Laila Sigure wins the opening tip for NISH against Westgate.

Last season, under first-year coaches Shalicia and Chris Johnson, the New Iberia Senior High Lady Jackets won 10 games and just missed out on the postseason.

Now that the duo are back for their second season in running the Lady Jackets, there are more expectations for the 2021-2 season.

“Last year we had a new staff come in and we had a baby group of sophomores and freshmen and our goal was to create a culture where we could get NISH back to its winning ways,” Chris Johnson said. “The idea was to fight and focus and we did.

“Now the kids are a year older and making more mature basketball plays.”

Johnson said that the Lady Jackets were hit by COVID one time but the team and the coaches got their vaccinations and the squad really didn’t lose much time to the virus.

Now the the new year as arrived, the NISH coach feels that his team is ready to make a big jump.

“We don’t have a senior this year,” he said. “We know that we are locked and loaded and our biggest push is to continue to let the girls have fun.”

Johnson said that the players he is most counting on this season are La’Nasia Lively, Laila Sigure, Zoriahn Davis and Jasmine Picard.

Joining them will be Riley Guillotte and Arianna Brown are the fifth spot in the starting lineup and three more reserves off the bench.

“Sigure and Lively, a sophomore and a junior, are the ones that I’m counting on most this year,” Davis said. “We need to get everyone on board with them and we can rock and roll as a team. We need to get this team in the paper so the community can come out and support them.

“The community has been doing a tremendous job of coming out and supporting the girls basketball team.”

Johnson would like to see two major things from his team this season.

“Attitude and effort,” he said. “The two things that we can control. Give me great attitude and come out and work hard and that’s all I want from this team. That’s what we can control.

“We’ve been winning early and win you win, it builds confidence and right now the girls are having fun and that’s what we want to see.”