Brittany McPhee earns 3rd Gatorade Player of the Year award

Sandy Ringer, seattletimes.com, March 14, 2014

For the third year in a row, Brittany McPhee of Mount Rainier has been chosen the Gatorade Washington Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

McPhee, a senior who has signed with Stanford, continutes to add to her cache of awards. She is a three-time Star Times selection and was voted to the all-state team as a sophomore and junior (this year’s all-state team has yet to be announced).

She was the repeat MVP of the 4A state tournament last week after leading the Rams to the championship game, where they lost to Gonzaga Prep. Mount Rainier placed third in both 2013 and 2012.

Complete press release.

MT. RAINIER HIGH SCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL STANDOUT NAMED GATORADE® WASHINGTON GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CHICAGO (March 13, 2014) — In its 29th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Brittany McPhee of Mt. Rainier High School as its 2013-14 Gatorade Washington Girls Basketball Player of the Year. McPhee is the first Gatorade Washington Girls Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Mt. Rainier High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes McPhee as Washington’s best high school girls basketball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year award announced in March, McPhee joins an elite alumni association of past state girls basketball award- winners, including Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Diana Taurasi (1998-99 & 1999-00, Don Antonio Lugo HS, Calif.), Maya Moore (2005-06 Collins Hill HS, Ga.), Rashanda McCants (2004-05, Asheville HS, N.C.), Shyra Ely (1999-00, Ben Davis HS, Ind.) and Lisa Leslie (1988-89, Morningside HS, Calif.)

The state’s two-time returning Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year, McPhee averaged 27.1 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 2.8 blocks and 2.3 assists per game this past season, leading the Rams (25-4) to the Class 4A state championship game. Also the returning Player of the Year as named by The News Tribune and Associated Press, the 6- foot senior wing shot 52.3 percent from the field and 79.7 percent from the free throw line. In three Class 4A state tournament games, McPhee averaged 24.3 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.3 blocks, capturing Most Valuable Player honors for the second consecutive season.

McPhee has maintained a 4.00 GPA in the classroom. In addition to serving as a student ambassador at the Inter-high leadership conference, she has donated her time as a youth basketball and soccer instructor.

“She improved at every aspect of the game even though she was already the best player in the state,” said Keith Wasberg, head coach of rival Tahoma High. “Her intelligence impresses me most. It’s beyond a basketball IQ. My defensive strategy was to trap her and leave perimeter players open, every time, because the only chance against her is that she doesn’t make mistakes. This year, she became smarter.”

McPhee has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on scholarship at Stanford University this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Three time winner McPhee joins Gatorade Washington Girls Basketball Players of the Year Erika Johnson (2010-11, Holy Names Academy), Mercedes Wetmore (2009-10, Auburn Riverside), Lindsey Moore (2008-09, Kentwood), Ashley Corral (2007-08, Prairie), and Angie Bjorklund (2006–07, University) among the state’s list of former award winners.