Jefferson Davis girls finish 7-7 to secure first non-losing season since 2011-12
Rynn Fickling, Rileigh York, Riley Williams girls All-Region selections; Landon Williams boys pick
Blackville – As is the case with any team in any sport, sometimes success just stands up and smacks you right in the face. Other times it’s much more subtle.
That’s definitely what Jefferson Davis Academy girls basketball head coach Larry Johnson experienced this season.
The Raiders went a modest 7-7 in the just completed season and lost in the first round of the SCISA Class A state tournament. That being said, it was the first time since the 2011-12 season that the Jefferson Davis girls didn’t finish below .500.
“I feel as though the season didn’t go as planned,” Johnson said. “Every season the goal is to win region and win a state championship, but you must accomplish small goals before you can accomplish the big goals.
“This was the first sub-.500 season since 2011-12. So that’s great and a step in the right direction for the program.”
The Raiders had three players selected to the All-Region 2-Class A team. They were senior guard Rynn Fickling, sophomore center Rileigh York and sophomore forward Riley Williams.
York averaged a double-double, leading the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game, 12.0 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 2.4 blocked shots.
Fickling averaged 10.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and a team high 2.5 assists as well as 1.3 blocks. Williams averaged 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Junior Abby Deering averaged 7.0 points and 8.9 rebounds, while junior Emeralda Montejano averaged 3.2 points.
The only senior on the roster is Fickling, which has Johnson excited about the future, especially with a player coming back from a knee injury to step into Fickling’s spot.
“I’m losing one senior in Rynn Fickling, which will be a major loss,” Johnson said. “. But I do have a guard (rising senior Brooke Fogle) who didn’t play this season and will be back next year, so the future is looking bright for the Jefferson Davis girls basketball program.”
JDA BOYS FINISH 5-11
After losing a ton of athletic talent in the 2025 graduating class, Jefferson Davis football coach Anthony Reitenour anticipated something of a rebuilding phase for the 2025 football season. Also the boys basketball head coach, Reitenour anticipated the same for the ’25-26 hoops team.
The veteran head coach was right on both counts. The basketball team finished 5-11 although it did earn a berth in the Class A state tournament.
“We came into this year looking at a rebound kind of year,” Reitenour said. “We had a couple of losses early in the season where we were still dealing with football injuries. Still, we come to the end of the season and we take (defending state champion) Curtis Baptist (in a 50-40 loss) to the ropes. It was a 5-point game with a minute and a half left.
“We knew what we were coming into the season, but we saw a couple of good things.”
One of them was sheer numbers on the roster. Jefferson Davis had 13 players, big numbers for a Class A program.
Only three were seniors: Landon Williams, Nolan Craig and Tanner Page. Williams and Craig were both starters with Williams being an All-Region selection.
Williams averaged 5.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. Craig averaged 4.5 points, while Page averaged 1.8 point coming off the bench.
Junior Reece Still led the team in scoring with an 18.4 average although he missed a couple of games with an injury. He also averaged 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
Junior Harrison Ray averaged 5.3 points, and junior Corbin Perry averaged 3.5 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Others who will be back after seeing plenty of action are junior Davidson Owens, junior Connor Sandifer, sophomore Jake Harrington, sophomore Will Stillinger, junior Judson Bowers, sophomore Leighton Lihan and junior Stanse Youngblood.
