By Max Calhoun
With two years of high school basketball remaining, not a lot of people would transfer to their rival school with a below .500 record.
Junior Addy Barnes has zero regrets.
Enticed by Delta’s “family like atmosphere,” she decided to take a chance after last school year and transfer from Yorktown to arch rival Delta.
It’s safe to say that choice paid off. Barnes, the starting point guard, led the Eagles to their most historic season ever while defeating her previous team twice in the process.
Since her transfer from Yorktown to Delta she noticed significant changes in culture and people.
“Everyone’s just so close and everybody truly cares about everyone,” Barnes said.
This season, Barnes has had to adjust to a whole new team, friends, and new playing style. The Eagles’ fast-paced offense with multiple players involved as scoring threats was a new look for Barnes.
The Eagles averaged 57 points per game this season and three times scored more than 80 in a game.
“But the more I practiced and stuff with them, it just became easier,” Barnes said.
This was her best season yet, almost increasing all of her averages from last year.
She gives credit to head coach Tyronda Benning for boosting her confidence and helping her step up her game since last year.
“Coach Benning had a lot of confidence in me and she’s helped me grow a lot,” Barnes said. “She just put in work with me as much as she could.”
Throughout her sophomore season at Yorktown, Barnes led the Tigers with a team-high 3.4 assists per game and a solid 9 points per game.
This past season for the Eagles she had the most assists per game once again with 4.5 and contributed 10.5 points per game.
Her most impressive game this season was when the Eagles faced New Palestine, a program that is typically a powerhouse in most sports. She proceeded to put up a dominant 20-point effort in a close 46-42 win for the Eagles.
The wins and the stats are not all-important in her life. However, her faith in God has played a huge role in her life on and off the court. Barnes says he helped her grow and become the person she is today.
Her closest teammates can see God in Barnes at all times. Junior guard Griffyn Knight said Barnes’s best trait is always how present she is with her Lord and Savior.
“Addy’s love and passion for God is one of her best traits on and off the court,” Knight said.
The Eagles, assisted by Barnes’s exceptional shooting and driving ability, coincidently met Yorktown in the sectional championship. With the emotions high and coming off a dominant performance against Jay County the Eagles and Barnes were confident.
The Eagles were up 29-14 at the half and feeling good. However, Yorktown attempted to mount a comeback but the Eagles’ offense was too powerful. Behind a dominant 31-point performance from junior Jillian Barr, they walked out of the Connersville gym with a win.
The next game for the Eagles proved to be a tough one as it came down to the final moments. The regional was played at Wes-Del High School so it drew a “very good environment” from Delta fans and Maconaquah fans.
Delta jumped out to a good lead in the first quarter winning 14-3 and got outscored in every other quarter. This game was a shootout going back and forth in the final quarter. Barnes had a much needed 12 points combined with Jillian Barr’s 20, which allowed the Eagles to hold out and close the game, followed by clutch free throws by Olivia Marshall and Elizabeth Bamidele.
Barnes’s next game proved to be the toughest yet, facing a young Norwell team who was state runner-up the previous year.
The first half was toe to toe in Huntington with the Eagles only trailing by one at half and Barnes making things happen herself. Norwell made some defensive adjustments at half, using a suffocating zone trap to force many turnovers. This seemed to doom the Eagles offensively, and despite Barnes’ 19-point effort, they fell to the Knights 74-44.
Barnes knows next year if they cross paths with Norwell again they can beat them.
“Everyone just needs to keep playing this summer and do workouts, just anything possible to improve,” Barnes said. “We’ll beat them by just lockdown defense and just doing all the little things right.”
Throughout Barnes’s life basketball has been a shoulder to lean and cry on from her first game in fourth grade to her most recent game against Norwell. Basketball has built friendships and relationships for years to come.
“(Basketball) just makes me really happy, like whenever I’m sad or anything, I know I can play basketball,” Barnes said.
