Robinson has had a dominant basketball season so far and Annie Keith (’27) is one of the key reasons why. Breaking away to an impressive 12-3 record, Robinson is currently second in the district, going undefeated against their fellow teams in 4A district 10. Additionally, they’ve had several crucial victories against other great teams, notably against rivals Plant High school. Throughout all of this success, Keith, a sophomore on the Robinson team has constantly risen to any occasion, repeatedly providing crucial performances against tough competitors.
“She’s taken a big step forward in all aspects of the game,” Girls Coach Gerald Batista said. “She gets it going with her ability to read the other teams passes and gets her hands on a lot of steals.”
Last year as a freshman, Keith averaged 9.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.4 steals per game. Although nothing to scoff at, she has blown her previous stats out of the water with her performances this year, completely revamping her game, to great success.
“She’s currently leading the team in scoring and rebounding,” Batista said. “She’s a bit more confident on the floor.”
This year, Keith has dominated stat-lines, averaging a massive 14.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.1 steals, leading the Robinson team in all three of those categories and finishing in the top three for assists, field-goal and free-throw percentage, proving her immense contributions to the knight’s successful season.
“[Keith] is a really key player to the team,” Point-guard Emma Herlihy (’28) said. “She sets a high bar that encourages the freshmen to want to improve.”
Naturally, when having as successful of a season as she is experiencing, it’s no surprise that she is acting as a good role model for the freshman. But more so than just inadvertently inspiring underclassmen, Keith plays a key role in the development of new players and the Robinson girls varsity basketball culture as a whole. Her contributions span far past just setting a high bar, with Keith consistently helping out all over girls’ basketball.
“She helps out when we are short on people for JV games,” Herlihy said. “[This] shows a lot of the younger players who don’t play varsity how to properly play the game, and how to do it well.”
Having a role model to base your play style, dedication, and work ethic off of is incredibly important, especially in basketball. After all, Lebron learned a lot of his personalized play style and moves from watching Michael Jordan. This just goes to show how important it is that Keith is helping out with the younger players on the JV team, and how beneficially her tutelage could be for the future of Robinson girls basketball.
For Keith, basketball isn’t just an intense competition, but also a place to enjoy herself and have fun, which may contribute to her success on the court.
“Being on the team is fun,” Keith said. “All the teammates are very supportive and we make practice fun.”
Clearly not just enjoying her successful season, Keith also seems to enjoy being on and playing with the Robinson team, making this season’s dominant performance by Robinson mean much more, as it’s not just about her individual success, but also about what they have achieved as a team.
The girls only have two more scheduled regular season games, with districts, and the pursuit of glory rapidly approaching.
“We’re in good shape right now. We are currently leading the district, and we look to keep it there and hold off our competitors and rivals,” Batista said.
Due to the efforts of Keith, other dominant players and the team as a whole, Robinson has found great success this season and is looking to take it a step further as the competition heats up in districts starting on January 28th, hoping to find victory over their opponents just as they have all season long.