Randolph Leads Germantown Lady Panthers

The Germantown Lady Panthers AAU organization has had an eventful summer to say the least.

The Lady Panthers have participated in three events this summer including the AAU Nationals in Orlando and the U.S. Junior Nationals that were held in Washington, D.C. recently.

The organization was founded in 2000 by head coach Milton Kimbrough and boasts some of the area’s top players including Good Counsel rising senior Faith Randolph who has verbally committed to play college basketball at the University of Virginia.

“The biggest thing,” said Kimbrough, “is the fact that these young ladies are going to college.”

The Lady Panthers went unbeaten during an event at Penn State earlier this year and have recorded an 18-2 mark this summer.

The Lady Panthers finished 6-1 during the U.S. Junior Nationals thanks in part to Randolph’s stellar performance.

“She lit it up,” said Kimbrough. “She averaged about 22 points for the tournament and led the way.”

Randolph, a 5-foot-10 guard, is among the nation’s top players in the Class of 2012 and ranked No. 27 by ESPN HoopGurlz.

“Faith is a major talent,” said Lisa Bodine, a national evaluator for ESPN HoopGurlz. “She’s a natural born shooter that can play combo [guard] but is most effective as a shooting guard.”

However, Randolph is not the only talented player in the organization.

Montgomery County public school standouts such as Carla Batchelor (Northwest), Colleen Marshall (Gaithersburg), Sarafina Arthur-Williams (Churchill) and Kelli Prange (Damascus) are also on the team but Randolph is the Lady Panthers’ unquestioned leader.

“My program just really stresses discipline and development,” said Kimbrough, “and Faith has followed that regiment all the way through and it has paid off.”