Manasquan’s Michaela Mabrey is Player of the Year

Make no mistake, the best female high school basketball player in New Jersey resides in the Shore Conference.

Her name is Michaela Mabrey, from Manasquan HS.

Michaela is this year's New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year. The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character.

A 2000 point scorer in her career, Michaela is also the Kerwin Award winner for 2011-12, which goes to the top female player in the Shore. As the awards pile on, she was named to the McDonald's All-American team, and will play in the Basketball Coaches Association All-American game later in the season.

As I write this blog, Michaela has led the Warriors into the semi-final round of the Tournament of Champions, so her High School season continues, before she takes her talent to Notre Dame University, on a full scholarship.

How prestigious is the Gatorade POY award? Last year's winner was Temi Fagbenle, from Blair Academy, who went to Harvard University. Previous winners include Candace Parker (Tenn U), who was a three-time winner, Diana Taurasi (U Conn), a two-time winner, and last years winner, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who averaged 15 points in her freshman year at UConn and has led them into this years NCAA tournament.

Now you can add Michaela Mabrey to that list.

Who knows what the future holds for Michaela? But with solid work ethic, it would not surprise me if she joins this list of All-Americans.