Rising Seniors in the AAAAA Region II you Should Know

This is a region that has historically had tough teams and players that come from it. (Myself included an extremely long time ago). Here is who you should know: <strong>Mikirea Shippy: </strong>The 5’8 guard from Gaffeny high school missed the first handful games of this last season, but bounced back strong. She averaged nearly 13 points per game this last season, and can score it in bunches. She had 4 games where she put up 20+ points. On the defensive end she plays hard, and anticipates. She averaged 2 steals per game, and had a steal in every game but 2. To go along with her scoring and defensive abilities she grabs right around 5 boards per game. She is a tough player, a little raw, but can definitely help someone’s roster after another year of high school. <strong>Najah Gilliam: </strong>The 5’8 guard from Byrnes high school is a long and athletic player. She averaged nearly 11 points per game, and 3 rebounds this last season. She doubled her 3 point attempts from her sophomore season to her junior season, and while she shoots it at a decent percent her release will need to get faster for the collegiate level. She is quick with the ball in her hands so she can get downhill and into the paint quickly. She is long and athletic so defensively she shoots the gaps, and can guard anyone you put in front of her. She converts her steals into easy buckets on the other end. Again a little raw, but has attributes that can help someone year after next. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="172492" first="A’Maurya" last="Tate-Smith"]: </strong>The 5’8 guard from Gaffney high school is a truly tough player. Despite her size she battles and plays very hard. Averaging almost a double-double (9 and 8) she recorded 3 this last season. She does not shoot the 3 ball well, but she can score the ball off put-backs, driving it, runs the floor hard in transition, and she attempted over 90 free-throws on the season. She will keep getting better as long as she keeps playing hard and tough. <strong>Keiana Bookhart: </strong>The 5’11 forward from Spartanburg high school is an athletic and explosive player. Again, being close to averaging a double-double on the season (7 and 9) she recorded 5 this last season. And that does not include a season high game where she pulled down 22 rebounds in a close win. Her explosiveness off the floor allowed her to average 3 blocks per game this last season as well. She had 7 blocks in a game twice this season, she is truly a rim protector. Her playing hard and explosive is what will get her to the next level.