By doing exactly what her team needed — no matter what that was — in last week’s 54 Classic at Skyline, SHS junior Amy Jo Maphet earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
Maphet, a 5-5 combo guard, also won the Classic’s three-point shooting contest.
During the Classic, Maphet moved from shooting guard to the point guard spot, as the Lady T-birds were without sophomore point guard Leah McPherson all week.
She stepped into the role easily, leading the Lady T-birds past Norwich, second-ranked South Barber, and Pretty Prairie en route to the tournament championship.
“She played the three most complete games of her season,” Skyline coach Chris Schmidtberger said of Maphet’s performance in the Classic. “She did a wonderful job of doing what our team needed. On Thursday and Saturday, we needed a little bit of scoring, and that's what she did for us.”
Against Norwich on Thursday, Maphet fired in a game-high 22 points, plus swiped four steals and grabbed three rebounds.
In the championship game against Pretty Prairie, she scored nine of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter as Skyline rallied to win.
“On Friday, she swallowed her pride and understood that the advantage for us was in the paint,” Schmidtberger said. “She had a few more assists on Friday. Also, she realized that she was going to have to handle South Barber's press. She did a fantastic job of getting us organized and into our sets.”
During that game, a thrilling 41-40 win for Skyline, Maphet scored just eight points, but but added two assists, two steals and three rebounds.
For the tournament, she averaged 15.6 points per game, but her contributions went far beyond the scorebook.
“It was a great three days for Amy Jo,” Schmidtberger said. “She accepted her roles and realized that the ultimate goal is to win a game. Without her, it would have been a big struggle for us to be as successful as we were during the tournament.”
Maphet and the Lady T-birds have won six straight games and ten of their last 11, with the lone setback coming aagainst South Barber on Jan. 6.
Maphet made her weekend even more successful by picking up her second three-point shootut championship of the season.
She finished the first round with nine points out of a possible 18, then added seven points each in Friday and Saturday’s rounds to finish with 23 points.
That was three points ahead of the second-place finisher, Jamie Carey of Kinsley.
“She really is an outstanding shooter. She has good balance and quick release,” Schmidtberger said. “Those are the two things we stress with the girls on shooting. Have you feet set and get it off quickly.”
Her quick release and pinpoint accuracy help open things up for Skyline’s post players as opponents are forced to defend Maphet on the outside rather than being able to concentrate on stopping the Lady T-birds’ inside game.
“The frustrating part for her is that she doesn't really get a lot of open looks against teams in the game, because they know this too,” Schmidtberrger said. “However, if you give her space, she will flat our put it in your eye. That's exactly the mentality she needs to have, and it's part of her athletic edge that makes her a great player.”
As a sophomore, Maphet was a unanimous All-Heart of the Plains League selection while manning the point guard spot for a Lady T-bird squad that finished 19-5 and advanced to the sub-state semifinals before falling to eventual state champion South Gray.
Pratt, Kan. —
