MANCOS – Bluejays senior basketball player Randi Lewis could easily have stepped away.
After a historic Bluejays basketball season in 2023-24, one in which Lewis stepped into Blue Arena in Loveland to represent the program’s high-water mark – a fifth-place finish in the 2A state tournament – she could have happily cosigned on the pinnacle of Mancos girls basketball and turned the page.
With the University of Wyoming in her future and thinking of saving money with her after-school job, Lewis could have readily told herself that she just didn’t have time to play ball for one more season.
But she didn’t.
Knowing that the season would be full of new challenges with a brand-new core of Jays, Lewis suited up for her final campaign, surrounded by a roster where only she and junior Destiny Kramer had seen varsity minutes.
After the final horn sounded on Mancos’ Senior Night victory over Dolores, the Bluejays bench mobbed Lewis, honoring her testament to resilience – and for having chosen to stick with them to the end.
“I wanted to play for the girls that I’ve been playing with since middle school,” said Lewis.
No, there wouldn’t be a postseason run for the Jays this year – they would settle for fourth place in the San Juan Basin League – but after the dust settled from the Senior Night fanfare, the feisty guard etched her own legacy in Mancos athletics lore.
Lewis proved herself as one of the most aggressive defenders in the league – a distinction that head coach Julie Oliver knew would be a double-edged sword.
“There were times where we’d have to reel her in a bit,” said Oliver, “but she has the personality of a leader, especially for a team that was so young – we couldn’t have asked for anything more from her.”
Lewis’ numbers reflected her energy – high steal and assist totals – while teammates like Kramer, junior Caylee Moore and freshman Tinsley Aspromonte showed what the next wave of Mancos girls basketball will look like.
“When one of my teammates scores, I’ll be the loudest in the gym to let them know I’m proud of them,” said Lewis.
A tough start to the schedule put the Jays through plenty of adversity, which could have easily trampled their confidence, but Lewis and her teammates persevered through the challenges.
“Our coaches helped us take what we could learn from that rough start, so once we started to play within our league, it began to really make sense,” said Lewis.
Mancos collected seven wins and with each passing week, looked to be building confidence about their new identity under Oliver.
“It takes one person to make the whole team step it up – and in the games that we won, our hustle was what helped us,” added Lewis.
The adjustment to a new head coach in her final year added a learning curve as well, especially as the Jays shifted from a high-pressing team to a more methodical half-court offense.
“We went into the first few practices of the season where she (Coach Oliver) was looking to learn who we were,” said Lewis of her head coach, “and with each passing game, she brought more knowledge and we were able to take it in and apply it.”
Lewis led by example – she would be the first to swipe for a steal or dive on a loose ball – something that fed her team’s energy, even when things weren’t looking good on the scoreboard.
The senior guard buried a couple of three-pointers early in the contest against Dolores on her Senior Night that ignited a big win for the Jays, ending her season and career with its own movie script finale.
“I’m proud of us for where we finished,” said Lewis, who looks to pursue degrees in English and pre-law during her undergrad studies in Laramie, “and it helped that I felt like I was best friends with my teammates.”
It was a process that made all the years of camps, off-season workouts, scrapes and bruises all worth it.
“When you have teammates that you care about, you show up for them even when you may not want to show up for yourself,” said Lewis.
