Just six points separated Heritage Academy senior Lucy Sharp from 1,000 points in her high school career entering the Patriots’ Dec. 27 game against Delta Academy.
That number was more than four years in the making for Sharp, who has been a frontcourt staple for the Pats.
Sharp was on point to begin the game and got to the foul line looking to make that milestone a reality.
She did just that, sinking a free throw to join Heritage’s 1K club, and the celebration was on. A week later, Sharp further cemented herself in Pats history as she recorded her 1,000th rebound against Bayou Academy.
Her accomplishments are ongoing, but the hard work hasn’t stopped as her aspirations for playing at the next level continue to grow.
“There was a lot of pressure on that free throw, but I made it,” Sharp said. “After I made it, I was so excited and I knew that I had been working so hard toward that. It’s something that I never thought I would hit, but I did.”
The last two seasons for Sharp have been a revelation compared to the start of her high school career. Playing as a forward for the Patriots, her 5-foot-11 frame has been plenty tall enough stacked up against district opponents and other MAIS foes.
However, a 5-foot-11 forward doesn’t necessarily translate the same into the college game, with bigs consistently standing 6-foot-2 or taller.
That doesn’t mean that a smaller forward can’t dominate, but it helped Sharp realize that she needed to alter her game to reflect the next steps she wanted to take, and that began during AAU ball with the Mississippi Jazz.
“She really has no offseason, so that’s really paid off,” Heritage Academy girls head coach Miriam ‘Moe’ Reed said. “A lot of kids aren’t willing to do that, and she’s put that time in and made that commitment. She’s reaping exactly what she’s put in.
“… I knew with her size that she was going to have to develop guard skills, and I think her AAU coach also saw the same thing.”
Once a player who would have looked at her coaches in disbelief if she was asked to shoot a 3-pointer, Sharp is now one of the leading 3-point shooters for Heritage Academy.
That work began in AAU ball and when playing the best players in Mississippi and in the southern part of the U.S., those skillsets rub off on players.
Sharp was no different. She started gaining confidence from the perimeter, something that’s opened up the floor for her and made things much easier offensively.
“I’ve definitely had to work on that and work on my ball-handling,” Sharp said. “Driving to the basket was also something that was important for me … I wasn’t comfortable at all taking 3s. Doing that in AAU, playing against top competition, was really scary, but I just continued to work at it.
“My coach knew what he was talking about, so I trusted him and kept practicing, going in the gym twice as much as I would normally.”
The change in her game was felt immediately, and it amounted to more production on the floor and more success overall.
Sharp, while being a smaller post player than her counterparts across AAU ball, has made the necessary tweaks to put herself in a place where she’s now received several collegiate offers, including staying local at The W.
There’s still more to play this season, which means more opportunities and time for more collegiate offers, but hitting those milestones this season made her take a quick step back.
Both were goals she set out to achieve, and she did.
“It’s crazy to think about how many points that actually is,” Sharp said. “It’s crazy to think of all the shots I had to take, the hours I spent in the gym to work toward that.”
Sharp still has work to do in her senior season with the Pats, who sit at 12-12 on the year with playoffs looming in the distance.
All hands are on deck for an exciting finish and a hopeful postseason run.
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