Three Seahawks earn All-Conference honors

Published 8:23 pm Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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There is good news for Southside High School basketball fans. Three players made the Coastal Plains All-Conference team and all three have a chance to repeat next year.
Juniors I’Kiriyah Minor and Tamya Smith represented the Seahawks girls, while classmate Joshua Armstrong represented the boys.
Minor and Smith led Southside to a 15-11 overall record and a 4-6 conference mark under first-year head coach Misty Mooring.

“Both really stepped up this season to provide much needed experience for a team that was searching for a new identity,” Mooring said. Both were very competitive and I’Kiriyah usually scored by attacking the basket which often led her to the free throw line. We also counted on her for lockdown defense to help shut down the opponent’s top scorer.”

In addition to her defense, Minor led the team with 12.4 points and 4.6 rebounds, while Smith scored 9.8 points and averaged three assists and 2.5 steals per game.

“Tamya ran the point this year and was the primary ballhandler which may have limited her ability to score,” Mooring said. “She steadily increased her offensive production but took pride in her ability to find the open teammate to score. I believe both will improve over the summer as they work on various skills and play more basketball. I expect them to be important leaders as we set goals and adjust our offense to get more teammates involved next season.”
Armstrong was the main threat on a 3-22 boys team that was ravaged by season-ending injuries. He led the team in most categories with 18.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor. He scored 20 or more points in nine games.

“Josh is a versatile scorer, a tenacious rebounder, and is a force in transition” coach Trenton Flemming said. “He gained 10-15 pounds of muscle, improved his ability to finish at the rim and in traffic, and learned how to find his comfortable spots. He was already good at initiating and finishing through contact, but he got to the free throw line often and converted. Josh’s upside is tremendous; he should become more recruitable as he expands his range and makes better decisions in the halfcourt. He already did so much with leading a young team this past season, but being able to control the tempo of the game and impact more winning plays outside of scoring is our goal for Josh moving forward.”