Scoggins steps up for Scrapperettes

Nashville girls basketball Coach Paul Dean knew he had something special in Kyleigh Scoggins when he decided to move her up to the varsity team during her freshman season, but he couldn’t necessarily hone in on one thing in particular. All he knew was that she did a lot of things well.

Scoggins, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.

What was even more puzzling to her was how could this particular coach put her onto the main roster after being in the program for only a few months?

Dean had just led De Queen to a 28-4 record and a berth in the Class 4A state quarterfinals during the 201819 season before making the move to Nashville and taking over for Ron Alexander during the spring. Yet, he wasn’t oblivious to what the Scrapperettes had when he came in, considering he’d faced them three times that year. It didn’t take long to see what he saw in Scoggins.

“You could see then that she had the tools and wanted to be coached,” he said. “Kyleigh was a good listener, too, but she was also very observant. She watches. … She literally watched and listened to everything that was going on.”

His budding standout had her qualms about what Dean recognized, at least initially.

“He came here when I was going into the ninth grade, and he wanted me and [Lauren] Carver to move up,” Scoggins said. “We were just really stunned and surprised. We were like, ‘We’re not very good.’ But he saw something, I guess, that not many other people saw.”

Maybe it was a quiet confidence that he noticed about her, which in a way sums up how Scoggins goes about her business on the court. Or maybe it was her innate ability to stay even keeled and handle her highs the same exact way she handles her lows.

Whatever it was, it coincided with what Dean was looking for.

“College coaches have asked about her personality, and I’ve told them that they’d never know if she hit 17 threes in a row or missed 17 threes in a row by looking at her face,” he said. “You’d never know if she’s hit 17 in a row or missed 17 in a row when she’s playing defense either. Her consistency of working hard and staying level-headed. … She’s just very mature in that area, and it showed then just like it shows now. Everybody sees that.”

Everyone also sees just how big time Scoggins and her poker-face mentality has become since that freshman season.

The senior guard has been the leading assassin on both ends of the floor all season for the defending Class 4A state champions, who’ve been nothing short of dominant. Nashville (18-3) has ran off 13 straight victories by an average of 43.5 points. The Scrapperettes have been so overpowering that Scoggins’ services usually aren’t needed much, if at all, in the second halves of games.

But the two-time all-stater’s presence is certainly felt during whatever floor time she sees.

Scoggins is averaging 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 deflections and has a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in just about 18 minutes per game. Those numbers are par for a player who consistently impacts games in a multitude of ways.

“The thing is that what Kyleigh does isn’t surprising,” Dean said. “She accepts coaching really well, and her attitude has been fantastic. And it’s like that with all the girls. With them, there’s no egos involved, and they play hard for each other.”

The Scrapperettes’ effort has been enviable, much like it was during their state-title winning season.

Nashville won its final 29 games and capped things off with a riveting 42-41 victory over Farmington when Sidney Townsend buried a go-ahead three-pointer with 3.3 seconds left in the game. The championship was the program’s first and Scoggins walked away with Most Valuable Player honors.

The team has been just as good, if not better, through 21 games this season, but Scoggins noted that while things have been different, a collective mindset from all is still the recipe they use.

“A lot of the roles have changed,” she said. “I think everybody is scoring more to the point where you never know who’s going to do what. You don’t ever really know who’s going to shoot the best in this game or that game. … Everybody can do pretty much everything.

“I really didn’t expect for this team to be able to play the way we’re playing so soon, but it’s happening, and I’m glad it’s happening.”

Scoggins’ level of play has been just as impressive.

She revealed that there were certain things that she worked on during the offseason, such as ball-handling while going through situational-type of scenarios, that prepared her for what she anticipated being a long sea- son, but the 5-8 star is rarely satisfied.

After Thursday’s practice, she didn’t hesitate to point out an aspect that she believed needed to be addressed, albeit one that she’s proven to be adept at.

“Here recently, I could probably shoot the ball better,” Scoggins said with a laugh. “I mean, it just kind of depends on what happens in the game before. But after the last game we played, I think I need to shoot better.”

The game she eluded to actually resulted in an 85-38 victory over a Magnolia ballclub that had previously won six consecutive games. Scoggins finished with 11 points in limited action.

“Only had those 11 points, that’s horrible,” Dean said jokingly. “I mean, after that performance, she really has to get back in the gym and get to work.”

But Dean knows that the last thing he has to worry about with Scoggins is her work ethic. He doesn’t have to pinpoint anything that needs improvement, during or after games, when it comes to her because more times than not, she’s already recognized whatever it.

Coincidently, it was the other way around when he detected something that resulted in her being elevated with the upperclassmen four years ago.

“She puts in the work and has improved so much each year,” Dean said. “And to be honest, I feel she’s only scratched the surface of how good she can be.”