Senior Maggie Shipley recently topped the School record charts and became the leading scorer in Yorktown Basketball history. A four year varsity player, Shipley has helped turn the team into one of the most successful at our school. Now in her senior year, Shipley has committed to continue her basketball success at Amherst College in Massachusetts. With basketball being such a big commitment, one would think Shipley would only have time for one sport, however, she also plays Field Hockey. A leader during more than one sports season, Shipley’s absence in the coming year will be felt by coaches and athletes alike. Amherst is lucky to have landed one of Yorktown’s best.

Q: What has led to the team’s success this year?

A: “I think our morale is up. We all get along really well on and off the court which has been good, our chemistry is there and everyone’s work ethic during practice has been strong.”

Q: What is your earliest memory of playing basketball?

A: “Playing on my recreational team I was first on in elementary school that my dad coached. The Mustangs.”

Q: What led you to Amherst?

A: “I was looking at a lot of different schools. Originally I had the idea that I wanted to go Division 1 but that didn’t really work out, so the Amherst coach reached out to me and then I went up to visit in October and really liked the school. Their basketball team is really competitive, they won the Division 3 championship the last two years, so that was appealing, and then academics were the number one thing for me throughout the process.”

Q: What will the training schedule be like once you get there? This summer?

A: “I was surprised, it’s a lot more chill than I was expecting. I don’t have to go up during the summer. The regular season doesn’t start until November, so there wasn’t much of a commitment in the offseason which was also appealing.”

Q: What does it mean to have scored 1,000 points for Yorktown?

A: “I was pretty excited. A big part of that is I’ve been able to play on the team for four year and I’ve been lucky enough to not get injured. So consistently being able to play every game has been helpful in reaching that.”

Q: Explain the feeling of beating Washington and Liberty (Previously Washington and Lee).

A: “For me it’s a little more personal because their team posed death threats so it felt pretty good to beat them this year.”

Q: They posed death threats?

A: “Yeah, this girl printed out a picture of our team and put it on a dartboard and put a dart through my neck and posted it on Instagram.”

Q: How many hours a week do you spend in the gym or on the court? What does this entail?

A: “So in season I’m just going to practices but offseason, I’ll go to an outdoor court and put up probably 200 shots. I have my little routine, going around the arc and then I’ll work on ball handling. If I’m not working out on my own, I’ll go play pickup at Langston.

Q: Which do you prefer?

A: “I like practicing in season more because I’m with my team.”

Q: How do you feel knowing that you will be playing your final game for Yorktown soon?

A: “It’s crazy because it’s gone by so fast. I remember being a freshman and feeling like it was so far away but I’m just trying to make the most of this season and hopefully make a run in the postseason.”

Q: What will the postseason look like?

A: “We’ll see; essentially our goal is to make it to regionals again which would entail winning the first round of districts which I think is very possible.”

Q: Who has been your biggest motivator in getting you to where you are now? Coach, parents, yourself, friends?

A:“I’m pretty self motivated. My parents weren’t telling me I had to do it from a young age, I love basketball. I’m the one who was asking ‘Can I please tryout for travel?’ when I was little. They didn’t even think I wanted to play in college. Also, I’ve played for the same AAU team since fourth grade so my AAU coach, Liz Reed, has been a pretty big motivator. She knows me really well and she’s pushed me to get a lot better.”

Q: What has been your favorite memory on Yorktown Basketball?

A: “Hopefully winning districts this year, but I don’t know, maybe scoring 1,000 [points]. Honestly in general just playing with the other seniors, Katie, Liz and Megan, because we’ve been playing together since fourth grade which is pretty cool.”