Area Rankings: Who is the best player in the Charleston area?
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Joe’s Note: These rankings are not a definitive statement of the talent in the area. Instead, they are meant to start conversation and drum up excitement for the upcoming season. CHARLESTON – The Kanawha Valley and the city of Charleston…
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Continue ReadingJoe’s Note: These rankings are not a definitive statement of the talent in the area. Instead, they are meant to start conversation and drum up excitement for the upcoming season.
CHARLESTON – The Kanawha Valley and the city of Charleston are home to a vast number of West Virginia’s high schools.
Approximately 20 schools are inside the coverage area of the Charleston Gazette Mail with more just barely falling outside of that zone. Ten of those schools are within 15 miles of the capital city or are in the city including St. Albans, Nitro, Herbert Hoover, Sissonville, Poca, Riverside, George Washington, Charleston Catholic, Capital and South Charleston.
Regardless of where they are, with all including girls’ basketball on the athletic menu. Many of them having found success in the last few years with Nitro bringing home the most recent state championship in 2021. Featured among those schools are various levels of athletes competing at various AAU levels with varying skill sets.
Here is a list of the top 15 players in the Charleston area, at this moment:
15-11: McKennan Hall, Ripley; Hadleigh McGoskey, Ravenswood; Alaira Evans, George Washington; Nunu Pannell, St. Albans; Annaneisha Johnson, St. Albans
10-6: Meghan Taylor, Winfield; Ava Edwards, Nitro; Taylor Maddox, Nitro; Jaycee Elzy, St. Albans; Kierstyn Fore, George Washington
5 Kynna Britton Kynna Britton 5'10" | CG Sissonville | 2025 State WV , Sissonville, G, So., 5-10: Coming in at No. 5 is a young lady not on everyone’s radar, but she soon will be: Kynna Britton.
After helping the Indians back to the state tournament, Britton put together an uneven summer for the Ohio Valley Dragons. During some tournament’s she looked good, but others she missed due to injuries. Regardless of status, Britton brings basketball talent and a high IQ to any court she’s on.
When she brings her A game, she’s tough. When she wants to play, she soars. On offensive you know what you are getting, she’s still working on her defensive game. Don’t misunderstand. She’s not that far off on her knowledge of defense, but the girls ahead of her are simply farther ahead in that aspect of their games at this moment. They are seeing plays before they happen, they understand the sets opposing teams are running, and they know the perfect time in jumping passing lanes or when to move their feet and go the extra mile.
Can Britton do all of that? There’s little doubting her.
Her athleticism forecasts such, and she needs to be on top of her game as Sissonville’s best player. Her rising up these ranks is more of her coming into her defensive game and figuring out what the players in front of her already know. Offensively, she’s already a handful. If there’s one thing, she needs adjustment in, it is when a team gets physical with her. It’s obvious on her face, she’s not comfortable with a double team or man-to-man defense at the high school level. She easily gets frustrated and can throw elbows. However, she’s not a dirty player and is trying to create. Her improvements with the Dragons over the summer shows she’s adjusting to additional pressure, but there’s still a little work to be done.
4 Sophie Nichols Sophie Nichols 5'11" | SG Ripley | 2024 State WV , Ripley, SG, Jr., 5-11: Next up at No. 4 appears a Viking fresh off a marvelous summer with the West Virginia Thunder 16u Gold group: Sophie Nichols.
While Britton and her exhibit a similar type of game, shooting with the occasional drive to the basket, Nichols has the Indian beat on two fronts. One, she’s more consistent with her shot. Two, she’s more established on the defensive end of the floor. That’s right. Nichols owns the confidence that she can be the leading scorer in important games and knows she can still get back on the defensive end and throw down. It may not seem like a big deal. But, the ability to go both ways as hard as you can for as long as you can marks a great player from a good player. That isn’t to say Britton isn’t a good player, again Nichols is just ahead of her right now. Can Britton close the gap? We will see. Nichols and her Ripley group are about to be in the spotlight early and often this upcoming basketball season. Class AAA’s Region IV stands to be the most competitive by far with the past two state championships hailing from Nitro and Logan, respectively. Both Wildcats’ groups return premium pieces and reportedly each look to be bolstered further by transfers.
Next to the champions, Winfield, my preseason favorite Wayne, and Ripley bring back plenty of pieces from squads who competed in a sectional final and beyond. With the opportunity for such big matchups, Nichols should only continue growing with Britton requiring a way to keep up. Right now, the sweet 3-point shooting, lanky driving, and high styling Nichols owns a solid head start.
3 Kyra Brown Kyra Brown 5'4" | CG South Charleston | 2023 State WV , South Charleston, PG, Sr., 5-4: Entering into the top 3 now, the next player on this list is someone who will finally have her time to fully shine after playing on a Capital team with a first- and second- team all-state player last season: Kyra Brown.
It used to be that she was an impressive third wheel on the Cougars behind Taliyah Boxely and Natalyia Sayers. However, upon her transfer to South Charleston, she’s now running the show. And what a wonderful show it could be. Blessed with incredible athleticism and a wonderful play-making ability, the Black Eagles offense should be soaring high. And not come down for a while. With Brown, a street baller who isn’t afraid to take the ball inside, Brown shows an old school game that causes problems. Her speed and inventive approach gum up the works for a lot of teams. At times, she runs the offense free and fast, while at other times her ability to penetrate draws the defense in and opens up shooters. She finishes with several weapons including a slashing attack as well as with a step-back and pull up jumper.
2 Macie Mallory Macie Mallory 5'9" | SG George Washington | 2024 WV , George Washington, SG, Jr., 5-8: Mallory is behind a GW and Thunder teammate for the No. 1 spot.
But just barely.
Putting their games next to each other highlights many similarities. The two know how to score from all three areas on the floor. Both are fiery players unyielding to tough play and capable of dishing said play back out should they so choose. If they do, then opponents are in for a rough time. They’re strength is their greatest well….strength. Not many people are going to force them off their assignments or make them feel uncomfortable on the offensive end of the floor.
Still, Mallory’s shooting touch is slightly ahead of her teammate. There are natural shooters in the game, and Mallory is one of them. Her feel from behind the arc is especially deadly. Defenders can’t afford many mistakes with spacing lest she creates her own shot. Yet, her teammate has her in two different categories, one completely out of Mallory’s control.
The first is defense. This isn’t to say Mallory can’t play defense, but it is safe to say that her teammate could shut her down more efficiently than she could shut her teammate down. We will get to the why in just a second. Could that change? Of course. Improvements are always in question, especially when talking about such a motivated kid as Mallory.
The second spot, the one she can’t help, is health and real-game action. After tearing her ACL during AAU ball last summer, Mallory currently sits stuck with tendinitis, thus slowing the recovery process. This setback simply means we don’t know what new moves or how Mallory will play while possibly dealing with the mental effects of the injury. She still has to test her knee and game speed, which could be the telling factor if she’s back to her old self. Meanwhile, her teammate put an additional high school and AAU season on her experience board and looks poised for a strong return to the GW court.
Don’t count out Mallory at closing the gap, though. If not for the tendinitis, she was on track to return from her injury early and even stronger than before she went down. It is quite possible we have a tie on our hands next fall.
1 Finley Lohan Finley Lohan 5'11" | SF George Washington | 2024 State WV , George Washington, SF, Jr., 5-11: Lohan stands at the best player in the Charleston area.
100%.
Where she first graced the court for GW as a lockdown defender, she’s since become a two-way player unequivocally deserving No. 1 spot. What about Brown and Mallory, you say? They are great players in their own right, but neither blends their defensive game and offensive output together quite as seamlessly as Lohan. Start wherever you want with her game, and you won’t be disappointed.
Giving her any less credit for the mastery of her skills just feels wrong and unjustified. Her growth on the offensive end this past AAU and high school season have been impressive. With the Patriots missing top shooter Macie Mallory and having just said goodbye to leading scorer Kalissa Lacy and three-year point guard Vivian Ho, coach Jamie LeMaster found in himself in need of a court leader.
Lohan filled that role to perfection, perhaps even better. Forced to play out of position all year, she not only showed of her ability as a capable floor general but upped her offensive game in the process.
On the season, she shot nearly 50% from 3-point range and often led the Patriots in scoring in the biggest games. Her value shown through big-time in the regional final against Greenbrier East. She kept the team in the game until players like Siya Smith, Alaira Evans and Kierstyn Fore found their shots, and then she took over in the overtime win. That blend and mastery of the moment along with her ability to lock down just about anyone in the state set her as the top player in the Kanawha Valley at season’s end.
Then AAU season rolled around, and her defense shined through against some of the top players on the Under Armor circuit. With immaculate footwork, Lohan hounded defenders and basically took her assignment out of every game. As far as offense, she played on one of the top scoring teams in the circuit, and really didn’t need to be on her offensive game in and game out. Appearing every once in a while, she would hit some big 3s and take control for brief spurts. But that wasn’t the point of the Thunder group, if someone else got hot then they got the ball no questions asked. Unsurprisingly, her play garnered her multiple offers from Division I schools over the course of the summer. Now, she sits at the top of the Charleston area players list.