April 6, 2012

William Monroe's Brianna Allen helped guide the girls' basketball team to the Bull Run District semifinals and Region II quarterfinals this winter. Head girls' coach Philip Lamb called senior guard's impact on the court impressive, but her ability to keep the team spirit up even better."

"I don't think I've ever seen her have a bad day," he said. "She's always positive and it is contagious to the other players...we fed off that energy this year."

"It just comes naturally I guess," said Bri. "I just always try to think of things on a positive note because I don't really like thinking of the negative things because it just gets everyone down."

In addition to keeping pace among the top students in her class, Bri doubles as a swimmer and basketball player in the winter season. The senior also competes on the Dragons' competition cheerleading squad in the fall.

"I just tried to focus on whatever was going on at the time," she said of her busy schedule. "I do swimming and basketball at the same time so I tried to forget about the other one and focus on one."

"Honestly I don't know how she does all those things but she does," said William Monroe head basketball coach Philip Lamb. "I think it just goes back and says what kind of person she is as a whole. She's got the right kind of character. She's the type of person that represents all that's good about high school sports."

Besides being a spark offensively and defensively for Monroe on the basketball court, the senior also mentors younger athletes as part of the 'Future Dragons Club.'

"It is rewarding," Bri said of the experience. "I like seeing the future people that want to play basketball or get into sports because it's nice to see the people in the future that want to step up and take our spots."

"As a coach it's nice that I can trust my players to do the right thing on the court and off the court," added Lamb. "And for them to be a mentor to those younger athletes, it just makes those athletes want to be a part of what we do here."