Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week for Jan. 28, 2024

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, January 28, 2024 | 5:25 PM

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Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week: Shaye Bailey

School: Freedom

Class: Senior

Height: 5-foot-8

Position: Forward

What coach says: “The biggest thing that stood out in all those games was her ability to get back to being Shaye,” Freedom coach John Kaercher said. “She took her leadership role to the next level by finding ways to score while distributing the ball for others to score, and keeping the defense of our opponents from full court pressing us. She also used her quickness to elude the box-and-one tactics and get to the hoop to score.

“Her game has improved by her being more vocal and giving direction on the floor as well as in practice. Shaye realized that she was going to be the focal point of our opponents this year, and she worked on fine tuning her basketball IQ during summer league. She worked on finding the next player to score knowing that the more players that are involved in the scoring process would take some of that pressure off of her both by the opposing defense, and mentally.

“Defensively her role has changed as well. We move her from the top of our defense to a wing or middle at times. She has the ability to pull rebounds with the best, and her ability to secure rebounds and push the ball up the floor in transition is new element in her repertoire.”

#Earned: In a rematch of last year’s WPIAL Class 2A championship game Monday, Bailey scored 40 points as Freedom won at home over Shenango, 81-22. Three nights later in another section battle, Bailey led the way with 26 points as the Bulldogs won at Sewickley Academy, 49-30. On Friday, Freedom challenged 4A top-ranked Blackhawk and lost by 20 points. Bailey scored 19 points in the loss to the Cougars, giving her 65 points in three games this week, above her average of 19.5 points per game.

Background: Bailey is one of the top female athletes in all of the WPIAL. She is the reigning Trib HSSN girls athlete of the year and has a chance to repeat. She had a strong fall in soccer, scoring 38 goals, tied for the third most in the district. In basketball, she has led the Bulldogs to back-to-back WPIAL runner-up seasons as a sophomore and junior, although a broken collarbone kept her out of the district postseason last season. She is also an outstanding track and field runner in the 400 and 1,600 meters and a standout on the softball field. She plans to play basketball at the next level.

2024 Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Players of the Week

Week 3 – London Creach, Oakland Catholic

Week 2 – Mallory Daly, Seton LaSalle

Week 1 – Iyanna Wade, Clairton

Tags: Freedom