ALL-AREA: Spivey expands her game and dominates

Keyanna Spivey is the All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
©TELEGRAM PHOTO / SARAH LOUYA

Pam Gainey noticed the emotion Keyanna Spivey was wearing.

Gainey’s power forward was disappointed.

The Rocky Mount High coach watched players wander into the gym for a Saturday morning practice during the 2015-16 season after a loss at Nash Central the night before.

Spivey, then a junior, had been shut down in the game. Double teams clogged the paint, which rattled the Gryphons’ offense. Spivey scored 10 points, the product of a poor-shooting night where only the free-throw line allowed her to consistently produce.

Before practice started, Gainey grabbed Spivey for a quick chat. It was time for Spivey to grow.

“For every athlete, there is a defining moment,” Gainey said. “I felt like that was it. I said, ‘Because you have shown what you are capable of, you can continue to expect this type of treatment. You’re going to have to make some decisions.’

“You can either say ‘OK, you got me,’ or you can expand your game.”

Spivey’s drop step off the block was her go-to move. It became easier to guard as teams saw it more. So Gainey and Spivey went to work. The expansion of her game led to a late-season explosion in the Big East conference tournament, where she averaged nearly a double-double. This year as a senior, she carried that dominance through the entire season. Spivey averaged 20.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.6 assists en route to becoming the All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season.

The Gryphons advanced to the fourth round of the 3-A state playoffs and went undefeated in the conference regular season with Spivey’s new set of moves and Pam Gainey’s daughter, Michelle, running the point of a speedy transition offense.

Spivey’s drop step became one of many weapons. She developed a reverse pivot to face up to the rim, getting her outside of the paint to punish defenders with a short jumper. Or she would make a step toward the basket, only to back out and pull her defender from the paint so she could bang around them or draw a foul. She shot 76 percent from the free-throw line, where she produced roughly one-third of her total points scored (538 points).

That practice moment came up on April 12, when Spivey signed her letter of intent to play at Belmont Abbey. That was the day she felt her focus change.

“All I can remember is that it wasn’t a good feeling,” Spivey said, shaking her head. “All I knew is I wasn’t going to feel that way again.”

While her technique could be tinkered with, Pam Gainey said the way Spivey sees the game can’t be taught. The coach said Spivey is so aware on every play, it makes her lowpost attack that much quicker. That ability to read defenses allowed Rocky Mount High to function better on offense as a whole. Gainey said she could have run the offense with Spivey shooting almost every time, but that wouldn’t have allowed Spivey to improve.

Instead, Gainey used Spivey as a facilitator from the inside to find open shooters. Focusing on the offense that way allowed Spivey to produce constantly.

“All I thought about is that I had to leave it out on the court,” Spivey said. “There is no reason to save (energy) because what are you saving it for?

“I gave it all that I could, all the time.”

Gainey also noticed Spivey developed into more of a leader. When this past basketball season started, Michelle Gainey was shifted from playing on the wing to running the offense. That came with growing pains. Pam Gainey thought Spivey kept Michelle Gainey positive during rough games or practices.

“She really was a huge cheerleader for Michelle because she knew she was changing positions,” Pam Gainey said. “That would make us go.

“I felt like Keyanna really encouraged Michelle daily, and I think that shows who she (Keyanna) is as a person.”

Spivey’s dedication burrowed a path to Belmont Abbey. At 5-foot-9, she realizes she is on the shorter side of playing inside a college paint. It will take more growth to flourish. And Pam Gainey expects to see Spivey conquer future difficult moments much like she did this one.

“To me, that was the turning point,” Pam Gainey said of that practice conversation in Spivey’s junior year. “The double teams and triple teams continued to come.

“She shed some tears that night (after playing Nash Central). But she had that realization that you can either dig in or you could bail out. And she decided to dig in. She has been on 100 ever since.”

All-Area Girls Basketball Team

Keyanna Spivey, Rocky Mount High

Micheala Nelms, Nash Central

Tia Farmer, SouthWest Edgecombe

Michelle Gainey, Rocky Mount High

Myia Spivey, Nash Central

Honorable Mention

Kayalin Mitchell (Nash Central), Shelby Meeks (Rocky Mount High), Teliyah Owens (SouthWest Edgecombe), Julia High (Rocky Mount Academy), Mya Pittman (Rocky Mount High), Markela Avent (Northern Nash), Jessy Lucas (Southern Nash).

By ETHAN JOYCE
Sports Writer for Rocky Mount Telegram

Friday, April 21, 2017