The Apopka girls 2025-26 basketball season is underway. They are coming off a 9-13 season in which they lost six seniors but return two for coach Brittany Hardy’s 13th year at the helm.  

Their first game of the season on Tuesday night finished in a 47-28 loss at home to the Leesburg Yellow Jackets. 

Hardy says this season will be a marathon, not a sprint. 

“I just want these young ladies to go out here and have fun while we develop them this year,” Hardy said. “We’re going to take our time, go day by day, and get one percent better every day.” 

Hardy said she believes her players will step up this season. She hopes that her junior guard Deriyon Brinson and junior small forward Mikayla Wiggins will step up and become leaders.  

“I need them this year,” Hardy said. “I need them just to play basketball, they have the rest of the girls to just ride along the wave with them, and they have the support.” 

She also highlighted her two senior guards, Elyse Pringle and Martina Degrassi, and said she expects them to lead the charge with their experience and strong mindsets. 

The team practiced this preseason on a different court while their gym floor was refurbished. This game was the first action to take place on the new Blue Darter basketball court.  

Hardy said she doesn’t think the time spent practicing on a different court affected the first game on the new Blue Darter court.  

The Blue Darters opened the first quarter against the Yellow Jackets with a strong defensive showing.  Pringle and Wiggins anchored the defense, causing four steals which resulted in four points.  

Mikayla Wiggins got Apopka going with the first basket in the paint. They ended the quarter strong with an 8-4 lead. 

Leesburg made crucial changes that flipped the game on its head in the second quarter. They started to mix in full court presses with their half court pressure, leading to a lot of Blue Darter turnovers.  

They also started to run the offense through Morgan Campbell, who was the fuel for the Yellow Jackets for the rest of the game. 

Campbell opened the quarter with a three-point splash. She then got a steal and fastbreak layup to take their first lead, 13-12. She had 10 points in a 19-point dominant quarter for Leesburg, which went into the half 23-15. 

The third quarter was split evenly in points, with teams trading runs. After a short Leesburg run to put them up 12, Apopka’s leading rebounder from last season swung momentum.  

Sophomore Amari Dillon finished a basket through a hard foul and stood up, hyping her bench. Just one possession later, she rose up strong for an offensive rebound and putback layup. 

On defense, Dillon swiped the ball away from a Leesburg ballhandler and found Martina Degrassi on the left wing to bury an open 3-pointer. The 7-0 run brought it to a 32-27 game, but Leesburg’s Campbell extinguished the run.  

After hitting two free throws, she flung up a floater that went through the net at the third quarter buzzer.  

With a 36-28 lead heading into the fourth, Leesburg found full control of the Blue Darters offense. They held Apopka scoreless in the quarter, taking the first game of the season 47-28. Campbell dominated with 27 points, eight rebounds, and four steals. 

Degrassi led the Darters with seven points. Dillon had five points, seven rebounds, and a steal. Pringle had five points, four rebounds, and two steals. 

Hardy said she knows the team has work to be done as they dive into the season 

“We got to shoot the ball, we had a lot of opportunities where we could have shot the ball and they put the ball on the ground,” Hardy said. “We’re dribbling way too much and not making that one more pass that we need to. I think we have the opportunities; we’re just not taking or executing them.” 

Apopka hits the road for game two of the season against the Colonial Grenadiers (2-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, at Colonial High School.