NICEVILLE — Audrina Nelson is used to winning.
At Air Academy in Colorado, the 5-foot-8 guard contributed to a juggernaut that went a collective 68-12, qualified for three straight Elite 8s, made two Final 4s and finished as 5A state runner-up her junior year.
She also played alongside current Kansas Jayhawk Tatyonna Brown, current Colorado State Ram Caitlin Kramer and Colorado Springs-bound Lydia Flowers, Nelson never the first, second or even third weapon on offense as her career-high points per game peaked at 8.1 for the 26-1 Kadets last year.
It turns out all she needed was the green light. Insert coach Meghan Darhower, whose Niceville Eagles are glad to give the military transfer all the shots she can muster.
Her first game, Nelson shot 7-of-13 from inside the arc, splashed three treys and scored 27 points in a 49-48 win at Booker T. Washington. Three nights later she dropped 28 points and another three treys in a rout of Freeport. Now, nine games in, she’s yet to score fewer than 11 points in any contest and is averaging 19.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals.
“With us, we don’t have a true big, so we’re just running guards out there the whole time with a lot of speed and athleticism,” Darhower said. “So we encourage these kids, like, you’re open, you shoot. That’s what she’s been doing and clearly it’s working.”
It’s worked out for an 8-1 start for the Eagles, who far too often last season watched as Carson Fayard was double- and triple-teamed as the Eagles struggled to get offense outside of the 6-foot point guard. Fayard still leads the offense with 20.6 points per game, although she and Nelson are neck-and-neck in shots in accounting for 69 percent of Niceville’s offense.
“Carson doesn’t have to bring the ball down every possession, and that’s a load that she had to carry a lot last year while dealing with presses and traps and double-teams,” Darhower said. “Running the offense and having to deal with pressure all the time, you know, that’s just tiring. Now we have Audrina. She’s a great dribbler who we trust with the ball, someone who can facilitate. And Carson is great without the ball. She can get open and find ways to score that way and Audrina does the same when Carson brings the ball up.
“So Audrina’s been a nice little piece.”
Perhaps the missing piece for a Final 4 run?
“I don’t know,” Darhower laughed. “It’s early, but we love Audrina and she fits the mold really well of what we do here.”
What the Eagles do is press full court and wear teams down on the defensive end.
“That’s the one area we’re probably best at — being able to press, being able to change it up a little and keep opponents out of rhythm, and finding ways to get steals and easy buckets,” Darhower said. “We’re also very fast, so that helps. And we’re a little undersized compared to teams down South, so our pressure and shooting ability kind of helps make up for up that.”
Nelson wouldn’t play any other way.
“I love playing defense, honestly,” she said. “When everyone is clicking and playing good defense, It always leads to good offense too. So I think that’s another thing that we’re really good at, just like fighting hard defensively and then just getting easy buckets in transition or off turnovers.”
The daughter of two military parents, Nelson “is all business” according to Darhower.
“She’s stoic out there. You can’t rattle her,” Darhower added. “She’s got that leader mentality.”
Nelson, already with two Final 4s to her name, wants to get Niceville over that hump.
“Our mindsets are the same,” Nelson said. “Obviously the goal is to make state and go far in the playoffs, so it’s just about joining our goals.”
No stranger to Player of the Year/D-I teammtes, Nelson’s instant connection with Fayard has put the Eagles on the short list of Region title contenders in 5A.
“Yeah, I love Carson,” Nelson said. “She and I have great chemistry. Like, I always know where she’s at and she always knows where I’m at. And if she needs help with something, I’ll go over there and help her and she has my back, too.”
A good barometer game is on the horizon for the Eagles, who travel to The Fort Wednesday to face unbeaten Fort Walton Beach.
Niceville is ranked No. 1 in 6A and 10th in the state according to MaxPreps, while the 10-0 Vikings are second in 4A and 14th in the state. This could very well be two Final 4 teams by February.
“It’ll be a fun one,” Darhower said. “Hopefully both teams can give everyone a good show.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Audrina Nelson embracing green light for Niceville girls basketball
Reporting by Seth Stringer, Northwest Florida Daily News / Northwest Florida Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
