Williams named 8AA North Player of the Year
By TODD FORREST Sentinel writer

Junior Guard Candace Williams was named the Player of the Year for the 8AA North Sub-Region. The 8AA North Sub-Region consists of Union County, Fannin County, Rabun County, Dawson County, Banks County, and East Jackson (Commerce). Senior Kayla Gowder and Junior Sarah Fulghum were named to the All Sub-Region Team. Senior Kaley Sullivan was Honorable Mention.

Williams led Union in scoring for the second year in a row by averaging just over 20 points per game this season. She also led the team in three-pointers made and was among the team leaders in assists, steals, and free-throws. "It is an amazing honor (to be named POY)," said Williams. "When I found out I was ecstatic! I knew I had pretty good chances with how the season was going, but didn't even think about it come gametime."

When asked about having a bullseye on her because of the award and one on the team because of the success, Williams answered, "We're going to have to work a lot harder this offseason because teams will have it out for us next year. Being sub-region champs will have teams wanting revenge (like Fannin) and they will have gameplans on how to play us."

Williams claims that she has learned a lot from their trip to the playoffs this season. "From playing in region and state I realized that when playing more athletic teams than you, you can still take them on, you just have to come out strong and playing together. The first five minutes of the game is the most critical, whether you play scared or come out strong depicts how the game will go."

Next season Williams will be a Senior and will be asked to take on more of a leadership role, especially with all 8th graders moving up next season. She feels she will be ready just from playing with such a wonderful group of seniors this season. "I'm very excited to have all of this talent coming up next year," said Williams. But I will miss the five seniors that are leaving us. We all learned to play together so well and had such great chemistry. I'm going to try and teach them as much as I can, helping them improve their game, setting a good example of hard work ethic and how important it is."

"I was truly blessed to have such wonderful girls as my teammates and I wouldn't trade them for anyone in the world," said Williams. I would love to thank my brother, mom, dad, and Coach West for always being there and supporting me through thick and thin."

8AA couldn't have named a better representative than Williams to be the Player of the Year. Since she is a very humble young lady, she would never say this herself but she was the most feared scorer in all of the Sub- Region if not the entire region. Last season she was known as just a shooter, this year she developed into a scorer. That's what makes her such a great player, she is always working to get better and is never satisfied. She works as hard off the court as any player that I've ever seen play at Union County. She is very knowledgeable when it comes to basketball. She is also a very intelligent person off the court as well. She is a very easy person to interview because she is so polite, well spoken, and she knows the game of basketball inside and out. Union County should be very proud to have someone like her representing us on the court as Sub-Region MVP.

Candace, along with ALLthe girls named to the Sub-Region team or honorable mention, are exceptional role models for young girls to look up too. Union County couldn't have had a better group of girls be honored by the Region.

Junior Sarah Fulghum was also named to the All Sub-Region Team. Fulghum finished third on the team in scoring and was one of the top defenders as well as free-throw shooters on the team. Fulghum was a quiet but steady scorer. Fulghum quietly went out and did her job night in and night out and was probably the most consistent player on the team.

Senior Kaley Sullivan was named Sub-Region Honorable Mention. Sullivan was a vital member of the Lady Panther squad. Alot of the things she did, didn't show up in the stat book but she was always playing tough defense on one of the other teams best players, hustling after loose balls, providing valuable leadership on the floor, and last but not least, being one of Union's top three-point shooters and hitting some clutch shots when they were badly needed.

Senior Kayla Gowder finished second on the team in scoring was one of the team leaders in rebounds, free throws made, and she led the team in charges taken. It meant a lot for her and her class to make the state playoffs after all the suffering they endured during their first two seasons in the program. "It was very special to go to state my senior year because I had never been before," said Gowder. We worked really hard all fours years and it felt good to know it had finally paid off. And if our class did end up being the first of many classes to go to state it would be an honor to start that tradition. I know the upcoming classes have a lot of potential and i have faith that they will have many successful seasons to come."

Kayla is planning on attending Gainesville College in the fall but wont be playing any sports. She will be focusing on academics, but she does offer some advice to the younger girls coming up in the program, that want to make the state playoffs, "Practice makes perfect. Always give 110%. You never know when that extra 10% could win the game. Secondly I would say stick together. Ateam with chemistry is priceless and rare."

This years senior class has gone to state in every female sport so far, this season. When asked what has caused the improvement in female athletics at UCHS, Gowder answered, "Determination was one of the many ingredients to our team making in to state this year. We always knew we could do it and we never gave up. The girls at UC are stepping up and advancing in every sport. I think its pretty awesome. I feel so honored to be a part of one of these teams to make this huge step for UC girls. Its a lasting memory I will never forget with friends I love. I couldn't imagine going out any better."

"I would like to thank my parents, brothers, and grandfather for always supporting me. They never let me down and I couldn't have done it without them. I would also like to thank Coach West for pushing me to my fullest potential and for not giving up on me. He is an awesome coach and I respect him very much for all he has done. Lastly and most importantly I would like to thank my teammates. We are a family. We have been through a lot and still came out on top. I wish my younger teammates the best of luck," said Gowder.