After making Van Buren girls basketball history, Abigail Netherton said she has not taken a single break in the gym.
The junior guard said she went straight from Murfreesboro’s spotlight to the Van Buren gyms across the region. Netherton has focused on two things: School and basketball. Netherton said the intent is by design. Netherton said if Van Buren is going back to the state title game, she wants to make sure she is a vital piece of that puzzle.
“A lot of coaches like to see that you can just like direct the floor,” Netherton said. “Even if you’re not scoring, they like to see that you can get other people scoring and make good, smart plays.”
Netherton said that floor-general mentality is becoming her identity. Netherton’s heroics this year cemented her as a centerpiece of the Eaglettes’ resurgence. Her 40 points earlier this year set a career high and propelled the Eaglettes to a win over Sale Creek. Against Gordonsville a few games later, Netherton scored 30 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds, both of which came close to her career highs. Netherton said it was something she had been searching for this season.
“[I’m looking] to have more assists per game,” Netherton said. “I want to get that up to like 10 [per game,] and then also increase my scoring and play smarter.”
Netherton said despite early losses out of their district, the turnaround from making A’s to making buckets was quick, but necessary.
“We lost but then we can see like oh, well we have a fresh start this year so we can immediately get back into it and try to improve,” Netherton said.
Netherton has propelled the Eaglettes to a 10 game win streak and a 20-3 record this season. Van Buren will enter their district tournament having secured the one seed, needing one win to advance to their fourth regional tournament in five years.