Grace James has overcome many obstacles during its first year of high school varsity basketball.

The team is composed of four freshmen, two seventh-graders and seven eighth-graders. There are no sophomores, juniors or seniors on the roster.

On top of that, it doesn't officially have a home basketball court where it can practice or play games.

Still, ahead of its game Thursday against Southern, Grace James is 11-2.

"I think that our girls are built for this situation," athletics director Cory Rawlins said. "I think they come into the school ready to take on challenges.

"There's a strenuous application process where we look at academic behavior, test scores and bus behavior. We look at all aspects of the child when we're looking at applicants and reviewing applications, so these kids are ready to take on whatever."

Grace James opened in fall 2020 as an all-girls school for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and math) education. It teaches grades 6-9 and plans to add a class each year.

Despite its impressive start to the season, Grace James is not eligible to compete in a postseason tournament under KHSAA rules until it has a graduating high school class.

"I knew that we would be a force to be reckoned with if we had to go practice across the street at a park on a blacktop court; we were going to make it work just because the girls ... want to be there," Rawlins said. "They want to succeed. No matter what they go through, that's what they're determined to do."

'Started from the bottom'

Armond Wilson has been the head basketball coach for Grace James since Day 1, and he doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon.

Wilson, who also coaches AAU basketball, thought he was done coaching at schools after he applied for a few jobs and wasn't brought in for an interview.

When three girls at Grace James expressed interest in playing basketball, an administrator at the school who knew Wilson through AAU approached him about the job.

Wilson met with Rawlins in the "Gym-Auditorium," a room with 15- to 20-foot ceilings, ceramic floors and two dated backyard basketball goals.

Starting a program with limited resources didn't deter Wilson from committing to the job.

The first year of middle school basketball, Grace James had 30 girls try out for the team. Only three had experience playing basketball.

"We started from the bottom," Wilson said. "Straight basketball, skill work, dribbling, shooting, passing, you know, elementary school drills."

The three girls with experience helped him get the other girls up to speed during the program's first year.

People at the school and in the community have helped, too.

Parkland Boys and Girls Club provides practice space for the team and its members pick the girls up from school, provide food and help tutor them. With Grace James not having an activity bus, school counselors and vice principals also help transport players to games and practices.

"We've had a lot of community partners help us along the way, build the program and offer their gym space. We've also had a lot of doors closed," Rawlins said. "A lot of people in the community say no, so we've had to fight through adversity. ... I mean, we've had to fight other schools in the district and even the district itself to get gym space. So, ultimately, we're trying to advocate for the girls and give them the best opportunity possible."

'Let's make history'

In the first year of middle school basketball, Grace James lost in the first round of the playoffs.

In the second year, it got revenge in the championship game — beating a Jefferson County Traditional Middle School team it lost to earlier in the season.

John Hardin and Holy Cross are the only teams that have beat the varsity squad this season.

The middle school team was undefeated through Thursday.

Some girls compete for both teams, sometimes playing three or four games in a week.

"Even though we've had these girls since Day 1, the one thing that propels our chemistry is how it's not just basketball," Wilson said. "You may look up and see them all out somewhere hanging together, outside of school, and outside of basketball, which helps us win, which helps us on the floor as well, because they know each other."

Added eighth grader Faith Mosley, one of the varsity team's scoring leaders at 18.9 points per game, who has attended Grace James since she was in sixth grade, "When I first got here, it was very much a learning experience; I had to learn how to become a leader, how to lead a team, and how to tell my teammates, 'OK, not everybody's on the same level. But ... we can still do good.'

"This experience has given me a lot of confidence," Mosley said. "... Now we're starting to see actual progress. We're beating high school teams as freshmen and eighth graders."

While the school has seen a lot of success on the court, obstacles remain.

Because Grace James is unable to host games, the school can't charge for entry. Manual, Western and Shawnee have let Grace James play some high school games in their gyms.

But even with the challenges and the varsity team not eligible to compete for championships yet, Wilson said his team remains motivated.

"Our thing is, let's make history," Wilson said. "We're taking this season and setting a Grace James standard. When you play basketball at Grace James, this is our goal; this is what we're going to do. We're not looking at state, we're not looking at district and not looking at region. This is the building block. This is the foundation; this is what we expect."

Reach sports reporter Prince James Story at pstory@gannett.com and follow him on X at @PrinceJStory.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA basketball: Grace James Academy starts 1st varsity season 11-2