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Notre Dame de Sion Girls Basketball standout Amaya Adams is Hy-Vee 41 Five Star Athlete of the Week

Posted at 11:54 AM, Jan 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-27 05:27:34-05

Notre Dame de Sion Girls Basketball junior guard Amaya Adams does not come across as someone who constantly brags about her accomplishments. She internalizes them and continues pushing forward trying to get better.

She can add another highlight to her already stellar high school basketball career. Amaya is this week's Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week.

"It feels good because it seems like all of the hard work is finally paying off," said the 5-foot-10-inch junior of earning the Athlete of the Week honor.

Ever since bursting onto the basketball scene as a freshman, Amaya has played with lots of intensity on both offense and defense. According to respected recruiting website Prospect Nation, she's a 3.5-out-of-5 stars recruit.

Prospect Nation describes the strengths in her all-around game as being "defense, attacking the rim, strong basketball IQ, ability to make reads in transition, strong rebounding with the ability to gain extra possessions on both ends."

First-year Storm Girls Basketball Head Coach Leslie Berger has only coached Amaya for several months. But already, she is impressed with her athletic prowess.

"Amaya has some unique talents like skill sets. She's explosive. She's very difficult to guard," Berger said. "She's right handed but prefers to go left which is rare to find. She's just kind of a dynamic player. She does some things that are very difficult to coach."

Amaya is being recruited heavily by several Division 1 Women's Basketball college programs such as: Wichita State, Tulsa, Oral Roberts, Northwestern, Nebraska-Omaha, UMKC, and Pennsylvania. 

"I've definitely gotten more confident and stronger. I feel like at first, I was like learning my role. Before high school, I would just shoot sometimes," Amaya said. "But now, I've learned to drive with both hands. And, it's really helped me get my free throws up and points."

Amaya's hard work is certainly paying off in a big way. 

"She's been working so hard these last couple of months to refine her game and take it to that next level," Berger said. "It's just been really cool to see her grow into that young lady that she is right now."

NOTE: The Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week segment airs every Thursday night during the 10 p.m. sportscast for the entire school year.

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Ryan Marshall can be reached at Ryan.Marshall@KSHB.com.

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