Necole among WMass
elite
Sunday, May 07, 2006
By RUSS HELD
rheld@repub.com
Rebecca.
Jamila.
Jillian.
And now Necole.
Necole Evans of
Evans, 18, also takes with
her bookend Goodnow Awards.
The 6-foot center capped
her high school career being named the 2006 Vi Goodnow
Award winner as the region's most outstanding high school girls
basketball player.
Evans will be honored
tonight at The Republican's 36th annual Western Massachusetts High School
Basketball Awards banquet at the Naismith Memorial
Hall of Fame in
"It feels good to win
this again, I won it as a freshman and now as a senior, so it's like I came in
with it and am leaving in the same way," Evans said.
She was the first freshman
to win the award and joins Lobo, Danker and
"I've tried to be a
role model, I never played on an all-girls team until eighth grade, so I was
always just one of the guys," Evans said. "And when my game started
to improve, it was important to stay unselfish when I played, and I think that
reflects where I came from."
Evans' four-year varsity
career numbers are phenomenal - finishing eighth on the region's all-time
scoring list with 2,026 points, grabbing 1,578 career rebounds and blocking 510
shots.
She joined Lobo as the only
girls in
Her senior season stats
were equally as impressive, with averages of 20 points, 15 rebounds and four
blocks.
"Necole
is the consummate team player, she could have scored 3,000 points if I had told
her not to worry about her teammates," Central coach Bill Ross said of the
two-time Street & Smith Magazine preseason All-American. "She didn't
have to score for us to be successful as a team."
"It was a fun season,
and as captain of a very young team it was important to try to keep everyone on
the same page," Evans said.
Evans made her greatest
impact on the Central program, a city school that had never won a postseason
game until her sophomore season.
During her career, the
Golden Eagles won 10 of 13 tournament games, the last two Western Massachusetts
Division I titles and reached two state finals.
"Ever since I've been
at Central, we've been breaking every record at the school," Evans said.
"It'll be nice to come back in the future and look at all the banners we
have now. That makes me feel really proud."
Evans started every game of
her career and led Central to a four-year record of 74-20, a win total that
bettered the program's total from the previous 13 seasons combined.
"We have players here
now who came to Central for the chance to play with Necole,
and because of that, I think we'll still be a very good team next year and
after that," Ross said. "We have girls on the team who had brothers
go to other schools, yet they chose to come to Central. I think it has a lot to
do with Necole."
This winter, Central won
the Valley Wheel title, defeated
From here, Evans is headed
on scholarship to Division I Seton Hall University in
"I'm not totally ready
to leave (high school) yet, but I've been working hard on my training, my
fitness, and my shooting," Evans said.
On the court, Evans has
possessed a rare combination of size, strength, mobility and finesse.
Evans was a fierce rebounder, particularly on the offensive glass, and her
ball-handling skills and perimeter shooting ability made her a decided mismatch
for opponents.
"I think I'll be more
of a small forward and shooting guard in college, which is what I like,"
Evans said.
Evans was a decided winner
of the Goodnow award after a combination of staff
input at The Republican and an informal vote from area coaches. A handful of
others merit attention as leading contenders, including 2005 Goodnow winner Kara Powell of
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