Hun’s Darrian fits into MVP role
By: Bob Nuse
It didn’t take long for Shantee Darrian to get comfortable with her new teammates on the Hun School girls’ basketball team.
"Because of the type of person she is and the personality she has, she fit in with the rest of the team right away," Hun coach Bill Holup said of his transfer from Granville Charter School in Trenton. "And on the court she’s such an unselfish player that the rest of the girls love to play with her. She has that pass first, shoot second mentality."
But when called on to score, Darrian can do that as well. The 6-foot junior has been the Raiders’ leading scorer in seven of their 10 games this season, averaging 13.4 points per game thus far to lead the team.
This past weekend, Darrian scored 20 points in a 41-38 win over Northern Burlington in the opening round of the Eastern States Christmas Invitational Tournament at McCorristin, then came right back to lead the team with 13 points in a 38-18 win over Pennington in the championship game to earn MVP honors.
All the while, Darrian was working hard on the boards and looking to set up her teammates to score. That has been her style of play for as long as she can remember.
Shantee Darrian is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"I just go out and try my best each game," said Darrian, a Trenton resident who transferred to Hun after Granville became a K-9 school this year. "I like to bring the ball up and try to set my teammates up to score. When I bring the ball up I’ll look for my shot, but I’m also looking for my teammates to see if they’re open.
"Depending on the type of game, I might look to score more. Whatever the coach wants me to do, that’s the way I’ll play."
So far this season, Holup couldn’t be happier with the way Darrian has played for his team. Her play has helped the Raiders get off to a 7-3 start, including championships in the ESCIT and Stuart Tip-Off tournaments.
"The great thing about Shantee is that she never forces a shot," Holup said. "When she does shoot, she’s usually wide open or she’s getting an offensive rebound and putting it back up. She’ll wait for a good shot to come to her before she’ll force the ball up.
"She’s a unique player in that she has a lot of size, but she can also handle the ball well. She’s got so much potential and I only see her getting better playing against the kind of schedule that we play."
After last season, Darrian had fully expected to be playing for Granville again this year. But when the school closed, she found a new home at Hun.
"I definitely like my team," she said. "Right away we all got along well. It’s been a lot of fun playing with them and we’ve come together as a team pretty fast."
That was evident with the tournament title at McCorristin. First, the Raiders topped a talented Northern Burlington team. They then came right back the next day to avenge an earlier loss to Pennington.
"Before the tournament our coach told us that Northern Burlington was a good team," Darrian said. "We came in knowing we had to play well to beat them. We got down, but then we came back and won. It was good to play Pennington again in the final. They didn’t have their star point guard, but we still felt like we played a good game."
Hun did have one of its stars, and because of that the Raiders were able to come away with a pair of big wins.
"Shantee is just going to keep getting better," Holup said. "She already has a lot of Division I schools interested in her. And I think as we play and more people see her, she’ll get more and more interest from college teams."
For now, Darrian is just worried about trying to make her current team better.
"It’s been good for me," she said. "Both athletically and academically this has worked out. I’m having fun and we’re doing well as a team."