THOMASVILLE – Brookwood’s girl’s basketball team is under new leadership as the Lady Warriors welcomed in Nikolaus Schweikert from Ohio in the offseason.

“It’s all new for all of us. Five seniors are coming back that will be good leaders for us and then we have a good group of underclassmen coming up too,” Schweikert said. “So, we’re just excited to see the two mesh together and see how that can get us going in the right direction.”

Schweikert has an excellent foundation to build on. Last year Lady Warriors squad began the season with an 11-game win streak and ultimately went 18-9 and 5-5 in the region. They finished in third place and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs where they fell to Lakeview Academy 76-43.

Brookwood will miss last year’s best player Maddie Duncan, who was a dominant presence inside and led the Lady Warriors in rebounds, blocks, and steals. Despite losing Duncan to graduation, Schweikert has a good core coming back. Five seniors are returning to the roster, including leading scorer Morgan Boggs and assists leader Ainsley Jacobson. In addition, this Lady Warriors squad features seven freshmen. Such a young group mixed with a large group of upperclassman leaders presents a very good present with eyes toward the future. 

Schweikert said that most his focus is on building a good culture around the team, saying that culture build is something he gets “excited” about.

“One of the things I get excited about is just culture building. I think it’s been new to them on some of the things that I like to do for making sure we’re building a culture the right way to set a foundation for the future,” said Schweikert. “I always use the line, ‘We’re playing for the ones that came before us and setting a standard for those that follow’.”

When asked what Brookwood would look like on the court, Schweikert described an exciting brand of basketball with a focus on relentless pace.

“The big things we’re focusing on is the level of commitment we’re giving to our teammates and to each other and we want that to be displayed on the court by just kind of leaving no doubt with the style we play. It should be up-tempo and fast. It should be kind of relentless for 32 minutes on both ends of the floor,” Schweikert said. “There should never be a question on us playing as hard and as fast as we can… If a team leaves the court we always want them to remember that they played us.”

Brookwood’s season will begin November 11 when they take on Grace Christian Academy at 7 p.m.