Robbinsdale Cooper girls basketball took part in the Section 6AAA tournament last week as the sixth seed falling to Orono 79-53 on Feb. 28 to conclude its season.
The first half ended with just four points separating the two teams with Orono leading 35-31. But the hosts responded well in the second half to Cooper’s challenge to take a lead 62-43 with 10 minutes to go
The scoring had slowed for Cooper, though Somah Kamara would still leave with 26 points to her name and another eight for Kamea Jones.
The Hawks went into the 2023/24 season with a truly unique roster, featuring one senior in Somah Kamara. The remaining space included four juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen.
Cooper girls basketball head coach Ebony Rich, leading the team in her debut year this season, told the Sun Post that the 2023/24 season provided difficult challenges and lessons, but also provided growing opportunities.
“It was definitely a learning and growing season for us,” she said. “As many people know, we had one senior this year and many girls who had not played varsity basketball. I don’t think our record or today’s result reflects just how much we’ve accomplished and grown this season.”
The nature of Cooper’s roster was on display in the final minutes of the game when a four-player substitution was made to bring on sophomore Marianna Heggestad, freshman Saraphina Wilhelm, junior Princess Nyarkoh, and sophomore Zoey Smith. The group, representing talent outside of the team’s set starting five, played the final minutes of the game alongside Kamara in a final acknowledgment of how student-athletes on both sides of the age range had come together to make the 2023/24 season one to remember.
Rich added that the future is bright for the Cooper program, which has a large group of young players getting important early experiences ahead of their upperclassmen seasons.
“I have girls who are committed and girls who are willing to learn. I’ve seen that all season,” she said. “So I’m super excited what we’ll look like next year and two years from now. The girls who are just starting to get varsity experience this year are going to be ready in those coming two years.”
Kamara was very much at the forefront of Cooper’s scoring this season, putting 566 points together in the regular season while breaking the single-game record high for Cooper and surpassing the 1,000-point mark. Sophomore Zoe Simmons was key with 207 points, while sophomore Amiyah Rulford, freshman Nyema Montgomery, and junior Jordyn Cooke added 147, 127, and 124 points respectively in the 2023/24 regular season. Simmons also led on assists with 67.
Kamara has yet to commit as of this edition going to press, but the senior did recently share on social media that she had received an offer from the Division 1 women’s basketball program at South Carolina State.
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