After her 40-point, 11-steal and 7-rebound performance on Friday night in her team’s 57-25 home victory over Coahoma County, Greenville High School junior Charlisa Barney has been named the Planters Bank Player of the Week. The victory improved the Honeybees’ record to 7-1 this season. Coahoma County dropped to 8-2. Barney is now averaging 21.1 points a game.
Always a prolific scorer, Barney has turned herself into a more complete player this season, said Greenville coach Dakedreon Lampkin.
“Charlisa is fast and she can see the floor real well. If you got that in a guard, you are going to be hard to beat. I am starting to trust her more. Sometimes she tells me she is working on something on the floor. Last year I would say, ‘No, no no.’ But, this year, I am like, let me see what they are doing, and I will say, ‘OK, let’s see what they are trying to do.’”
Junior JaRiya Watson, senior Tykeria McCullum and sophomore Coriyonna Brown each scored five points in the Honeybees’ victory. McCullum added 10 rebounds and Nevea’ Ervin grabbed five rebounds.
Coach Lampkin said his team’s early success this season is not just due to the superb play of Barney. In Friday’s contest, the Honeybees led by 5 points at halftime, 19-14, but outscored the Red Panthers 21-6 in the third quarter to pull the game away.
“I like that they continue to play hard regardless of outcome. We still have some things to do to get better at things, but overall I love where we are at. I think with this team, taking Charlisa out, everybody else is getting into a groove and learning their roles.”
“The thing I am telling Charlisa is I need her to get other people involved. The scoring is fine, but I would love to see the stat sheet and see that she has 11 or 12 assists. But, that is a two way street, because if she gives it to you, then you also have to finish,” Coach Lampkin said.
The Hornets’ next game is Tuesday night at home against the North Side Gators.
