Preston senior Mya Tiger says she started falling in love with basketball around the fourth grade.

“I joined the Next Level Natives coached by Lyla and Tony Okfuskee who were really great coaches and they helped me a lot.”

As she grew up, she and her coaches closely followed the career of former University of Oklahoma and WNBA standout Courtney Paris.

“We sometimes went to watch her play. I loved the way she played and took the ball to the basket,” said Tiger, herself a post player like Paris.

Her current coach, Rylie Torrey-Littlejohn, has high hopes that Tiger will improve on her eight points and four rebounds per game average that she posted last year.

“I think she’s more aggressive this year and has a better idea of when to take her shots. She needs to force the issue more this year because she knows we need the inside threat and that should also help her get to the free throw line more which will help us.”

As a senior leader this year, Mya has thoughts on what being a good leader is all about.

“I think a good leader has to hold her teammates accountable while providing good communication on what is expected of them. I try to lead by example by getting the girls together for shooting drills before school every morning.”

Torrey-Littlejohn echoes those thoughts and adds some of her own.

“As our only senior, she has the best fundamentals of anyone and that also helps her lead by example.”

Playing AAU ball in the summer has helped Mya hone those skills while helping her build confidence over the years as the competition in the summer is usually tougher than what she encounters playing school ball.

Mya says her goals this year are to help the team go further into the playoffs and to make All-State and with the Lady Pirates having their three leading scorers back from last year’s 14-11 team, those goals seem to be reachable. She’s not sure what is in store after her playing days at Preston but, if possible, she would like the chance to play at the next level.