The Reynoldsburg girls’ basketball team has not lost to an Ohio team this season and is on track to win the OCC-Buckeye division.
The Raiders are led by the dynamic duo of Mya Perry and Imarianah Russell who have been best friends for 11 years and grew up playing with and against each other.
Perry will stay at home and play for Ohio State next year while Russell is headed to West Virginia but they’re enjoying one last season as teammates as they try to lead the Raiders to their first state title.
“We clicking and y’all got to watch out for us,” Russell said.
Perry and Russell have the raiders rolling and share a chemistry that’s years in the making.
“She’s been like family to me, so sharing that bond and knowing I can trust her off the court makes it so much easier to trust her on the court,” Perry said.
The duo were on different teams their first two years of high school when Russell played at Coffman but they reunited last season at Reynoldsburg and are primed for a deep postseason run.
“Sharing the court with her, we have that special bond where we can look at each other and we know oh one of us is about to cut get that pass there,” Russell said.
Jack Purtell is in his 20th season at Reynoldsburg but says Mya and Imarianah are doing something he’s never seen before.
“It’s probably as good a 1-2 punch as we’ve had,” Purtell said. “We’ve never had two kids average 20 points a game. They’re both good leaders, they’re hard workers and they come from great families and it’s going to be fun to watch them move forward.”
The inseparable duo have two months left wearing the purple and gold before going their own direction at the next level.
“Schools were coming at me hard but Ohio State, it’s home and I really love being there and I Iove the atmosphere there, so I just knew I was going to stay,” Perry said.
“That decision was hard because a lot of school came at me and it was like ‘who was I going to pick?’ but it was about where I really felt at home and when I went to West V I felt home there,” Russell said.
But but before Perry and Russell leave, they’ve got unfinished business after losing in the regional round the last three years.
“We want each other to be great,” Russell said. “We all have the same goal in mind: we all want to win states.”