Briarwood Academy athletes from Washington-Wilkes who were honored at the Briarwood Academy Winter Sports Banquet last week included (front, l-r) Lizzie Keen, Emily Henderson, Anna Goolsby, (back) Tyler Edwards, and Ryan Pritchett. Five Washington athletes were recognized at the Briarwood Academy Winter Sports Banquet honoring basketball players and cheerleaders last Friday at the school.

Tyler Edwards and Ryan Pritchett were recognized for their contribution to the Bucs basketball team, while Lizzie Keen and Emily Henderson were recognized for their contribution to the Lady Bucs basketball team. Junior Anna Goolsby was recognized for her participation as a member of the basketball cheerleading squad.

Junior guard Lizzie Keen and sophomore guard Emily Henderson, who was named this year's Best Defensive player for the Lady Bucs, were members of this year's Lady Bucs' basketball team, which made it to the Final Four in the GISA Class A state tournament.

"They are two of the better defensive players on the team," Coach Clayton Parrish said of the two.

Keen, the daughter of John and Rhonda Keen, and Henderson, the daughter of Bernie and Mimi Henderson of Washington, figure prominently in the Lady Bucs' future, according to Parrish.

"We haven't yet seen the full potential of Lizzie," Parrish said of Keen, who suffered an injury in the fall playing softball for the Lady Bucs. "She was playing with a shoulder injury all year.

Henderson has already made her in mark in the Lady Bucs' signature, man-to-man full court press, which won ball games for the team.

"Emily always guarded the other team's best player in the man to man, and she always played the top of the 1-3-1 defense, which is the toughest position to play."

Sophomore post Edwards, the son of Tommy and Robin Edwards, and freshman guard Pritchett, the son of Scott and Julie Pritchett, who gained a lot of valuable playing experience on the B-team, will both "have to step up next year on the varsity," according to Coach Fleming.

Edwards, who saw a lot of "quality minutes" on the varsity this past season, was second on the team in blocked shots, according to Fleming, who describes Edwards as a player, who is "at practice every day and working hard to get better."

Edwards started every game for the B-team Bucs this past season.

Pritchett, who also saw a lot of playing time on the varsity, was the second leading scorer for the Bteam. The "highlight" of his season was hitting a game winning threepointer for the B Bucs as the buzzer sounded against Gatewood School.

Another hard worker, Pritchett will see considerable action on the varsity next year, according to Fleming, who pointed out that the Bucs lost two seniors, both guards, to graduation.