The Starkville Academy girls basketball team used a group approach all the way through a historic season.
The Lady Volunteers’ team success resulted in a pair of individual honors earlier this week that coach Glenn Schmidt feel represent the special nature of everything the 2011-12 team accomplished.
Sophomore Sallie Kate Richardson and junior Anna Lea Little were named to the All-Mississippi Association of Independent School second team. Hebron Christian’s Tori Nichols also was named to the first team.
Eleven boys and girls from all classifications were recognized on a first and a second team. Leake Academy’s Anna Katherine Nowell and Jackson Prep’s Josh Williams were named girls and boys MVPs.
All coaches from all classifications voted on the teams. Schmidt was pleased that two of her players were recognized, especially because many of the coaches most likely didn’t see her team play this season.
“When you consider it was voted on by everyone, we’re lucky to get two players on the team,” Schmidt said.
Any coaches who saw Starkville Academy play this season had to be impressed. The Lady Volunteers won the Class AAA, Division II title, the Class AAA championship, and the overall state title en route to a history-making 38-5 finish.
Richardson and Little were the statistical leaders on a team that relied on a variety of contributors to earn three titles. Richardson, the team’s center, led the squad in scoring at 12.9 points per game. She also averaged 8.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.6 blocked shots per game.
“Sallie Kate emerged as one of the most outstanding post players in the state,” Schmidt said. “As evidenced by the stats, she got the job done, and she has improved every year she has played.”
Little, a forward, was second on the team in scoring at 12.6 ppg. She also averaged 5.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks. She led the team with 84 3-pointers, and shot 46.7 percent from the field, including 50.3 percent from 3-point range.
“Anna Lea Little had a breakout year,” Schmidt said. “She established herself as a phenomenal shooter and rebounded well.
“Both girls played great defense. It is an individual honor they have worked extremely hard for.”
Schmidt said many other players on this season’s team easily could have won individual awards, including senior point guard Anna Prestridge, whose leadership and defense were integral ingredients to the team’s success. But Schmidt said each individual honor is a team honor because it recognizes what Starkville Academy did thanks to its ability to buy into the team approach.
Nichols, a 6-foot-3 center, was one of the most dominant players in Class A girls basketball. Hebron Christian coach William Cotton said Nichols, who also was a standout on the school’s fast-pitch softball team, averaged 23.2 points, 16.9 rebounds, and 8.9 blocked shots this season. He said she shot better than 47 percent from the field, which is even more impressive considering she often was double- and triple-teamed.
“She handled that kind of attitude real well,” Cotton said. “We things built around her and she worked hard with her teammates and they worked hard with her.”
Cotton said Nichols signed a letter of intent Friday to play basketball at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Ark. He said she shouldered the responsibility of being a go-to player and a team leader exceptionally well.
“She was not afraid to take charge and step up and go, and, at the same time, share the ball with others,” Cotton said. “When the time comes and the shot has to be shot, she is not afraid to step up there and do it.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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