FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas women’s basketball signee Jersey Wolfenbarger’s quest to be the nation’s best high school girls basketball player is still alive.
The 6-6 Fort Smith Northside star who is averaging 19.7 points and 8 rebounds per game was named Tuesday as one of the five finalists for the Naismith Trophy. The winner will be announced March 10.
Wolfenbarger recently scored more than 30 points in three straight games — 31 against Little Rock Southwest, 32 against Bryant and a career-high 33 against Little Rock Central.
"The past couple of games we've had a few players out and some returning, so I understood that I'd have to do more to make up for our loss," Wolfenbarger told the Times Record. "I knew I'd have to bring a whole new energy and style of play to the team to keep us going, to keep us motivated and focused.
“I trust that I've worked hard enough to be able to use my moves and implement them into my game; the rest, whether it goes in or not, I can't control that. But I can control my creativity, my versatility and my attitude during the game."
Other finalists for the Naismith Trophy are: South Carolina commits Sania Feagin of Forest Park, S.C., and Raven Johnson of Westlake, Ga.; Connecticut commit Azzi Fudd of St. John’s College High School in Washington; and Texas commit Aaliyah Moore of Moore, Okla.
Bentonville center Maryam Dauda, a Baylor signee, was one of the 10 semifinalists for the award.
“These finalists represent the nation’s top high school girls players and coaches who have enjoyed remarkable success this season, despite the challenges brought in on a global pandemic, through their play on the court or their leadership from the sidelines,” Atlanta Tipoff Club executive director Eric Oberman told USA Today. “The final few weeks of this season will be extremely competitive among the candidates as it always is, which makes narrowing this list down to one winner for each award an exciting challenge for our voters.”
Wolfenbarger has led No. 2 Northside to a 21-2 record this season with its lone losses being to No. 1 Melbourne (23-1) and No. 3 Conway (17-4).
Northside was riding a 19-game winning streak before losing a home game to Conway 69-56 on Friday night. The Lady Bears are 11-1 in 6A Central Conference play, two games ahead of Conway and North Little Rock.