By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
CENTRE – Cherokee County High School senior point guard Ellisan Givens has aspirations of following in her father Shane’s footsteps in becoming a lawyer. She plans on majoring in political science at Auburn University.
If Givens maintains the mentality and determination she’s demonstrated on both the volleyball and basketball courts, Givens will become a successful lawyer as well.
Coming off the school’s first state volleyball title last October, Givens and several other Lady Warriors turned around to make a similar deep run in basketball.
Although the Lady Warriors finished short of running it back to Birmingham in basketball, they still finished as the Class 4A Northeast Regional runner-up with a 31-3 record, in which Givens was the driving force. She averaged 15.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 steals, and 3.6 assists per contest.
Those numbers not only helped the Lady Warriors make an admirable run at a basketball state title, they also helped Givens earn the Cherokee County coaches’ respect. They recently selected Givens as the All-Cherokee County Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“That means a lot that they noticed me, but we have a bunch of girls on my team who deserve it too,” Givens said. “All of my teammates put in the hard work too.”
Givens’ answer comes as no surprise to Lady Warrior head coach Richard Barton, but it was Givens’ total package overall that made her stand out last season.
“I think her passion for the game, her drive and wanting to be better, wanting to see her teammates be successful, I think that’s what sets her apart from others,” Barton said. “There are a lot of girls who did a lot for us, but when she’s not in the game, the game is different. You can definitely tell.”
One example of that was a game against Sand Rock at home on Dec. 11. Givens got into early foul trouble, which helped lead to a 53-52 loss in overtime.
Givens finished that game with nine points. It was only the Lady Warriors’ second loss of the season.
“We definitely missed her. She was out for a whole quarter and it made a difference. It changed the complexion of the game for sure,” Barton said. “If you watched us play, when she was going, we were going. There were nights when we didn’t have her on the floor we struggled a little bit.
“She’s a big energy person for us. When she’s playing well, our energy level is up.”
Following the Sand Rock loss, the Lady Warriors’ energy level was up for much of the remainder of the season. Cherokee County went on a 24-game winning streak, which was snapped in the Northeast Regional final against eventual state runner-up Plainview.
Givens’ role was crucial during that stretch.
“Being the point guard, that’s my job to run the game,” Givens said. “My role is to be the person who brings everybody together, putting my teammates in the right position. I’m not really focusing on points or other things. I’m just focusing on my teammates.”
Spoken like a true point guard.
Even though Barton said Givens seemed a bit hesitant to play the point guard position earlier in her varsity career, she did what was best for the team, and things turned out quite well for the Lady Warriors.
“She’s really more of a scoring guard, a two guard, but she took that on,” Barton said. “I think losing some of the girls we’ve lost over the past couple of years, she kind of felt the need to be our ball handler, and she took on that role. We didn’t have to talk about it. She just kind of assumed that and went with it.
“Basketball-wise, she was part of two Elite 8 teams, and we also played in the regional last year. She was our leading scorer the past two years. She’s a 1,000-point scorer. We always knew we were going to need her on the court. We’re going to miss her, that’s for sure.”
Joining Givens from Cherokee County High School on the all-county girls basketball team is Neveah Gaidurgis, Deannia Starr, and Brooklynn Bruce.
Gaidurgis gained 12.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 3.2 steals, and a block per game. Starr accounted for 8.1 points, seven boards, 2.6 assists, three steals, and 2.2 blocks. Bruce averaged 8.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.9 steals, and an assist.
Sand Rock (23-11) is represented by Maddie Clanton, Molly Grace Lay, and Macey Pruitt. Clanton collected 16.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 1.1 assists per contest. Lay managed 8.9 points, 3.1 assists, 2.9 steals, and 2.3 rebounds. Pruitt posted 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.5 assists.
Cedar Bluff (22-8) has three selections in Kylie Vadon, Janaya Higgins, and Ciana Smith. Vadon contributed 23.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.9 steals, 3.2 assists, and a block per game. Higgins had 12.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.9 steals, and 2.5 assists. Smith averaged 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 1.6 assists.
Maya Jennings and Addie Word were chosen from Spring Garden. Jennings tallied 10.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game while Word averaged 7.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals.
Lydia Reynolds represents Gaylesville. Reynolds came away with 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and two assists per game.
