By Cooper Chadwick
Hoping for a memorable last year of high school basketball, senior Paige Smith is excited to play one last time with her basketball family.
Smith received high praise from Wakefield’s head coach Rich Steppe when asked why she is so valuable to the team.
“Paige has been an important part of us trying to build a winning culture here at Wakefield,” Steppe said.” Paige runs the floor well and is very athletic, but I think her best attribute is that fact she is very coachable.”
Smith, who plays post, averaged 14.7 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game and is very skilled around the rim.
“Most girls that play inside like to use their dominant hand to finish but early on in her high school career, she wanted to learn how to finish with her left or right hand and I think that has helped her tremendously as a scorer. I think this year, Paige will be able to develop some shooting away from the basket as well,” Steppe said.
Despite Smith’s inside scoring skills she also wants to improve her ball handling skills so she can become a more well-rounded player.
“Some ways that helped me with my ball handling skills are taking my sister to the courts with me and playing 1v1.” Smith said.
Last year Smith was second team all-league and was all-state honorable mention and she hopes to exceed those accolades her senior year.
“My goal for this season is to go to state with my girls,” Reeves said. “An individual goal for me is to make it to all state and 1st team all-league.”
