Mitty’s Jones named state player of year
SAN JOSE >> Archbishop Mitty junior Haley Jones was named Gatorade’s California state player of the year Monday after leading the Monarchs to a 29-1 season that included Nike Tournament of Champions, West Coast Jamboree, league and section championships.
The finish wasn’t how she envisioned — Pinewood beat Mitty in triple overtime for the NorCal Open regional crown Saturday — but that doesn’t take away from the five-star recruit’s many accomplishments.
Jones, who just last week had a who’s who of college coaches make visits to her home, averaged a doubledouble for the season — 21.8 points and 10.0 rebounds.
She also averaged 4.1 assists, 2.5 blocks and 2.0 steals per contest.
Jones is the first girls basketball player from Mitty chosen for the Gatorade award.
The national player of the year will be announced later this month.
In addition to athletic accomplishments, the Gatorade award recognizes “ac- ademic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off” the court, according to its news release.
The release described Jones as “a devoted member of her church youth group and a student ambassador” at Mitty who has a 3.26 grade-point average.
Jones’ importance to Mitty was underscored in the loss Saturday.
The 6-foot-1 superstar fouled out late in regula- tion after playing only 24 of the 44 minutes because of the foul situation. She finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“There’s nothing Haley Jones can’t do on the basketball court,” Presentation coach Wade Nakamura said in the Gatorade release. “She’s got great size and length and she’s very unselfish. She just makes the game look easy.”