Six Class AAAA players who pulled a Dennis Green in December

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>PARKERSBURG - These six players were "exactly who we thought they were" through the opening month of the season on the basketball court: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='153410' first='Jayda' last='Allie'], Cabell Midland, SG, 5-8, Sr.</strong> - Scoring came naturally to many different players in December throughout the Mountain State, but especially to [player_tooltip player_id='153410' first='Jayda' last='Allie']. Though looked upon us primarily a spot-up shooter, the Cabell Midland senior has put the ball in the bucket a number of different ways, so far. Whether points came from one of her deadly outside shots, or on a hard drive to the basket, she's accumulated a significant percentage of Cabell Midland's offensive production in their opening contests on the way to a Class AAAA No. 2 state ranking. She's led the Knights in scoring in a number of contests, and has rarely had an off game even when teammates Jazz Wheeler or [player_tooltip player_id='379497' first='Sophi' last='Aldridge'] handled the primary scoring load. So far, she's averaged team-highs of 16.7 points per contest, to go along with 6.7 assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='153424' first='Cadence' last='Stewart'], Greenbrier East, SG, 5-8, Sr.</strong> - [player_tooltip player_id='153424' first='Cadence' last='Stewart'] knew she needed to score a majority of Greenbrier East's points through the early parts of the season. When the time came, she's done just that. Repeatedly. Despite being the target of numerous double teams and junk defenses, she's answered the call nearly every night. As stated in a column on her sister and herself, John Marshall has been the only team to solve the puzzle so far. Everyone else failed in their attempt at limiting Stewart's scoring output. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"right","id":197034,"width":200,"height":164,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/08/Z.jpg?w=904" alt="" class="wp-image-197034" width="200" height="164" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='379527' first='Zaniah' last='Zellous'], GW </figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='379527' first='Zaniah' last='Zellous'], George Washington, PF, 6-2, So. -</strong> Companies could take a lesson from the Patriots' [player_tooltip player_id='379527' first='Zaniah' last='Zellous'] about their products coming as advertised. Oh yes. After her transfer from Linsly, she's been the most consistent and outstanding player for George Washington in the opening month of the season. As Scott Johnson talked about in my column on her, she's dominated the glass and transformed into a menace on the block and around the paint on both ends of the floor. Over and over again, she's put up huge numbers and even acted as the Patriots' much-needed No. 2 ballhandler behind [player_tooltip player_id='379495' first='Finley' last='Lohan']. About the only thing you could fault her is her strength. She's still working on getting stronger and it sometimes pops up in games, but not very often. Her athleticism covered up many times where a stronger opponent could overpower her as she found a way to get a basket or block the shot anyways. In December, she averaged at least 20 points and 9 boards through five contests. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='342221' first='Alexis' last='Bordas'], Wheeling Park, SG, 5-8, So.</strong> - Travel ball scoring can often be a misleading stat when projecting high school scoring in the next season, unless you are [player_tooltip player_id='342221' first='Alexis' last='Bordas']. Everything she accomplished in the AAU season with the Thunder, it all came to fruition for the Wheeling Park sophomore in a challenging opening slate of games. Her shot never looked better, her rebounding stepped up a notch, and her defense looked about as sharp as it ever has before. In short, one of the leaders of the Patriots played like a leader as Park captured an early No. 1 ranking in the latest AP and prepgirlshoopswv.com Class AAAA girls' polls. Though there haven't been any 50-point explosions similar to her performance against Parkersburg South one year ago, there have been a number of big-time performances. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='389208' first='Jaycee' last='Elzy'], St. Albans, PF, 5-11, So.</strong> - St. Albans possessed plenty of opportunities for players to step up in the opening month of the season, and [player_tooltip player_id='389208' first='Jaycee' last='Elzy'] took advantage. Over and over again, she rose to the occasion on the court and averaged a double-double along the way. Nobody stifled her rebounding attack, and only Boyd County successfully stifled her scoring attack. Other than the performance against the Lions, she's performed consistently in the Red Dragons 8-3 start. In fact, eight of her eleven games ended with her recording double-digit rebounding and scoring totals. In the early season, she's averaged 10.9 points, 10.4 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal per game </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"align":"left","id":398974,"width":200,"height":195,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image alignleft size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/03/Kilah-Dandridge-scaled.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-398974" width="200" height="195" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">[player_tooltip player_id='384008' first='Kilah' last='Dandridge'], Spring Mills</figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='384008' first='Kilah' last='Dandridge'], Spring Mills, 5-8, SF, So.</strong> - [player_tooltip player_id='384008' first='Kilah' last='Dandridge'] could not be stopped. Oh no. Given a chance to lead Spring Mills' offense, Dandridge quickly tackled the challenge. She's punched the chance in the face with her right hook, then swept on through to the basket and goal with a cool and calculating efficiency. She's scored with ease. She's shot with even more ease. She's helped her teammates score at the drop of a hat. In short, her performance has been exactly what we expected to see from her after she burst on the scene against Morgantown in the state tournament last season. Sure, there's still been some learning curves. Everyone, up to the WNBA, still has some learning to do, but she's turned right around and put those lessons to use more often than not. Through the opening month, she averaged 16.8 points on 56 percent shooting, 4 boards, 3.6 assists, and half a block per contest. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Honorable Mentions:</strong> [player_tooltip player_id='379520' first='Natalie' last='Smith'], South Charleston; [player_tooltip player_id='384101' first='Allie' last='Daniels'], Spring Valley; [player_tooltip player_id='342235' first='Lily' last='Jordan'], Morgantown; [player_tooltip player_id='342234' first='Olivia' last='Bolduc'], Spring Mills; [player_tooltip player_id='384036' first='Maddie' last='Stull'], Princeton; [player_tooltip player_id='378962' first='Trinity' last='Balog'], Parkersburg; [player_tooltip player_id='379507' first='Gracie' last='Shamblin'], Parkersburg South; [player_tooltip player_id='379496' first='Macie' last='Mallory'], George Washington; [player_tooltip player_id='342214' first='Sofia' last='Wassick'], Morgantown; [player_tooltip player_id='379497' first='Sophi' last='Aldridge'], Cabell Midland; Jazz Wheeler, Cabell Midland; [player_tooltip player_id='384100' first='Dria' last='Parker'], Spring Valley; [player_tooltip player_id='384008' first='Kilah' last='Dandridge'], Spring Mills; Gabby Reep, Bridgeport; [player_tooltip player_id='496347' first='Kenna' last='Maxwell'], Buckhannon-Upshur </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->