One of the most prolific players in the area this past season was Newton’s Zia Shields.
The senior finished the year with 23.5 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and six steals per game, as the Lady Tigers got hot in the postseason and made it to the Elite Eight before they lost to eventual state champion Lake.
The success she and the Lady Tigers had this season helped her gain attention and helped her sign a college scholarship to Pearl River Community College.
Although an assistant noticed her at the Heidelberg game where she scored 38 points, It was following her final game at Lake that she finally got a chance to visit with their coaches and eventually decided to commit to Pearl River.
Shields said Pearl River made her feel like family, and she wanted to be a part of a championship culture.
“When I first went there on my visit, I was welcomed, and they made me laugh,” Shields said. “I liked the campus and most of all, because I know this a championship team, and I belong on one of those.”
Newton girls basketball coach Ty Harden said Shields had to become the team leader after the graduation of several senior players, including Ja’Leah Hickmon who signed with Jackson State.
“She had to learn how to play multiple roles. She had to learn how to be big sister. She had to learn how to be assistant coach. She had to learn how to be a comforter,” he said. “She had to learn how to do many things because she was on a court with a lot of young girls. So she had to lead a lot of times. She would come to me and she’d be like, ‘Coach, they’re forgetting to do this.’ And I would tell her, “You got to do all of it at the time. You know, you got to lead and you got to get us back to where you normally are used to being. And that’s in the final four and the state championship game.” And she dug in and she worked and she grinded and she got us back.”
Shields said that challenge helped her prepare for the next level.
“It just made me focus, which is not a bad thing to say, but it made me focus on me more and to get better prepare my own skills for the next level,” Shields said. “It’s just meant the most to me that I was the one that they looked up to, even though some games it wasn’t the best, but we make the best out of it.”
