Anderson County Holiday Classic: 2022 Part 2

In the northeast section of the state, eight of its high school girls teams decided to take part in the Anderson County Holiday Classic which occurred at T.L. Hanna High School. All eight teams that took part were Anderson County teams. The Holiday Classic not only included girls competition which occurred at the Yellow Jackets’ home court, but also a slate of boys games which took place at Westside High School. T.L. Hanna and Westside are roughly 10-15 minutes away from each other. Prep Girls Hoops was at T.L. Hanna on Monday to take in what was a full afternoon’s worth of basketball. Lots of seniors really impressed at the early-week event, so we decided to pen an additional article which highlighted even more from the class of 2022. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/46D61643-50E3-4B94-9429-430EC83E4A4C-crop-505x332-1640369576.jpeg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-368490" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/46D61643-50E3-4B94-9429-430EC83E4A4C-crop-505x332-1640369576-300x197.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124094" first="Destiny" last="Middleton"] – 2022 – Westside HS</strong> – Who teams and coaches have to particularly game plan for whenever taking on the defending 4A state champions. Middleton is a Lander University Bearcats commit who recently reached the 1,000 point plateau for her Rams career. She set the tone for the Rams’ performance by scoring the first field goal of its game with Belton-Honea Path and proceeded to pour on the points. Middleton finished with 20 and had 10 of those 10 in the second quarter. She will score from anywhere on the court, move the ball efficiently and has a defensive skillset as well that includes the ability to deflect passes and trap opposing ball handlers. <strong>Anaiyah Harper – 2022 – Westside HS</strong> – Coach Jackie Roberts’ are undefeated at this point in the season and have won 21 consecutive games (including postseason contests) dating back to last season. Among those reasons why that is the case is because of Westside’s depth, which Harper provided plenty of in the Rams’ commanding win over Belton-Honea Path. Harper scored 11 points and had at least one made basket from the in every frame in addition to not being called for any fouls. She was one of three Rams that had at least one successful attempt from the field in every quarter and one of those was a 3-pointer that came in the opening stanza. <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-368487" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/12/D665A430-7A24-457E-9A24-A0BDDB1C8086.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="247777" first="Emma" last="Johnson"] – 2022 – Crescent HS</strong> – Johnson was an SCBCA preseason Top 5 2A senior pick and a multi-sport athlete whose athletic pursuits include the golf course and the softball diamond. She scored the first Tigers points of the game and displayed her versatility in her scoring capabilities – post play, midrange jump shots and at the free throw line. As proficient as a scorer she is, Johnson displays her unselfishness by making accurate passes to her teammates and gives her all on 50-50 balls. She concluded the Tigers’ Monday evening game with Powdersville having scored 25 points and committed to continue her softball career with the Saints of Limestone University. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="185228" first="Kara" last="Harrison"] – 2022 – Powdersville HS</strong> – Only three players in Patriots history have reached the Millennium Mark of 1,000 points. Harrison recently became the third. Fittingly enough in Powdersville’s game with Crescent, the Patriots’ first points came via Harrison and a 3-pointer. She was also once fouled while shooting a trey – and she hit said 3-pointer. While she will drain her shots from long range, Harrison can attack the cup, make her free throws, is active away from the ball, will grab rebounds and will deflect passes to disrupt an opponent’s passing lanes. Harrison finished with 27 points in the Patriots’ 53-40 win over the Tigers. <strong>Mayci Irby – 2022 – Powdersville HS</strong> – Harrison, of course, did not get the job done against Crescent by herself. The eight points Irby contributed for the Patriots helped as well. Listed at 5-foot-9, Irby is a force to be reckoned with for the Powdersville frontcourt as she can play either as a three or a four. She will block shots, grab rebounds and can be creative in finding her teammates with proficient passes. Irby had herself a classic “not how one starts but how one finishes” type of performance. Out of the eight points Irby put on the scoreboard, six of those occurred in the fourth quarter of play.