PREP HOOPS: LSA’s Washington named girls Player of the Year

Lee-Scott’s Jessie Washington scored 1,433 points in her career with the Warriors, including a team-high 20.7 points per game this past year.

She made 202 3-pointers over her last two seasons, including hitting 127-of-302 (42.1 percent) of her shots from behind the arc as a senior.

And she’s not going to play basketball in college.

Lee-Scott’s 5-foot-3 senior guard has already signed a softball scholarship with Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga.

But she’ll be the queen of pickup games.

“If my coach’ll let me,” Washington said.

Washington, the AISA girls Player of the Year and the Opelika-Auburn News girls Player of the Year, was the first, and sometimes only offensive option, for 28-2 Lee-Scott during its run to the AISA championship.

Performances such as her 40 points in 14 minutes against Monroe Academy in the state quarterfinals made it easy to see why.

“Offensively, we wanted everything we did to go through her first,” Warriors coach Chad Prewett said. “She was being double-teamed and triple-teamed a lot of the year. So we had to be really creative on ways to get her open.

“Because of the unselfishness of our team, we could get her plenty of looks every night. We had three or four girls that didn’t shoot but a handful of shots all year, but they were screeners for her.”

Washington was also the Warriors’ leading scorer with 15.3 points per game as a junior, but she was one of three main weapons for Lee-Scott.

This year, she had to shoulder more of the load. And she had to face the added pressure and defensive attention that came with it.

“I just tried to keep everybody up and not get down on myself so much,” Washington said. “When you do that, it spreads around. I just tried to be the leader whatever I was going on.

“A lot of times, it did get the best of me. But I did try to keep everyone in the game and be the leader on the court.”

After two years of near misses in the state semifinals, Washington shined when it meant the most for the Warriors this year.

She averaged 24.2 points during the playoffs and poured in 32 points in Lee-Scott’s 71-49 title game win over Taylor Road, earning tournament MVP honors.

But she’ll have to save that jumper, the one that swished through so many nets barely touching the twine during her high-school career, for the practice court in college.

“She could play college basketball, there’s no doubt about it,” Prewett said. “It’s definitely a choice for her. You can even look around the
Division-I level and see what a difference the ability to shoot the basketball makes. And she would bring that to the table for anybody she plays for.”

At least she’ll have her senior season and that state championship ring to remind her.

Washington said she hadn’t had much of a chance to reflect on her final season with Lee-Scott before the team’s banquet two Sundays ago.

“It’s one of those bittersweet things, because you’re really happy but then you’re sad as ever,” she said.

“Our team was so close. We were like sisters. Every day was just so fun. Incredible.”

| 737-2568

Opelika-Auburn News All-Area Girls Teams
Small School (2A-AISA) All-Area 2009
—Lee-Scott Academy: Jessie Washington, Sr., G, 5-3. Averaged 20.7 points, and made 127 3s, for the state champion Warriors. AISA girls Player of the Year; O-A News girls Player of the Year.
—Lee-Scott Academy: Melissa Maddox, Jr., G, 5-4. Averaged 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.2 steals for the state champion Warriors. First-team All-State in the AISA.
—Reeltown: Mercedes Scott, Sr., G, 5-6. Averaged 15.6 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals for the Rebels.
—Loachapoka: Chantal Hall, Jr., F, 5-9. Averaged 23.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 6.0 steals for the 15-12 Indians. Honorable mention All-State in 1A.
—Lanett: Cortney Sims, Jr., F, 6-0. Averaged 12.0 points and 16.7 rebounds for the 22-8 Panthers. Honorable mention All-State in 2A.

Second Team
—DeSharte Edwards, So., G, 5-8, Edward Bell: 15.2 ppg, 8 rpg, 4 apg, 3 spg.
—Jennifer Finley, Sr., G, 5-6, Loachapoka: 11 ppg, 7 rpg, 6 apg, 7 spg.
—Shamiya Hicks, Jr., G, 5-10, Lanett: 15 ppg, 8 rpg.
—Olivia Maddox, Sr., G, 5-3, Lee-Scott: 9.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.4 spg.
—Maya O’Neal, So., G, 5-6, Reeltown: 12.6 ppg, 11 rpg, 5.4 apg.

Honorable Mention:—Edward Bell: Kierra Billingsley, Fr., G; Natalie Copeland, So., F.
—Lanett: Jasmine Dawson, Jr., G; Jabrea Stiggers, Fr., G.
—Notasulga: Cheyenne Carr, So., F; Rachel Foster, So., G; Natasha Williams, Jr., G.

Opelika-Auburn News All-Area Girls Teams
Large School (6A-3A) All-Area 2009
—Dadeville: Amilia Boone, Jr., G, 5-6. Averaged 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 steals for the 16-12 Tigers. Honorable mention All-State in 3A.
—Beauregard: Valeeta Bellamy, So., F, 5-7. Averaged 14.3 points, 10.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists for the 13-11 Hornets. Honorable mention All-State in 5A.
—BTW: Carman Freeman, Jr., G, 5-7. Averaged 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 9.0 assists for the 16-7 Golden Eagles. Honorable mention All-State in 5A.
—Smiths Station: DeJah Heard, Sr., G, 5-7. Averaged 15.0 points, 7.4 assists and 3.0 steals for the state semifinalist Panthers.
—Smiths Station: Erika Jones, Jr., C, 6-2. Averaged 13.0 points, 17.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks for the state semifinalist Panthers. Second-team All-State in 6A.

Second Team
—Jasmine Cannon, Sr., G, 5-11, Opelika: 12.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.2 spg.
—Monique Jackson, So., C, 6-1, Central: 15.7 ppg, 12.5 rpg.
—Cynteria Jones, Sr., C, 5-10, Dadeville: 13.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.9 spg.
—Vannessa Peterson, Sr., F, 5-11, Smiths Station: 10 ppg, 13 rpg, 3 apg.
—Tarnesha Stephens, Sr., G, 5-8, Auburn: 12.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3 spg.

Honorable Mention
—Auburn: Olivia Cook, Sr., F.
—Beauregard: Laveeta Bellamy, So., G.
—Central: Melissa Wallace, Jr., G.
—Opelika: Kieara Dexter, Sr., G.
—Valley: Sharavia Atkinson, Jr., F.