Five Players to Watch in Pinellas County
Pinellas County is known for its beaches, but they also have some talented ballers in this densely populated county. They make up part of what is considered Tampa Bay, but they obviously don’t get near as much coverage as their…
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Continue ReadingPinellas County is known for its beaches, but they also have some talented ballers in this densely populated county. They make up part of what is considered Tampa Bay, but they obviously don’t get near as much coverage as their counterpart in Hillsborough County. The talent should be spread throughout the county like it has been lately without a dominant team, but I do like Lakewood, East Lake, Clearwater, and Keswick Christian for this season. Here is a look at some of my favorite players in the pool of Pinellas County hoopers (in order of class):
Anabel Ellison, Sr. G, Tarpon Springs – Anabel is a shooting/scoring machine. She averaged 24.5 ppg and made 64 3-pointers last year as a Junior. Anabel is committed to Division 1 Marist College, and will be the go-to option for Tarpon Springs this season as opponents are well aware of, but they still have a tough time trying to stop her.
Kanesha Hall, Sr. G/F, Northeast – Kanesha is a special player and scorer for the Vikings. She averaged 20.2 ppg as she’s great at slashing to the rim or hitting the three. Kanesha can rebound with the best of them too. It will be exciting to watch her compete in her final HS year.
Jakara Akins, Sr. G, Keswick Christian – Jakara has been playing varsity ball since she was an eighth grader, and the do-it-all player will be entering her last season for the Crusaders. During last season, she contributed across the board with 14.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.8 spg, and 2.8 apg.
D’Mya Ferguson, Sr. C, Clearwater – D’Mya is the only 6-footer on this list, and she will be happy to get some tall incoming freshman to help her out in that department. She is a villain on the glass, especially cleaning it up on the offensive end. This lefty will put plenty of points on the board for the Tornadoes this season, too.
Denise Hall-Papaleo, Jr. G, St Petersburg – Denise is one of the best scorers in the county and the only non-Senior on the list. She put up 16.9 ppg last season in her Sophomore campaign. Denise can do a little bit of everything, and she will have to if she wants lead the Green Devils to a successful season as they lost their second leading scorer to graduation on a .500 team.
Honorable Mention :
Lakewood – Olivia Delancy, Reilly Webb, Macey Zeh-Arndt, TaNauvion Williams, Makayla Johnson
Clearwater – Olivia “Liv” Fuller, Ace Sturdivant
East Lake – Raygen Bostick, Whitney Rush, Brooke Thiel, Emily Merkel
Keswick Christian – Yasmin Baroni, Sydney Jackwin
Dixie Hollins – Jon’Iryah Johnson
Largo – Haley Maxwell