When St. Francis High School senior Maya Dodson, the 6-foot, 3-inch starting point guard for the Lady Knights varsity girls’ basketball team, was notified she had been selected to the McDonald’s All-America basketball program’s East squad, she was excited to be chosen.
However, the 18-year-old daughter of Darryl and Karen Dodsonwas overjoyed that her teammate, 6-4 senior center, had also been named to the squad and they were both going to Chicago for the March 29 McDonald’s All American East-West game.
“I was thankful and humbled to make the team, but to have a teammate also selected to the team really makes it special and says something about our team and how well we have not only played as individuals, but played as a unit,” she said.
However, one other statistic for head coach Aisha Kennedy’s team, its won-loss record, also reflected how well it had played together all season after finishing its regular schedule last week with a decisive 81-18 win over Excel Academy of Carterville.
That victory gave the Lady Knights a 22-4 regular-season record, including a 12-0 region 6-A mark, as it had scored 1,824 points this season, while allowing opponents 907 points, for an average win each game of 70-34.
This season, Dodson, who has committed to play at Stanford University next season, averaged 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots for the Lady Knights.
Kennedy said that in addition to great leadership, she had brought a high basketball intelligence quotient to the team and, in the coach’s words, is “an amazing talent and one of the best players we have had here at St. Francis High School and one of the best players I have ever coached.”
Dodson said she has always taken pride in her defense, especially in being a shot blocker under the basket, or as she termed it, “in the paint.”
It isn’t only on the basketball court where she has excelled but in the classroom as well, as she has a 4.0 grade point average in her senior season.
Although Dodson has been satisfied with the way she has played this season, she much preferred to talk about how well the team had played and how close-knit the squad is.
“Our team was really excited about both making the McDonald’s All-America team, as it gives us the opportunity to show the high level of basketball we play here at St. Francis High School,” Dodson said. “Our team’s goal each game is to play hard, play with heart and enthusiasm and play as a team.”
The team has always tried to participate in activities together as much off the court as on because, as Dodson said, getting together as often as possible increases the team’s solidarity and comradery.
Like her team, Dodson has always concentrated on doing the basics correctly and, in so doing she said, those basics become second nature to the team. In addition to doing the basics well, getting together off the court has helped each member of the team better know what her teammate will do in a game as one of the main topics in these get-togethers is basketball.
“When we are together off the court, we talk about what we would do in certain situations and, as such, become more skilled in our teamwork,” Dodson said.
From an academic standpoint, she said her favorite subjects are math and computer science because she has always enjoyed working with numbers.
“Math and computer science challenge you, and I have always enjoyed a good challenge because when you tackle something that pushes you to think and concentrate, it makes you more responsive, whether on the court or in class,” she said.
As she has always enjoyed listening to music, Dodson said she continues to use it to relax her before game time, although she has always made it as point to stretch and, as she termed it, “loosen up and be ready to play my best on the court.”
“I enjoy basketball because it is not only a highly competitive game, but one that you have to be ready to play as much mentally as physically,” she said.
Although Dodson is anxious to play college basketball at Stanford, she has put that anticipation aside as her goal now is to win the state championship for St. Francis.
“Our team believes that whatever we have done this season on the court is just building up to the ultimate prize of winning the state title,” she said.
