AM
Jia Coppola
Name: Jia Coppola
Team: Bluefield
Number: #11
Grade: 11
Height: 5' 8''
Weight: N/A
Position: F/C
By GEORGE THWAITES
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — Bluefield’s Jia Coppola knows what she wants Santa to bring her. But she won’t know until March whether she gets it or not.
“All I want is for us is to win the state this year,” said the Lady Beavers junior, who is this week’s Pocahontas Coal Association/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Girls Basketball Player of the Week.
“We made it to state last year and came up a little short. But this year I think if we get ourselves together, we have the chemistry to go farther. If we work harder, we definitely will,” she said.
The 5-foot-10 power forward has been on quite a tear recently, helping to lead Bluefield to wins over Richlands, Graham, Robert C. Byrd and — while it didn’t factor into her selection — against PikeView earlier this week.
It all began with her 15-point outing for the Lady Beavers in a 58-48 win over Richlands last Monday. On Thursday, she exploded for 25 points in a 71-49 win over Graham. On Saturday, she scored 11 in a 52-40 win over Robert C. Byrd.
This Monday she scored 20 points, blocked two shots and corralled nine rebounds in a riveting 52-50 win over PikeView — evidence that her big night at Graham wasn’t a one-hit wonder.
It would appear that Coppola’s Force has awakened.
“She had two monster games against Graham and PikeView. She can do that,” said Bluefield girls head coach Tony Mallamaci. “She’s had some back issues and other injuries, but I think she’s starting to get healthy now. It’s very hard to stop her when she wants to go to the basket.”
She admits that driving to the hoop is her favorite thing to do in basketball. She’s plenty quick, but she also has some strong moves at the rim that tend to offset any height advantage an opposing defender might have. Not a lot of girls players in the area can power-finish at the rim with her kind of authority.
She’s learned to do it by playing pick-up basketball against her older brother, Corey, a starter for the two-time state champion Beavers’ boys basketball squads who is currently a freshman football player at Davidson.
She won’t likely face many opponents who are as physically as imposing as her 6-foot-3, 242-pound big brother.
“I learned it from my brother. He’s really tall and it’s a big challenge to play against him. That’s kind of how I improve my game at the basket,” said Coppola, who recently took a semester of weight training under Bluefield head football coach Fred Simon.
She admits she has learned a lot of moves playing Co-Ed street ball that she hasn’t incorporated into her hardwood game with the team. Maybe she’ll work some new ones into her repertoire this season. Maybe.
Mallamaci sees her basketball aptitude on display every day during practice drills.
“We did a thing in practice where we were trying some complicated moves to actually help with our basic moves. She was one of the few people who could execute the complicated moves we were doing,” he said.
Mallamaci said Coppola can play at 4 or 5 and even a little bit of 3, but her best role is as a 4-5 player. She usually gives up height to most centers she matches up with, so her moves and body positioning are of paramount importance, he said.
She doesn’t really step out and shoot 3-pointers, he said, but she’s got an accurate jumper inside the arc that opponents have to respect.
“She can do a lot of things with the ball. She’s very powerful. She’s very quick. She’s a good all-around player and a good all-around leader,” Mallamaci said.
Even though she’s a junior, Coppola, who transferred to Bluefield from Graham prior to last season, assumes a leadership role on the floor as powerful as some of her moves.
“The girls look up to her and follow her lead,” Mallamaci said. “She helps to motivate them. When we’re not playing up to our ability or showing a lot of effort, she’ll get them in a positive way to start playing hard and get them up to where they need to be.”
As Coppola clearly sees it, where the Lady Beavers need to be is back in Charleston.
Neither she nor her teammates will take a lot of time off during Christmas break to bake cookies. Saturday morning, they’ll be back in the gym working harder than Santa’s elves.
Some Christmas presents have to be earned.
“I think we can definitely do it,” Coppola said. “I think last year we were nervous and didn’t play well at all. This year we know what the atmosphere is like. We can go in there with a different perspective.”

Player of the Week Honorable Mention

Bland County: Lakyn Patterson scored 10 points in Thursday’s loss to George Wythe.
Bluefield: Alyssa Lester and Autumn Spangler scored 12 points apiece versus Richlands. Dani Janutolo scored 16 points and Emaleigh Gallinger scored 13 against Graham.
George Wythe: Kaitlyn Poole scored 24 points in a 62-45 win over Bland County on Thursday. Elizabeth Jones and Grayson Anders added 11 apiece.
Giles: Kiersten Shrader scored 10 points in Thursday’s loss against James Monroe and fired up 19 in Saturday’s loss to Narrows.
Graham: Lexi Kiser scored 21 points, including her 1,000th career point, in the loss to Bluefield.
Grundy: Emily Lane scored 18 points in a 59-39 win over Tazewell on Monday. Lexi Boyd scored 15 against Tazewell and scored 31 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in Golden Wave’s 63-38 win over Richlands. Cassie Keene scored 14 points against Richlands.
James Monroe: Megan Bailey scored 24 points and distributed eight assists in Thursday’s 64-28 win over Giles. Gracie Mann scored 14 points against Giles and scored 13 in Saturday’s loss to Princeton.
Mount View: Kaitlyn Gillespie, scored 18 points in 63-33 loss to Westside on Monday.
Narrows: Maggie Guynn scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 73-44 win over Auburn and scored 21 points in loss to Princeton and 33 points in Saturday’s 60-56 win over Giles. Carrie Orey scored 13 points and Raegan Franklin scored 11 points with seven rebounds against Princeton.
PikeView: Madison May scored a school-record 45 points with 10 steals, nine rebounds and four assists in an 85-35 win over Shady Spring and fired up 35 points in an 82-31 win over Mount View on Friday. Ashley Scott scored 15 points against Shady Spring and 28 points, seven rebounds against Mount View.
Princeton: Brittany Long scored 10 points in 49-37 win over Narrows on Thursday. Jaime Vest scored 21 points in Saturday’s 56-41 tournament title win over James Monroe. Adrianna Mitchem scored 15 against the Mavs on Saturday; Danielle Hall was MVP of the tournament in Narrows after a stellar defensive effort.
Richlands: Ericah Burton scored 14 points in the loss to Bluefield on Monday. Olivia Harmon scored 16 points in the loss to Grundy.
River View: Kiersten Roberts scored 15 points, delivered eight assists and had six steals in a 71-26 in over Council and scored 27 points with seven rebounds and eight steals in a 94-40 win over Teays Christian. Katie Dobbs scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Council and scored 29 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in win over Teays.
Summers County: Whitney Justice scored 24 points and allotted 12 assist in a 110-19 win over Liberty-Raleigh on Thursday. Hannah Taylor scored 19 against Liberty, Jordan Sigman scored 15 points and Morgan Miller added 12.
Tazewell: Gracie Cline scored 25 in 59-39 loss at Grundy on Monday.
Twin Valley: Hannah O’ Quinn scored 10 points and had 12 rebounds in a 59-47 win over Northwood. Kim Lester 10 and Makynzee Cantrell 10 apiece.

º2015-16 Girls Winners
Week 1: Maggie Guynn, Narrows
Week 2: Madison May, PikeView
Week 3: Jia Coppola, Bluefield
Player of the Week
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