The pressure of expectations can overwhelm an athlete.
A target is developed on your back, and you become a subject of every team’s ire (and jealousy).
That’s what Brandy Whitfield was forced to deal with this season for Newberry. She averaged nearly 24 points per game in 2024-25, and that was with her teammate Sarah Beaulieu taking up considerable attention.
In 2025-26, Beaulieu was gone and Whitfield was going to draw all the attention. Combine that with wanting to take the Panthers beyond the region semifinals, and the task seemed daunting.
It didn’t bother her a bit.
Whitfield elevated her game and took it to new heights and became one of our easier decisions for player of the year in recent memory. The senior averaged 28.3 PPG this season – good for sixth in the state and second in Class 3A. Her free throws made (117), field goals (250) and three-point field goals (90) all ranked in the top 15 in Florida.
She played at her best when the games mattered most. Whitfield scored 38 and 39 points in the two district wins, and in the region playoffs, she took Newberry past the region semifinals and got it within one win from its first Final Four since 2012.
Now, the Daytona State College commit is the Gainesville Sun’s Big School Girls Basketball Player of the Year. She’s joined on the first team by Newberry forward Destiny Neal, and Bradford’s Ar’Nayshia Griffin. The Coastal Carolina signee delivered a memorable year, as well.
The remainder of the first team is filled out by Buchholz’s Taylor Booth and The Rock’s Ruby Patterson. The freshman Patterson averaged over 20 points per game.
The second team features another Panther (Jada Brown), another Bobcat (Alessia Chavez-Torres), an Eastside Ram (Gabby Webber) and two Gainesville High Hurricanes (Sarah Collins and Takarii Jackson).
Congratulations to all those selected!
All-Gainesville-area Big School Girls Basketball First Team
Guard: Brandy Whitfield, Newberry
Guard: Ruby Patterson, The Rock
Guard/Forward: Taylor Booth, Buchholz
Forward: Ar’Nayshia Griffin, Bradford
Forward: Destiny Neal, Newberry
All-Gainesville-area Big School Girls Basketball Second Team
Guard: Alessia Chavez-Torres, Buchholz
Guard: Gabby Webber, Eastside
Guard/Forward: Sarah Collins, Gainesville High
Forward: Takarii Jackson, Gainesville High
Forward: Jada Brown, Newberry
Coach of the Year: Niya Johnson, Buchholz
Johnson, of course, is the greatest girls basketball player to play and come out of the area. Winning two state titles at P.K. Yonge, Johnson played college at Baylor where she won a national championship and was drafted by the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.
Yet, her success this season came in coaching. She led Buchholz to a 19-8 record and a postseason appearance.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1 and on Instagram @Ramreporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Newberry’s Brandy Whitfield leads the All-Area Big School Girls Basketball team
Reporting by Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
