Shayla Alexander provides personality, skill set for regional-bound Mishawaka Marian girls

MISHAWAKA — Shayla Alexander brings provides a "personality" to the Marian girls basketball team according to her coach.

The talented senior cager brings plenty of game to the hardwood for the regional-bound Knights too.

Alexander has been a key cog this season in the success of the Class 3A No. 8 Knights. Marian, sporting a 22-5 mark, will face Tippecanoe Valley (21-3) Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Jimtown Regional.

Roundup:Inspired South Bend Washington rolls to 4A sectional crown in Plymouth

Veteran Marian coach Steve Scott knows the versatile 5-10 Alexander is a key piece to the puzzle for his senior-laden squad.

"Shayla has been huge for us this season," said Scott, whose team won its own sectional title. "She's one of our double figure scorers and that creates challenges for teams we play because they can only take away so much.

"She's a smart player. She plays really hard and she's our best defender. She's versatile and can guard any positions on the floor and takes pride in her defense too."

"She's definitely our talker on the court. She plays with her heart on her sleeve out there."

Alexander averages 11 points, over five rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. She averaged 4.2 points and 4.9 rebounds as a junior after coming to Marian her sophomore year after attending Clay High School as a freshman.

Alexander made her final game on the home hardwood one to remember. She tallied 20 points as the Knights beat rival Saint Joseph 71-31 to claim the program's first sectional crown since 2020. Marian won sectional titles from 2018-20 in Scott's first three years as coach before losing to Washington in sectional play each of the past two seasons. Washington moved up to Class 4A this year due to the IHSAA tournament success factor. The Panthers are ranked No. 1 and 26-0 this season.

"To be able to hold the sectional trophy and cut down the nets for the first time was a dream come true for me," said Alexander of the sectional championship. "I just felt that I had to perform in my last game on our court. It was an amazing game."

Alexander admits that she has a "personality" when it comes to her play on the court.

"I'm one of the goofy ones on our team," Alexander related following practice Monday. "I love to see my teammates smile. I like to bring good energy to them on the court and bring exctiement to the court.

"I just try to play with confidence and play hard. Our goal is to work as a team and have confidence in what we do as a team. I just try to go out there and play with heart."

Alexander traces her love of the game to her father Rashawn. She also credits him and her middle school coach Will Bynum for her love of defense.

"My Dad taught me how to love basketball and how to play with pride and confidence," said Alexander. "I love playing defense. I take so much pride in it. My number one rule is that defense always wins games. Coach Bynum taught me defense. I always have a defense first mindset out there."

Alexander, who was a second-team All-Northern Indiana Conference selection, has put a lot of work into her game to make a big time improvement from a season ago. She works with personal trainer Tariq Scott and has also worked in the past with former Washington star Cedric Moodie. Alexander also played AAU ball with Always 100.

"Her offseason work has showed up this season," noted coach Scott, who notched his 300th career coaching win in the sectional final. "She has vastly improved her ballhandling skills and her shot has gotten better."

Steve Scott earns 300th coaching win in Marian rout of Saint Joseph for 3A sectional title

Alexander, who likes to dance, draw and roller skate, plans to play at Bethel University in Mishawaka next season.

The Knights, like in the sectional, will be the favorite at the one-game regional. Marian is led by Indiana All-Star hopeful Nevaeh Foster. Senior guard Foster averages 25 points a game and now has 2,233 career points, the most in Marian history for boys or girls. The NIC MVP and Western Kentucky recruit is just the third prep player in St. Joe County history to score 2,000 points with the others being current WNBA star Skylar Diggins-Smith and current Maryland freshman Mila Reynolds, both of whom helped their Washington teams win state championships.

The Knights, despite several injuries to key players, have been tested by a tough schedule. Marian has played 15 Class 4A teams this season and all five of their losses are to 4A squads, including No. 1 and undefeated Washington.

"I think that this is a very good matchup for us," said coach Scott. "Chris (Valley coach Chris Kindig) has done a hell of a job. I just give our kids a lot of credit this season for what they have done. We've had very few practices all season with everyone there and healthy for us."

Marian, which lost to the eventual state champions in Northwestern and NorthWood in regional play in 2018, 19 and 20, hopes to be close to full strength come Saturday. Scott says he expects MaKaya Porter to play in the regional. The senior star missed the first 22 games due to an offseason knee injury. She then played two games and totaled 28 points and 15 rebounds, but did not play in the three sectional wins. Porter, who did practice Monday, averaged 19 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and was a Junior All-Star in 2022. Scott added that senior Grace O'Hara, who missed the sectional due to an ankle injury, will be a game time decision Saturday. O'Hara averages 2.5 ppg.

The Knights, who were NIC runner-up to Washington at 10-1, is shooting for the program's first-ever regional title Saturday.

Valley, which won the Bremen Sectional, is led by Kaydence Mellott. The 5-8 senior guard is the team's lone double-digit scorer at 19.5 points a contest. The Vikings, who average 53 points a game and allow 38 points a contest, also count on senior Lily Ault (7.6), senior Molly Moriarty (5.6), junior Macy Peterson (5.3) and senior Corinna Stiles (5.1). The Valley roster features five seniors and four players listed at six feet or taller.

The Vikings, whose last sectional title came in 2017, won the Three Rivers Conference title at 9-0. Valley has played three Class 4A teams this season, going 1-2 with a win over Plymouth and losses to Warsaw and Fort Wayne Northrop.

The Vikings, who have won eight in a row, won a regional title in 2015. Valley went on to finish as state runner-up that season.

The winner of the Marian-Valley game will move on to the semistate round on Saturday, Feb. 18. Pairings for the four-team semistates will be drawn by the IHSAA on Sunday at 3 p.m. Host sites for the North Semistates are LaPorte, Logansport, Huntington North and Frankfort.

GIRLS BASKETBALL REGIONALS

All times EST

CLASS 4A

At LaPorte

2 p.m.: No. 1 South Bend Washington (26-0) vs. Valparaiso (23-2)

5 p.m.: Northridge (22-5) vs. Lake Central (21-5)

CLASS 3A

At Jimtown

1 p.m.: No. 8 Mishawaka Marian vs. Tippecanoe Valley (21-3)

4 p.m.: No. 6 Fairfield vs. Highland (17-6)

CLASS 2A

At Winamac

1 p.m.: No. 3 Central Noble (24-2) vs. South Central (23-3)

CLASS 1A

At Caston

1 p.m.: Tri-County (14-11) vs. No. 7 Bethany Christian (21-3)

4 p.m.: No. 6 Washington Township (19-6) vs. Argos (13-12)

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Shayla Alexander brings much to the table for Marian girls basketball