DIARY Of A BALLER: AMAYLA SHARIF ( Wilmington,DE ) 
PART #1

MAY-MAY SHARIF (CLASS OF 2019)

On Monday I woke up to pray, and found out that we didn't have school because of the snow. So I went back to sleep for a little while before awaking to play 2k14 and Madden 25 on the Xbox with my brother. I beat him in 2k and he beat me in Madden. I help my brother shovel and remove snow from off the cars. I prayed the noon prayer then went down in the basement and practice on my dribbling. I read for a little while and then took a nap. I prayed Asr then help my Umi (Mother) with dinner, prayed Magrib washed the dishes and prayed the night prayed, then I went to bed. On Tuesday I got up to pray Fajr. We had a 2 hr delay for school, so I went back to sleep for a hour. I ate breakfast and then caught the bus to school.

Classes was shortened due to the delay so we didn't do much in school. When I came from school I prayed Duhr and Asr since I missed it when I was in school. After that I did my math homework then I prayed Magrib. I ate dinner wash dishes, prayed and read a little before going to bed. Wednesday I woke up prayed ate a little and read some before catching the bus to school. School was fun today. I played basketball in the gym in work on my shot, I came home prayed the prays I miss because I was in school. I finish my homework then I was off to basketball workouts with Next Up Academy and my trainer Calvin Gilbert. After I came from workouts I ate and prayed Magrib and Isha took a shower then I went to sleep. Thursday I woke up, ate a little breakfast in off to school I went. After school I prayed did my homework, then I went to basketball workouts. We did some nice dribbling and shooting drills, afterwards I came home from the workouts ate prayed and studied for my math and English quiz, then watched TV till I fell asleep.

Friday when I woke up I studied a little bit before school, I had to quizzes that I hope I done well on. When I got home I watched a movie ate pizza and some S'mores with my sisters then I went to bed. Saturday morning I had to get my little brother ready for his game. I went to support him, he did really well he played great defense. After the game I just chilled out with my cousin and my sister and watched a movie, I had to clean my room and do my chores . Sunday I was so tired that I woke up and went right back to sleep, I finally got up ate some breakfast before I got ready for basketball workouts from 11:00 - 1:00 pm. When workouts was over me my mom sisters and cousins went to the mall, we had a lot of fun. Later that day when I got home I did my math homework and got my clothes ready and ironed for the week

Signing Off: Amayla Sharif

 

GTHINGBASKETBALL WOULD LIKE TO

CONGRATULATE  LAUREN "LA-BUCKETS" ROSS ON

HER SHIPLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL RUN.

LAUREN "LA-BUCKETS" ROSS (CLASS OF 2019)

 

Lauren who we all know on the court as La-Buckets, had a outstanding Middle School year, the Shipley 7th grader was on point all season. She was named MVP for her Middle School and to top that off, they named Ross MVP for her High School JV Team. Lauren is getting ready to start suiting up for her AAU Elite Team the Philadelphia Belles who are sponsored by Nike. Ross is a Seventh grader who plays on a 9th grade team, so watch out for Lauren in the Belles this coming AAU season. 



                                        

 

GTHING BASKETBALL WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE

MAY-MAY SHARIF ON HER MIDDLE SCHOOL

ACCOMPLISHMENT.

 

MAY-MAY SHARIF (CLASS OF 2019)

 

This year May-May lead her Middle School Team to a undefeated record. She was the point guard for Springer Middle School in Delaware, Sharif average 10 Pt's, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 6 steals per game. Now that that's over May will be getting ready to suit up for her AAU Team, you can follow May Sharif on Gthing's Basketball Diary Of a Baller in the coming weeks.



IN THE SPOTLIGHT WITH GTHING: ATLANTIC COUNTY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SOPHOMORE GUARD YASMEEN NELSON.

YASMEEN NELSON ( CLASS OF 2016 )

Atlantic Tech has been playing well above there expectation, in one of those reason is because of sophomore guard Yasmeen Nelson. She has average in double figures this year, last week Nelson scored 30, 28, 20 in one week. Playing with a Group 2 school she still had the opportunity to play against bigger school in Group 3 and 4, she still shined on those occasions as well. Nelson is starting to mature, she is a young sophomore who knows now when she must take over a game.    

IN THE SPOTLIGHT WITH GTHING: ATANTIC CITY VIKING'S FORWARD/CENTER ALYVIA ESSEX.

ALYVIA ESSEX (CLASS of 2016)

So far this year, the sophomore has been playing exceptionally well in the middle. Gthing know she would be able to handle her own no matter who she came up against, this season Alyvia has had a few big games and made some keys plays down the stretch for the Viking's. Essex's has drop a couple of double doubles in some games, she plays with a attitude and  her game is the same on both offense and defense. Alyvia has shown her ball handling skills going coast to coast on a bunch of occasions, let's see if she can keep that up when the Atlantic City Viking's take on a tough Williamstown Braves team in the opening round of the South Jersey Group 4 States this week.  

TANASHIA RUSSELL HIGHLIGHTS

SUMMER CRILLEY

TANASHIA RUSSELL

AJA ELLISON

ALIYAH JEUNE

JULIA DIXON

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: AYANNA JONES

AYANNA  JONES

With only a few games into the season, coach Scott Betson decided to place Jones in the starting line up. In so far the freshman has took full advantage of the situation, she has scored in double figures in a couple of games this year, which one of her best games was when she scored 19 pts. She came of the bench in a Christmas Tournament in Hamilton, NJ in put up 10 pts, this young player plays with a attitude if its on offense or defense, when talking to Athletic Director of Mainland and President of the Cape Atlantic League Mike Gatley, he said Ayanna was what Mustangs basketball was all about, a high motor on both sides of the ball.

ALEXIS HARRIS

ABSEGAMI BRAVES

ALEXIS SEARS

GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC

MADDIE SIMS

yasmeen nelson

 

 

LENAPE HANDS WILLIAMSTOWN THERE SECOND STRAIGHT LOSE OF THE SEASON.

 

 

MADDIE SIMS                                     ALEXIS SEARS                         

 

 

Talk about barn burner, this game Saturday was the carry over from last year when Williamstown knock off Lenape in the Group IV State Semifinals. This time in there first game of the season, Lenape got the victory. The game was intense from the time that the whistle blew, the Indians jumped out to a early lead, but Williamstown kept fighting back keeping it close in the first quarter, but by the half Lenape was able to pull away and take a 7 point lead at halftime. During the second half Williamstown came to life, when Taylor Bynoe 15 Pt's started penetrating she was able to dump it off to Sr. center Julia Dixon 17 Pt's who would finally foul out late in the 3rd. Williamstown started to go more inside once Sears and Sims fouled out in the 4 quarter, Sims finished with 9 Pt's and Sears 3 Pt's. Alexis got into foul trouble early so she couldn't never get into the flow of the game, the game went in to OT in Lenape Sr. transfer guard Taylour Jones 17 Pt's took control of the game with a couple of fancy moves in a few buckets.  

 

 

AYANNA JONES SHINES IN HER FIRST HIGH SCHOOL TOURNAMENT.

 

AYANNA JONES

                                      

BORDENTOWN — Bordentown High girls’ basketball coach Bill Lloyd was worried about his team being able to score against Mainland’s press in the finals of the J. Michael Tucker Memorial Holiday Tournament.
Turns out the Mustangs barely pressed, but the Scotties still struggled to score.
The inexperienced hosts shot just 7-for-26 and fell to Mainland, 39-17, in yesterday’s championship game.
It was the first loss of the season for the Scotties, who have just one returning starter this year in Morgan Downs.
“This is a very young varsity group,” coach Bill Lloyd said. “They’re learning on the fly and they’re catching up to speed. Offensively, we’re rushing some shots. But that will slow down for them as they get more experience.”
The Mustangs made it difficult, however, by playing a strong man-to-man defense after Bordentown faced a zone against Nottingham on Friday. Reserve guard Ayanna Jones was especially sticky with her defense on the ball, making it difficult for the Bordentown guards.
“She’s got those long arms,” Lloyd said. “I was very surprised that they didn’t press, but right now we know our problems. We had issues in scrimmages going against man-to-man defenses, especially a team as quick and talented as they were.

Female Athlete of the Week-Nichel Tampa

Nichel Tampa ( Class Of 2017)

 

 Nichel Tampa has made a big impact so far in her brief career at St. Francis. The 5-foot-6 freshman guard has gotten her high school career off to a strong start, averaging 10.6 points, 4.6 rebound...Nichel Tampa has made a big impact so far in her brief career at St. Francis.

The 5-foot-6 freshman guard has gotten her high school career off to a strong start, averaging 10.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, two assists and 3.6 steals a game through the Knights’ first three games of the season.

Tampa scored 21 points in St. Francis’ 65-26 victory over Lovett last Tuesday. She also had 14 points in the Knights’ 67-45 victory over Stephenson Dec. 14 and 11 points in their season-opening 69-43 win over Jonesboro Nov. 16.

Tampa has immediately made her mark on a St. Francis team that enters the season as the defending Class A private school state champion.

“She plays tremendous defense and has been very effective for us on offense, a great penetrator," St. Francis coach Aisha Kennedy said. "She’s been doing very well on both ends of the floor for us. She brings a lot of energy.”

Tampa is also a standout on the AAU level as a member of the SBC team.

Read more: Neighbor Newspapers - Female Athlete of the Week Nichel Tampa

 

 

Diary Of A Baller: Ayanna Jones (Absecon,Nj) Part #12

 

 

Ayanna Jones

 

 

I'm really enjoying the season so far. On Monday I had practice from 3 until 5:30. We went over plays and did a lot of drills to improve our game. We are forming a bond and becoming close. We did a foul shot drills called free throw ladder, this is when you shoot 20 foul shots and who ever makes the most number one and so on. I'm # 10 on my team, I know it's not good but I'm working hard to be at that number 1 spot. We also did a lot of conditioning, when we finished my legs felt like noodles but it's only going to make me better. On Tuesday because of the weather we didn't have practice or scrimmage, everything was cancelled. I was excited to play in my first high school game. I looked at some old film from my 8th grade year to see everything that I need to improve on.

 

On Wednesday we had a scrimmage against Bishop Eustace, Varsity played two half's then JV played. I thought I did really good for my first game. The girls were a lot smaller than me on JV, but on varsity they were bigger and stronger then me. On the bus ride home we laughed a lot and had a lot of story's to tell. On Thursday we had practice from 3 until 5. We went over more plays and did a lot of running, I also shot 15 for 20 foul shots. I was proud ,but next time I wanna shoot 20 for 20. After practice we went over one of the seniors house and watched movies. We watched High School Musicals and we were singing along, It was a lot of fun. On Saturday we had a tri-scrimmage, Middle Township & Washington Township came and played at are school. We played both teams and than they played each other, we didn't have a JV game but I did play Varsity. It was a great experience, Sunday I watched the game to see my mistakes so I could fix them in practice so i won't make them during a real game.

 

Signing Of: Ayanna Jones



 

 

ISIS YOUNG LIFE CENTER ACADEMY ESPN # 56 RANKED PLAYER FOR 2014.

 

Diary Of A Baller: Ayanna Jones (Absecon,NJ) Part # 11

 

 

Ayanna  Jones & Teammates

 

 

On Monday it was the start of my high school career, I had tryouts for the Mainland Lady Mustangs. I was so nervous as a Freshman, I tried out for junior varsity and varsity. As a freshman I had to get water and cups and the balls. this was new because last year I was telling 7th graders to get the water and the balls. We ran the beep test I got to level 7.9 which is good because you had to get level 7. After that we did stations so the coaches could see everything you could do. Station one was ball handling, station two was shooting, station three was foul shooting, and station four was training. We had 10 minutes at each station and when we changed to the next we had to spirit, no walking. Next we did running 646,  which is 6 spirits, 4 back peddles, and 6 spirits. Beat the pro next if you missed the 1st shot it was -2, both was -4, make both + 2. At the end we did 16 spirits in 1 minute. On Tuesday we started off by doing 646, they told us today was conditioning workouts, we did a lot of running and stations.

 

 

Afterwards we did foul shots and beat the pro. We ran 16's in 50 sec and if we didn't we did two up backs. After practices we did more foul shots and they told us who did and didn't make the team. It was either Freshman, JV, or varsity. I was so happy I made JV and Varsity, out of 7 Freshman. We had our first official practices Wednesday, so on Wednesday we started of by learning a play or to, then we got stretched out and did some running. Next we went back over the plays and scrimmaged each other to get the feeling of how it should go. I think this team is a great team and that we will be good this year. After conditioning we went to the weight room and lifted. On Thursday we had practices from 3-6 we did a lot of running, play learning and shooting. Each girl on my team is a good player and they wanna play and are determined to win.

 

 

We also got book bags and jackets with Mainland girls basketball on it. After that we learned a new play, I think we picked it up fast. On Friday we learned other new plays and than we ran 16's in 1 minute. We finally went over all the the plays we learned in scrimmage, I think we did good if you ask me. On Saturday we had practice and we ran and scrimmaged half the practice and the other half we did foul shots. Afterwards we went to Rowan University to see Alex play, she graduated from Mainland last year and they played Kean University and Rowan won. I also got to see Annie and Val play, they are two Holy Spirits girls who graduated last year to. On Sunday it was snowing, so I iced my knees & feet my first scrimmage is Tuesday.

Signing Off: Ayanna Jones









 

 

Diary Of A Baller: Ayanna Jones (Absecon,Nj) Part #10

 

Ayanna & Natalie

 

This was a short week for school because of the Thanksgiving Hoilday, so we only had three days and one was a half of day. On Monday I had workouts from 3-4, I lifted weights and shot around, afterwards I went home and studied for my math test. On Tuesday I took a math test and got a 97 on it, and I also took a physics test to, don't know what I scored on it yet. Later on that day I had workouts from 3-4, I shot around and worked on my foul shots and dribbling skills. On Wednesday I had a half of day, we watched Mainland Regional dance team perform.

 

 

They did a great job. After school it was my cousins birthday so I went over to her house, then to her birhday party. We had alot of fun, everybody made root-beer floats and cupcakes. On Thursday we woke up and went to the Atlantic City vs Holy Spirit football game, they have been playing on Thanksgiving day since the 60's, Spirit won 49- 6. After the game I went to my grandparents house and we had a lot of fun bringing up old memories and laughing. On Friday my sisters came over and we went outside with my friends, while playing outside I dribble the ball. Saturday I went to the All-Star game to watch my little cuz Ernest play. After the game I hung out with my friends. On Sunday I dribble the outside once again.

 

Signing off: Ayanna Jones