This girls’ basketball season, Bryan co-oped with Buena Vista to make sure they were able to play.

“We graduated a lot of seniors last year,” said assistant coach Arthur Southward. “This year, not a lot of girls want to play basketball.”

Only four Bryan girls tried out and made the team. Southward was made varsity head coach at the end of last season. Since the team co-oped, he stayed in his previous role.

“Their head coach (Madison Montgomery) is the head coach for all intents and purposes … so I help her with game planning, scheduling practices, transportation, food, gear — all those kinds of things,” Southward said.

Junior guard Gyana Ellis feels that even though there is not one at Bryan, the girls are still part of a team.

“It’s fine because we’re co-oping with another team, so it’s not like we’re not playing basketball this year,” Ellis said.

Freshman guard Zyrah Spencer-Harris struggled bonding with the Buena Vista players because they go to separate schools, but she gained support from her teammates and new skills from coaches.

Ellis gained a new perspective from this experience.

Ellis plays basketball “just to learn to meet new people,” she said. “The Buena girls are pretty sweet.”

Southward has seen growth in girls from both schools, as far as them becoming friends.

“My main concern is that we have a lot of girls who are used to being the ‘it’ girls at their school,” Southward said. “Our two teams together is comedy; they are always dancing and TikToking, and they go play basketball outside of when we’re not coaching them.”