With sweat dripping down her face, freshman varsity point guard Savannah Simmons pressures her opposition on press defense, and she kicks the ball. Simmons forgets what sport she is playing for a slight moment. She now stands in the midst of her most embarrassing moment while playing basketball.

“For a second I just forgot which sport I was playing,” Savannah Simmons said.  Savannah Simmons played center-mid for the soccer team in the fall and is currently not planning to play a spring sport. Although Savannah Simmons participates in multiple sports, basketball is her favorite and main sports.

Savannah Simmons started playing basketball after watching her brother play and constantly being around the basketball atmosphere.

“Basketball has made a huge impact on my life. Without it I wouldn’t know what to do,” Simmons said. Simmons has been playing basketball for seven years now and currently is in the gym seven days a week, either having practices or games.

“I think she has progressed nicely during the years. I have coached her from age nine, so I can really track her progress through the years,” varsity women’s basketball head coach and Simmons’s father, Craig Simmons, said.

As a parent-coach, Simmons is also very impressed by his daughter. “She is an amazing young lady. I couldn’t be more proud of the person she has become,” coach Simmons said.

“My dad is the most inspirational person in my basketball career,” Simmons said. When coach Simmons heard this, he was surprised. “I think it’s great, especially from a parent’s perspective. Having that type of positive influence over your kid can only strengthen your relationship between each other,” Craig Simmons said.

The relationship, in Savannah Simmons opinion, grows and strengthens the father-daughter and coach-player relationship. “I think it’s a better thing because he can tell me what I’m doing straight up and helps me on the court. I know exactly how to handle it and I know what he likes and doesn’t like,” Savannah Simmons said.

Savannah Simmons has won two state championships for the Baltimore Stars AAU team that were coached by her father and current head coach.

Not only was Savannah Simmons a starter on those teams, but she played an age group up on both teams. When she was in seventh grade, she played with eighth graders, and when she was in eighth grade she played with ninth graders.

Savannah Simmons is now, again, one of the youngest players on her team, but this time it’s the Lady Patriots varsity basketball team.

“[She] has adapted very well,” senior varsity center and captain Ashley Hunter said. “She is a natural born leader and I can tell that when she becomes an upperclassmen she will lead this team to many great successes.”

Although Savannah Simmons is used to playing up a year, playing varsity basketball as a freshman is a new experience. According to Hunter, she has exceeded expectations and stayed calm enough to make it look easy to do as a freshman.

“I think it’s nerve-wracking but I think that it makes me better starting out, and I’m glad to be on the team,” Savannah Simmons said. “I’m just glad to be on this varsity team. Go Patriots.”

Kishan Patel is a Sports Editor for the Patriot and jcpatriot.com.