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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

When Brandasia Cofield left LaGrange High following her freshman season, it was a tough blow for the girls’ basketball program.

Cofield was a key player on an exceptional team during the 2017-2018 season, but when the school year ended, she and her family moved to Mississippi.

“She came to me her freshman year, and she ended up starting that season, and we went 12-0 in the region,” said LaGrange head coach Stephen Tuck. “She was a starter in basketball, and she did anything that we asked her to do. We asked her to run through a brick wall, she’d do it. That’s one of the things we loved about her.”

Fortunately for Tuck and the program, Cofield returned to LaGrange High for her senior season.

Cofield was a key contributor on a team that made tremendous strides after some difficult years.

LaGrange, after failing to win a region game the previous season, won four region games during the 2020-2021 season, and Cofield helped spur the turnaround.

Cofield’s stellar body of work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and she will get the opportunity to play basketball on the next level at Holmes Community College in Mississippi.

“She came back here for her senior year, and I asked her what her plan was,” Tuck said. “Do you want to play college basketball? She said coach Tuck, I want to play college basketball. And the thing I asked her was, are you willing to work? She said coach Tuck, I want to work.”

Cofield is grateful to everyone who has helped her achieve this goal.

“I’d like to thank my friends and my family supporting me through all my decisions, especially my last big decision that I made,” Cofield said. “I’d also like to thank my coaches for supporting me through the whole season, and I want to thank coach Tuck not only for being a father figure to me, but for pushing me every day to be my best.”

Cofield, strictly a post player as a freshman, was asked to do a lot more when she returned as a senior.

“She played center her freshman year, and by the time she was a senior she was a small forward and shooting guard,” Tuck said. “She handled the ball. She was frustrated at times, but each and every day, each and every workout session, each and every game, she got better, she continued to get better, and continued to get better. It was a joy watching her get better.”