By GEORGE THWAITES
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — On every successful highs school basketball team there is at least one player whose value to the team vastly exceeds the sum total of his or her statistical contributions.
For the Princeton girls basketball squad, that would be Tigerettes team captain Kaleigh Barker.
The 5-foot-9 senior guard-forward was pleased to have won this week's Pocahontas Coal Association/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Girls Basketball Player of the Week Award. But truth be told, she's probably just as happy that she's still able to play basketball at all.
During the first game of the Tolsia Tournament before Christmas, she suffered what appeared to be a career-ending freak injury.
"It was toward the end of the game and I was getting ready to take her out, but before I could, a (Tolsia) girl fell on her from behind," said Princeton head coach Charlie Angell. "One of our girls' dad is a doctor ... he looked at it and really felt she'd torn some ligaments in it. We pretty much thought she was done for the year."
With their leader out, Angell said, you could "pretty much see the air go out" of the crestfallen Tigerettes. Without her, they lost the following game against Logan.
Like most of the Player of the Week winners, Barker is grateful to her teammates for putting her in a position to win the award. But she also owes a shout-out to Princeton physical therapist Jabo Williams.
"When I got hurt it was scary. But it turned out that I had only stretched my lateral collateral ligament. I was able to go to Jabo and get some therapy and now I'm back and everything seems to be good," said Barker, who is averaging 14.1 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals per game.
"I missed four games and I'm probably, like, 98 percent back. One game I felt a little twitch in my knee. Nothing pulled ... it just didn't feel right. But coach told me if I felt good he'd let me play, so I kept going. Ever since, I've felt fine," she said.
Fine, indeed. She got back into the swing of things in a 68-42 win over James Monroe that saw her score 20 points, grab eight rebounds, distribute five assists and collect two steals. She also blocked two shots.
Last week she continued to play like her old self. She had a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a defense-heavy 34-24 win over Shady Spring. At Hinton against girls hoops juggernaut Summers County, the Justice twins had a red-letter night in a 90-54 win over the Tigerettes (9-3). Oblivious to the odds, Barker soldiered on for 16 points, five rebounds and four assists.
"They're one of the top 10 teams in the state regardless of class and she did a good job of being the leader of our team that night. Both of our starting guards got in foul trouble so she had to step up and play guard halfway through the game," Angell said.
Barker's transformation into an inside-outside player occurred after Angell's arrival as head coach last season.
Because she'd always been one of the taller girls in her age group, Barker had been a post player since her earliest days of youth league as an elementary school kid. She obviously felt comfortable playing with her back to the hoop, but during the off-season after her sophomore year she spent extra time on guard skills.
When Angell took over, she made her pitch.
"I'd been a post player in my 9th and 10th grade years and I told coach (Angell) that I'd really been working on my outside shooting and dribbling and going to the basket. I finally convinced him to make me a guard-foward," she said.
That, as it turned out, was only the first phase of the compact she'd forge with her new head coach. At the end of her junior season, Angell gave her the Team Leadership Award. It wasn't an empty honorific. It came with responsibilities. She would return for her senior season as team captain.
"That's a lot of pressure, because when it's clutch time, I'm out on the floor calling the shots. When we do our press-break on offense or whatever, I'm the one who has to call the play," Barker said. "Coach puts a lot of pressure on me but I take it all right. I just listen to him and it all goes pretty well."
For Angell, Barker was the natural choice for team captain. She has "the heart of a champion," he said.
"The thing I like best about Kaleigh is that if something isn't going right, she'll do something else that makes a positive out of it. If she's not hitting her outside shot, she'll drive. And vice-versa," Angell said. "If we need that big rebound, she'll get it. If we need a steal, she always seems to be the one who makes the big steal when we need it."
Her teammates naturally follow her lead, but she's not afraid to be vocal.
"She's an inspiration to the team. She never lets up. She's always pushing other players to play hard on defense and things like that," Angell said. "She leads by example, but she's willing to let them know that they need to do this better or do that better."
Barker is a two-sport standout at Princeton. She was a second team All-State selection in volleyball this past season and has heard from college recruiters in both volleyball and basketball. She intends to attend college and hopes to study business accounting.
Spending time with her family is a priority for Barker, who is active in the Church of Christ in Princeton. She is a member of Princeton's chapter of the National Honor Society and is frequently involved in community service and other civic work.
Angell noted that Barker has done volunteer work at Westwood Retirement home with teammates Adrianna Mitchem and Jaime Vest.
Barker has been approaching her entire senior year at Princeton just as she has her senior basketball season. She intends to give her all.
"I definitely think we're going to make it to the regionals. I just hope we can press forward and make it to state," she said. "In the game I got hurt, I didn't know what was going to happen. Since then I've played every game as if it were my last. I just play all-out."
Player of Week Honorable Mention
Girls - Week 7
Bland County: Sydney Walker scored 36 ponts in a pair of defeats to Galax and Fort Chiswell. Malee Lambert scored 17 points against Galax.
Bluefield: Dani Janutolo scored 24 points in a win over Mount View, while Autumn Spangler and Alyssa Lester had 10 points apiece.
Council: Leann Hunt scored 16 points in a loss to Twin Valley. Bree Ratliff scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Courtney Hess added 9 points.
Graham: Dejah Carter scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in a loss to Grayson County. Lexi Kiser scored 16 points.
Grundy: Emily Lane had 22 points, 5 assists, 5 steals in a win over Hurley.
Autumn Sperry scored 14 points.
Hurley: Breanna Stacy scored 11 points and had 13 rebounds in the loss to Grundy. Allison Bandy scored 12 and Ariel Endicott had 9 points and 10 rebounds.
James Monroe: Gracie Mann scored 18 points in a win over Mount View. Taylor Sams scored 14.
Montcalm: Stormy Carver recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in a win over Greenbrier West. Heather Nicewander scored 16, and Destiny Ball had 7 steals.
Mount View: Kaitlyn Gillespie scored 37 points in losses to James Monroe and Bluefield. Jasmine Lash combined for 22 in the two games.
Narrows: Maggie Guynn scored 20 points, eclipsing the 1,000-point career scoring mark as a sophomore, in a loss to Galax.
PikeView: Madison May had 38 points in losses to Summers County and Westside, icluding 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists vs. the Renegades. Ashley Scott had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists against against Westside and scored 10 points vs. the Bobcats. Kaleigh Peyton had 10 points, 7 rebounds against Westside and Sparrow Void had 10 rebounds.
Princeton: Danielle Hall had 7 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals vs. Shady Spring, and 9 points in a loss to Summers County. Adrianna Mitchem scored 18 points vs. the Bobcats, and added 6 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals vs. Shady Spring.
Richlands: Ericah Burton scored 29 points in wins over Twin Valley and Tazewell. Seania Overton had 23 points and 12 rebounds. Olivia Harmon
scored 30 points, while Lani Rinehardt had 21. Haleigh Whited had 12 rebounds against Tazewell, Jasmine Hess scored 11 and Nadia Ashiq had 8 assists.
River View: Katie Dobbs scored 26 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in an win over Council. Kiersten Roberts scored 19 points with 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Paige Cooper scored 14 points.
Tazewell: Gracey Cline hit four 3s en route to 17 points in a loss to Richlands.
Summers County: Brittney Justice had 58 points and 22 rebounds in wins over PikeView and Princeton, including the 1,000th point of her career. Whittney Justice had 49 points, along with 6 assists vs. Princeton. Hannah Taylor added 14 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists vs. Princeton and 11 rebounds against PikeView.
Twin Valley: Lexy Vance scored 46 points in splitting games with Council and Richlands. Kim Lester added 29 points. Hannah O’Quinn had 9 points against Richlands and Makynzee Cantrell had 13 rebounds and five assists against Council.
Wyoming East: Gabby Lupardus had 23 points and 16 assists in two wins;
Kara Sandy and Jasmine Blankenship scored 25 points apiece. Katie Daniels scored 21 points. Megan Davis had 15 points and 4 steals against Shady Spring. Allie Lusk scored 10 against Shady Spring. Emily Saunders had 10 points and 7 rebounds against the James Monroe, and Mia Quesenberry scored 10.
2015-16 Girls Award Winners
Week 1: Maggie Guynn, Narrows
Week 2: Madison May, PikeView
Week 3: Jia Coppola, Bluefield
Week 4: Katie Dobbs, River View
Week 5: Brittney Justice, Summers County
Week 6: Lexi Kiser, Graham
Week 7: Kaleigh Barker, Princeton