Class of 2022: Aiken County Players To Watch

The careers of some of the CSRA’s most talented players have reached halftime. And they are looking to come out of the locker room motivated and ready to go in the second half. &nbsp; On many occasions, when a player has had a noteworthy first two years of a high school career, it sets them up for success (and more recruiting opportunities) in their junior and senior campaigns. &nbsp; Here are five talented stars from Aiken County to have on one’s radar as they enter their junior seasons. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="175389" first="Anija" last="Jones"] – 5’6” – 2022 – G – Aiken High School</strong> – Fighting Green Hornets opponents have a hard time keeping up with this Jones. After two seasons where Aiken won a combined three games, Jones was a major factor in coach Aubrey Pompey’s winning strategy as the Fighting Green Hornets finished 12-11. Jones averaged nearly 11 points per game and was named to the second-team all-area team. Jones also has the ability to pry basketballs away from the other team, as she displayed in Aiken’s season opener against Strom Thurmond when she compiled four steals in addition to 16 points in a 56-35 victory over the Rebels. &nbsp; <strong>Quantashia Davis – 6’0” – 2022 – F – Aiken High School</strong> – As difficult a task it is to keep up with Jones, it is an equally difficult chore to contend with the Fighting Green Hornets’ underclassman forward. Davis earned honorable mention honors for the all-area team and does the two primary things coaches look for in forwards with her height – score and rebound. Davis had three games last season where she put up double-digit efforts, including the season opener where she went for 17 points and 10 rebounds. That number of games where she puts up a double-double should almost certainly increase for Aiken in 2020-21. &nbsp; <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="175311" first="Meleah" last="Jones"] – 5’7” – 2022 – G – Ridge Spring-Monetta High School</strong> – Speaking of keeping up with Jones’s … Ridge Spring-Monetta has a distinctly impressive one as well. Jones will be entering 2020-21 coming off a season where she averaged over 13 points per contest. Some will look at her 36-point, five steal game (a 78-28 victory over Hunter-Kinard-Tyler) and say it was against a team that went winless, but her play speaks for itself – and is why she was on the all-area first team for last season. &nbsp; <strong>Mikenzie Kinard – 5’10” – 2022 – F/C – Ridge Spring-Monetta High School</strong> – And just as Aiken’s Jones has with Davis, the Trojans’ Jones also features a talented teammate in her same class that should make Ridge Spring-Monetta a team to watch in the coming seasons. She as well has proven herself to be a proficient rebounder – as was displayed in the Trojans’ third-round playoff contest with Estill when she hauled in 23 off the glass. Combine that with the scoring potential Kinard possesses (a total of eight double-doubles) and coach Gail Johnson will have plenty to work with for the Columbia blue and gold the next two years. &nbsp; <strong>Britney Yarnell – 5’5” – 2022 – G – South Aiken Baptist Church High School</strong> – This No. 3 is a charm for the Crusaders. It particularly rings true on the defensive end of the floor where she has shown gradual improvement over the years in her ability to block shots and create turnovers. Yarnell averaged over three steals and two blocks in 2019-20 in addition to displaying scoring ability. One example – her 18-point contest she had in a 40-38 win in December over Covenant Christian. Her talents also translate well to another sport she plays – volleyball.