Randall, Taylor named Athletes of the Week

It’s that time of year where most fall sports have ended and winter sports are getting underway.

Graham’s football team is gearing up for a hopefully long playoff run while the girls basketball team has gotten a few games under their belts.

For their performances recently, Briley Randall of the Lady Blues basketball team and Ryder Taylor of the Steers football team earned selections as Athletes of the Week.

Briley Randall, Lady Blues basketball

Randall had only played a portion of a season on Graham’s varsity team coming into this year, but she’s begun play looking like a seasoned veteran.

The junior is one of the team’s main post players, and it hasn’t taken long for head coach Baylee Thompson to notice some of the differences and improvements Randall has made from last year to this one.

“The main thing has been working on her confidence and confidently knowing what to do,” Thompson said. “That means reading defenses and things like that. We just worked on her first post move and it’s all starting to come together for her.”

In addition to her growing confidence and comfort in Graham’s system, Randall has improved an important piece of her offensive game: shooting the ball.

“I told my post (players), ‘You all are going to have to be shooters too… You all need to be able to hit that shot whenever (defenders) leave it open, because I want you all to be threats and options,’” Thompson said. “Briley really took that to heart. She started showing up to open gym. She’s been working on her shooting, and it’s shown, it’s reflecting in her games.”

In Graham’s season opener on the road against Haskell, Randall scored more than half her team’s points as she set a career high with 21 points scored. She knocked down shots when needed and always seemed to be in the right spot.

She scored 4 points in the team’s second game and 9 points in their most recent win, but her presence in the post makes her a key part of the team. As the season progresses, she’ll be relied on heavily for her ability to make a difference all around.
 

Ryder Taylor, Steers football

“He’s just Mr. Consistency. I don’t think he gets a lot of fanfare.”

Head coach Clay McChristian said this about Taylor when beginning to describe the senior’s contributions to this year’s outstanding Graham defense.

“He doesn’t get people talking about him a lot, but he really, truly, is probably one of the most solid guys on a really solid defense,” the head coach continued.

Taylor has been one of the Steers’ top defensive players this season, and he’s been doing it at one of the most difficult positions. As a cornerback, Taylor gets asked to do a lot of different things, but he’s taken everything that’s been asked of him and done it at a high level.

The senior, who’s committed to play college baseball at the next level, plays cornerback like a linebacker. With his physicality, he’s able to stop the run, but he also possesses the speed and ball skills to make plays as a defensive back.

In Graham’s regular season finale against Eagle Mountain, Taylor set the tone at the beginning of the game with a pick-6 touchdown. It was his second interception of the year, and he returned both of them for touchdowns.

Taylor finished the game with six tackles, two of which were for loss. McChristian said a lot of teams will run or throw the ball to their own sideline, which is where Taylor tends to be. That’s why people may not notice as much of what he does, but against the Knights, he showcased more examples of why it can be foolish for opposing offenses to try to attack him.

“We like to put him where the ball is going to be, whether it’s being thrown or run,” McChristian said. “... We want him around the ball, because whether he’s covering somebody or if they’re running the ball his way, we want him at the point of contact.”