Crenshaw Takes Game Sky High : Girls’ Basketball Team Will Fly to Africa to Represent the U.S. in 4-Country Tour

Crenshaw High girls’ basketball team reached new heights when they won their second consecutive City Section 4-A Division title. But the Cougars didn’t realize their victory would carry them another 10,000 feet in the air and halfway around the world.

The Cougars, along with two-time City 3-A boys’ champion Wilmington Banning, have been chosen to represent the United States in the Africa Challenge Tour. They depart July 27 on a monthlong trip that begins in Paris and continues through four countries in Western Africa.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip,” Crenshaw sophomore center Naila Mosely said. “Most people don’t get a chance to travel to another country. I’ve only been to Las Vegas and cities in California.”

Banning and Crenshaw will participate in boys’ and girls’ tournaments in Benin, Togo, the Central African Republic and Gabon. Co-Coach Greg Cobbs will be responsible for the seven Cougar girls making the trip and Banning Coach Marc Paez will escort the seven Pilot boys.

“It will be a lot of work and a burden to a certain degree,” Cobbs said. “But how many people have you talked to have ever been to Paris?”

Making the trip for the Cougars are: Mosely, All-City Section senior guard Kristi Lattin, junior point guard Devin King, senior forward Bridget Jemison, senior guard Sommer Tillet, junior forward Quiana Knox and sophomore forward Kisha Shephard.

“When my coaches told me, I said ‘For real?’ I was shocked,” Lattin said. “I think the girls deserve it because we won City two years in a row. We get to learn about other people and a new culture firsthand, and not from a book.”

None of the seven girls making the trip have ever traveled outside the United States and only three players have ever flown.

“No, I’ve never been on a plane before,” Knox said. “I’m kind of scared. I’m also worried about getting homesick if we’re gone too long. In my environment, I’m used to seeing the same people every day. But I’ll make the best of it.”

Even Jemison, the team’s most experienced traveler, said she was apprehensive.

“I’m worried about the plane shaking, probably because I watch too much TV,” Jemison said.

The African tour is sponsored by the French National Basketball Federation, which each year selects European teams to compete and help promote basketball in Africa.

City Commissioner Barbara Fiege said she was told by a tournament official that this is the first time teams from the United States have been asked to participate.

“The invitation was presented to the school district as an all-expense-paid trip for two teams of seven players each and a coach to travel to Africa,” she said. “The Senior High Division selected Banning and Crenshaw based on their double victories in City championship games. It was up to the individual schools to decide whether they sent their boys’ or girls’ teams.”

Fiege said the details of the trip have been sketchy so far because the information she has received has been written in French.

“I have had to have everything translated into English because my French isn’t very good.”

Although the trip is a month away, some Cougars have already thought about packing.

“I’m taking my whole wardrobe,” Knox said. “I think it’s going to be hot so I’ll need a visor and lots of suntan lotion.”

The players’ parents, however, have more pressing things to worry about. For most, this will be the first time their children have been away from home for more than a few days.

Said Tillet’s mother, Delsie: “All the mothers are concerned because they are girls and they’re not as emotionally and physically as tough as the boys. As a mother you do research and study about the countries so you can prepare your child for anything they may encounter.”

Said Lattin’s mother, Gloria: “My husband has talked to her about the trip. He explained to her how she should carry herself when she is away from home and if something were to happen, who to call.

“But I feel helpless because if something happens, I’m not there to help her,” she said.

Despite their inhibitions, the players and their parents agree it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I think it’s a great opportunity and a great learning experience,” Paez said.