1998

gems - o ae.:

fir-• ll \\"aS an for run. my friend< played, so I ~ to play too," ;,he .c;aid. :.. ought no more about tt a t e tune; there wasn't any– g to think about. Bas ket– ,;.!! was a form of fun, a kind of ecreation, a dJversion. A nice vay to spend a few hours with riends. Circumstances changed some– what by the sixth grade. She moved to Decatar that year, and then back to Newton the next year. Upon returning to the area where she had played be– fore, she began to notice she was a better player. At that point, she began to work purposefully toward im– proving her game. She was re– warded, in the seventh grade, with a chance to play in a high school game It 1S one of her most vivid basketball-related memories. Hit .. -.·as my first high school basketball," she said with a smile. "We played against Se– bastopol." The} won the g~e. Another memorable expen– ence: "Last year during touma– .t play against Newton Counry, I packed four shots ack to back," she said. For tho5e not familiar with sports slang. that means she blocked four consecutive shots. "We had been trying for the longest, and finally beat them." These experiences--and many others-pushed her to \\o-k e"-en harder and he has

p ) er.: rho a.re tn-mg desper– att'l} to unpre:>s thet.r gul– fnends. But. as a.. · ays the most unportant rea:.on :.he ui..es to play agatru.t the men tS the challenge. Tonya hopes to work toward being a trainer or a social worker someday. In the mean– time, she lives with her mother, Peggy, and her two brothers and two sisters, and waits to see how summer camp and the first basketball season at ECCC shape up. Coach McMillan, who says Tonya is the best female center .he's ever coached, has no prob– lem believing if she plays at ECCC and works hard to con– tinue to sharpen her game, she 1s hkely to get an opportunity to try the pro league. "I really believe that," he says. The admiration is mutual, perhaps because Tanya knows there are no magic shortcuts, ro happily-ever-afters tacked to the end of the story that whisk heroes-or heroines--to a castle m the douds where all wtshes are granted. No. There is on!y the hard work and the aching muscles and the perspiration– the sweat-and the drive to develop the ability to meet the challenge... As previously noted, thi ain' t no fairy tale. This is a story about hard work, and pl~yers and coaches who know that. and accept tt and do their best. .,1 reallv look up to my coaCh He Ill} .;a=~ He kept telling :-:1e to do better. It's not easy-the nmning will kill you-but 1f you love the game,

Led go C ~n -uwger all-state team, :.t:-lected to play 1. the MtsstS– stppi, Aiabama A I Star Game, and has been honored as the best offensive player all four years at Newton High. She has made aU-division, all-south– state and all-state." Often, McMillan said, just the presence of the 74-inch-tall center can change the game. "Standing under the basket, she changes so many shots. Sometimes she blocks shots, and sometimes people are just afraid to shoot with her in front of them," McMillan said. Moncrief has signed to play basketball with East Central Commtmity College this fall , and she will be attending sum– mer basketball camp at ECCC. She knows it won't be easy, but looks forward to the challenge. "I expect it will be really different," she said. "It's got to be a big change. All I can do is adapt to the change." She also looks forward to working with Coach Sammy Pace at ECCC. But she hopes to do more than shoot hoops. "I'd also like to play softball, espe– cially if my cousin Aletha plays," she said. Aletha also will be attend– ing ECCC. Why does Tanya want to play softball with Aletha ? Competitive sp irit. "We al– \'- a\S have a little competition 1h ezdl ther Tom-a

among cousins. you do what you have to do. When Tanya isn't playing Like the coach says, it starts in basketball en a hardwood in- the heart.'' door court somewhere, she often .. . And it ends only when the can be found cri the driveway hard work, determination and basketball courts in her neigh- ability have taken you as far borhood. She has a basket set as you can go.

year. This past year--her senior year--the Lady Tigers beat Choctaw Central, a team APPE ranked 5th in the state, and LAKE wen the 2A south state touma– SCOl ment and were 2A state runners- up. UNI0 "She has led the team in WINs scoring all four years of high school," said Newton High CLARGirls Basketball Coach Arthur

- - ----

up at her grandmother's house and another at her uncle's NTON RECORD_ _ --=._ ____ house. RIDIAN STAR Most of the neighborhood -------- ---

basketball players are boys, and man) are no longer teen- agers. But desptte pla) ing neighborhood ba..sk.:tbaU \1 1th IL. ~ ,. ~ ._ t... --. L

McMillan. "Sh~ a'< eraged 17 points, 12 ret>... !ld.s, and two– and-a-half bl "Ks per game.