their team last season. Caldwell and Marksville have gotten off to good starts. This district was one of the stronger districts in the Cenla area last season and this year it should be fun to watch.

The Giants are currently #12 in the power rankings with their next home games coming on January 5 and 9 against Calvin and Bunkie. It should be a great season to watch both the Jena Giants and Lady Giants so everyone come out and pack the gym to give these hardworking kids a great home court advantage.