It wasn’t too long ago that Brea Castro Gambrell was the new girl in town. Manhattan Center coach Jaywana Bradley dubbed her “my sophomore secret” two seasons ago after the 5-foot-10 transfer from Cathedral HS had a big game against rival John F. Kennedy.
Castro Gambrell isn’t a secret any longer. She was a vital piece in Manhattan Center’s run to the PSAL Class AA semifinals this past winter. And this coming season she’ll follow in the footsteps of China Crosby and Aziza Patterson as a team leader.
“I feel old,” Castro Gambrell joked.
But while some players will clam up at the thought of leadership, Castro Gambrell is ready to embrace the role. She has already taken it on this summer with the Bradley-coached Long Island Lightning Dingle travel team. Manhattan Center teammates Yen Pham and Michelle Valle play on the Lightning, which fell Sunday in overtime to New Heights White in the Uptown Challenge.
“It’s gonna be good,” Castro Gambrell said. “I’m ready. I’m trying to make sure everybody is in order, trying to make sure [rising sophomores] Janicha [Diaz Carrion] and Kyale [Waters], they’re still on track.”
She says she’s learned a few things over the past two years about leadership. Crosby, after all, was one of the best court generals New York City has seen in the last decade or so.
“No drama on the court,” Castro Gambrell said. “Whatever drama is off the court stays off the court. At the end of the day, you got your team and no one else is gonna be there for you.”
The Lady Rams seem to be ready right now to start the school season. They were devastated by a blowout loss to Kennedy in the semifinals. Castro Gambrell said the words “want to win” almost a half dozen times in a short conversation Sunday.
“She’s matured a lot,” fellow Manhattan Center rising senior Kiarah Dunlap said. “She’s taken the game a little bit more seriously since last year. She just wants to win. We all want to win.”
Manhattan Center seemed to do more winning late in the season when Bradley moved Castro Gambrell to the wing. The bullish left-handed forward was hard to stop charging to the basket and extremely adept at finishing around the rim. Legendary coach Hammer Stevens of the CAS Douglass Panthers, who has coached Castro Gambrell for years, thinks she’s much more suited on the perimeter.
“I even let her play the point sometimes if we’re a little bit bigger,” Stevens said after his Harlem USA team fell to Baseline NYC at Conrad McRae on Sunday. “She can handle the ball very well. … She can shoot the ball. Her problem is that because of her size, they don’t really put her outside to shoot. She can be a matchup problem.”
Castro Gambrell isn’t thinking about college – she said to ask Bradley what schools are recruiting her – and isn’t concerned what position she’ll play once November rolls around. There’s just one thing on her mind, even in the dog days of summer.
“Wherever they need me, that’s where I’ll play,” Castro Gambrell said. “I just want to win.”