New Iberia Senior High’s Morgan Carrier finished off her senior season by being named a second team selection to the Class 5A All-State team. She is the Most Valuable Players on The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche Girls Basketball team for the 2016-17 season.

There are certain players who coaches know are going to be special the moment they walk onto the field or the court for the first time.

New Iberia Senior High’s Morgan Carrier was just such an athlete.

“We knew before she came to NISH that she had the potential to be a special basketball player for us,” said New Iberia Senior High girls coach Robert Pinckney. “We had seen her in the eighth grade but at the time we didn’t know if she was going to be here or at Westgate.

“She had to sit out her freshman year due to transfer rules but during that time she learned from Moesha (Kinard), Uri (Jolivette) and Kierra (Anthony).”

When Carrier got on the floor for the Jackets during her sophomore season, she started showing just what she could do and from that point on, it was just how much could she develop between then and when she finally graduated.

It turned out that she developed into quite an accomplished basketball player.

“Sitting out that first year made her hungry,” said Pinckney. “I remember having conversations with her and she was chomping at the bit and she couldn’t wait until her sophomore year to be able to get out on the court.”

All she did after finally getting out on the court was to be an All-District selection for three years and an All-State selection for her junior and senior seasons, culminating with a second team Class 5A All-State nod after helping lead NISH to the second round of the playoffs, where she went toe-to-toe with the eventual Class 5A Player of the Year in Destrehan’s Cara Ursin.

Carrier finished her senior season with a double-double in points (15) and rebounds (10) and while she didn’t join the 1,000 point club, she finished her career with 900 points.

“Her work ethic was, first and foremost, off the chart,” said Pinckney. “Every time she was in the gym she had a ball in her hand. Just like most of the girls who play here, she liked the offensive end and the one thing she had to learn was the defensive end.

“She struggled at first, but finally she started locking in on defense and it made her a totally different player. By the time she was a senior, she had developed into a person who could play on both ends of the court and had become a leader. When we got closer to the playoffs, she really focused on her play nd it was obvious that she really wanted to go far in the playoffs.”

For her efforts in leading NISH to the second round of the postseason, Carrier is named Player of the Year for The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche Girls Basketball Team for the 2016-17 season.

Loreauville head coach Bryan Stephens is Coach of the Year for leading the Lady Tigers to their first ever district championship and an appearance in the Class 2A playoffs.

Joining Carrier on the team this year is her NISH teammate, Taylor Jacob; Erath guard Monette Bolden; Loreauville guard Shan’Tajha Vital and Franklin guard Kaira Butler.

Pinckney said that what made Carrier special was her toughness.

“She wanted to be good,” said the NISH coach. “She had that ability to put the ball in the hole and then be a better leader to everyone both on offense and defense.”

Jacob, who averaged 10 points a game for the Lady Jackets and was a second team All-District 3-5A selection, was the point guard of the New Iberia Senior High offense and everything started with her.

“She could dribble, she could shoot, she could play defense,” said Pinckney. “What more could you ask for.”

Vital, who averaged 15 points per game, was the MVP of District 6-2A and helped lead Loreauville to its first ever district title in girls basketball as LHS finished with an undefeated record in district play and advanced to the Class 2A playoffs.

Bolden was a first team All-District 8-3A choice and averaged 17 points per game for the Lady Bobcats.

Butler was a second team All-Disrict 8-3A selection for Franklin Senior High who averaged a double-double (17 points, 16 rebounds) each time out for the Lady Hornets.

Second team selections for the Best of the Teche Girls Basketball Team are NISH’s Bailey Antoine, Catholic High’s Madison Bienvenu; Highland Baptist’s Camryn Sensley; St. Martinville’s Breyelle Porter and Hanson’s Allysa Young.

Honorable Mention selections to Best of the Teche include Westgate’s Breanna Moreaux and Diamond Davis; Highland Baptist’s Jasey Roy and Blair Abshire; Franklin’s Kenyoda Cormier, St. Martinville’s Tayla Richard and Keisha Bonhomme; Hanson’s Casey Fitzgerald, Carlie Pellerin, Baylee Young and Sarah Daniel; Erath’s Alexis Lege; Loreauville’s Asia Jackson; Delcambre’s Tayah Lewis; West St. Mary’s China Druihlet and Italy Jack and Jeanerette’s Asia Ayro