Plodding around the gym on crutches, careful not to put any weight on her injured left knee, Aniya Sanders hardly looks like one of the best high school basketball players in Mississippi.

For two months, however, she was as unstoppable a player as there was in the state.

Mixing powerful drives to the basket with a great jump shot, Sanders scored 20 or more points in 12 of Warren Central’s last 15 games.

She finished the season averaging a triple-double, with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists per game. The junior forward was a shining light during a difficult season for Warren Central, a budding superstar in Mississippi, and the 2019 Vicksburg Post girls basketball Player of the Year.

“I’m just happy,” Sanders said of the award.

Sanders was a key contributor as a starter and sixth man the previous three seasons as the Lady Vikes made three consecutive trips to the state tournament. With six seniors gone from a team that reached the Class 6A semfinals last season, she was obviously expected to play an even bigger role this season.

In December, however, several starters left the team. Instead of trying to build on what they’d accomplished the past few years, the Lady Vikes were suddenly a team with no seniors and only one player — Sanders — with significant game experience.

Most of the players that remained were freshmen or sophomores.

“This ain’t fixing to be so good,” Sanders recalled thinking about the roster changes. “This is fixing to be the most challenging year ever. I think my mindset was like that because they were so young. The first thing that went through my head was I’ve got to pick them up and lead the team.”

That process started at the Jackson Public Schools Tournament the day after Christmas. Sanders scored 33 points in a 56-47 win over Wingfield that sparked a run to the semifinals.

She kept up that pace for two more months, scoring at least 16 points in 14 consecutive games to carry the offensive load for the Lady Vikes.

“We got her more opportunities where she could get to the rack as opposed to just going up the floor and trying to create 1-on-5. Defenses started to design defenses to stop her, so we had to be creative to continue to get mass production out of her,” WC coach Darein Hilliard said. “It was almost James Harden-like, in watching her get to the basket.”

Sanders’ high point came in a 73-71 overtime win over Jim Hill on Jan. 18. She had 41 points and 18 rebounds to accomplish a big goal.

“I had one goal, and that was to get 40 points in a game. I did that against Jim Hill. I had 41. That was the only goal I really had. The rest was just leading the team and getting everything going,” Sanders said.

Sanders’ output wasn’t always enough. The Lady Vikes went 6-11 over their last 17 games, finished with a 10-17 record, and failed to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2015.

And, while she embraced the role of being a team leader, she admits it was sometimes difficult to play with a less experienced group of teammates.

“There was plenty of times in my head where I wanted to quit. But it’s a sport I like doing, so I can’t quit,” she said.

Hilliard praised Sanders for sticking it out and having a positive attitude during what everyone understood to be a reboot for the program.

“That’s probably the most impressive part of it. Trying to get her to understand that she needs to show everybody else what needs to be done on and off the floor,” Hilliard said. “That was the battle we went through all year.”

Late in the first half of WC’s regular-season finale against Terry, Sanders hit a jump stop and felt pain shoot through her leg. On the next trip up the floor, it gave out. She tore two ligaments in her left knee, bringing an end to her remarkable junior season.

The injury will keep Sanders off the court all summer. She hopes to be back for the start of preseason practice in October, and back close to full strength in time for the start of the region schedule in January.

Whenever she returns, Hilliard was confident Sanders will show the same kind of skill, leadership and drive that turned her into such a star this season.

“It was frustrating to her at times. We had some big wins, and I think that’s what kept her afloat. It was some frustration there, but she never acted like she wanted to jump off the ship. It’s always good to have somebody that’s going to step up in the locker room and out,” Hilliard said. “I think she’ll have a lot more support next year. And then we’ll just pick up where she left off.”

Vicksburg Post girls basketball Players of the Year
2019 – Aniya Sanders, Warren Central
2018 – Amber Gaston, Warren Central
2017 – Amber Gaston, Warren Central
2016 – Karry Callahan, Vicksburg
2015 – Karry Callahan, Vicksburg
2014 – Karry Callahan, Vicksburg
2013 – Ann Garrison Thomas, St. Aloysius
2012 – Ama Arkorful, Vicksburg
2011 – Donyeah Mayfield, Vicksburg
2010 – Donyeah Mayfield, Vicksburg
2009 – Sha’Kayla Caples, Warren Central
2008 – Sha’Kayla Caples, Warren Central
2007 – Sha’Kayla Caples, Warren Central
2006 – Sha’Kayla Caples, Warren Central
2005 – Cookie Johnson, Warren Central
2004 – Cookie Johnson, Warren Central
2003 – Cookie Johnson, Warren Central
2002 – JaQuita Benard, Warren Central
2001 – E.J. Willis, Porters Chapel
2000 – E.J. Willis, Porters Chapel
1999 – Catrina Frierson, Vicksburg
1998 – Catrina Frierson, Vicksburg
1997 – Cynthia Hall, Vicksburg
1996 – Lakeshia Blue, Warren Central
1995 – Tangie Cooper, Warren Central
1994 – Tangie Cooper, Warren Central
1993 – Tangie Cooper, Warren Central