By Staff
John Swartz, Sports Correspondent
CHOCOWINITY -- When a great player and a great coach get together, many times great things happen. Such was the case for this year's Southside Seahawks varsity girls' basketball team. Southside head coach Ginger Jefferson and center Sharkeysha Midgette have earned the Washington Daily News All-Area Coach of the Year and All-Area Player of the Year honors, respectively.
Midgette averaged a double-double on the season with 13 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. She also recorded just over four steals per game. Her play this season contributed to Southside's 14-4 record.
The 18 games were a light schedule for the Seahawks, but it was a schedule that left little room for error. When a slow start sputtered the bus to the playoffs, Jefferson had to meet with her team and discuss the direction the season was going, and the direction that they wanted the season to go.
It was Southside's late-season surge that really propelled the team forward into the playoffs.
Midgette's play was key in Southside's journey through the playoffs. She helped her Seahawks reach the sectional finals for the first time in program history.
Not only was it Southside's first journey so deep into the playoffs, but it was Jefferson's as well as the Seahawks' coach.
With the season concluded, Jefferson went right to work on how she could build on this season's success for next year.
The schools administration has given Jefferson the tools she needs to build a successful program for years to come.
Midgette will leave a void that will be difficult for Jefferson to fill in the lineup.
Midgette's stellar year capped a high school career that saw her improve statistically in points, rebounds and steals every year. That is one reason why she has been recruited to play at UNC Pembroke this fall.
Jefferson will be back in the future. Midgette's journey is just beginning. She will take what she's learned from Jefferson and her teammates and make the journey to Pembroke to be a Brave.
But to those at Southside High School, she'll always be a Seahawk.