So the Dudley High School PA announcer, Skip McCall, used to say that that tall girl, Akela Maize was amazing and now she still is amazing, because after leaving Dudley, she played for Delaney Rudd at New Hope Christian Academy, in Thomasville and then she played for Wes Moore at N.C. State University and now Akela Maize is playing professional basketball in Spain….She got her start working in the post for Coach Frank McNeil at Dudley HS now she is playing women’s professional basketball…
We knew her when she was just becoming Akela Maize, “The Amazing One” and we saw her come down the court one night on a fast break and nearly dunk the basketball…She got up and the front of the rim just barely blocked her dunk attempt….In other words, Maize could get up and she was one of my favorite kids back on those old Dudley Panthers girls teams along with Essence Abraham, Kennedy Currie, Makayla Rouse and others….Kennedy Currie played over at High Point University and now Akela Maize is playing pro ball in Europe/Spain….
In Maize senior year as a 6’5 center at N.C. State, she averaged 10.1 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game…
Plus we just learned tonight that the tall girl from Northwest Guilford(Liz Kitley) is wearing a knee brace and she may be out until the NCHSAA playoffs in late February/early March of 2019….Elizabeth/Liz Kitley is a high school senior at Northwest Guilford High School and she along with fellow Class of 2019 high school player at NWG, Cayla King, they both have committed to play college basketball at Virginia Tech, in Fall of 2019…
Got the word on ‘Big Liz’ from Wyatt Smith, our road agent and erstwhile reporter and he/Wyatt said he ran into, but did not injure, he just saw Liz at the Ham’s off of New Garden Road and Liz was wearing the brace and it looks like Liz, may miss most of the high school basketball biz for 2018-2019 high school season, unless that knee goes into an Ernest Angley movement and heals super quick….
ACL injury for Kitley.. she said everything is still a go for VT, but you hope for the Northwest Lady Vikings Basketball that Ms. Kitley heals quickly and is back out on the hardwood as soon as possible.
Maybe EA/Ernest Angley is not an option, but I bet if EA was still around he would give this case a shot…Probably more of a job these days for men like James Kramer at Murphy Wainer Orthopedic Specialists…
More on that Amazing Maize part of our post….We had Essence Abraham playing college basketball over at Guilford College and Makayla Rouse played college hoops at Campbell and Makayla also is now in a women’s pro basketball league overseas….
Good luck to these young women’s basketball players and Harkey(6’5), over at Northwest Guilford will be called upon to step up into even a bigger role now for NWG this coming season…Jadyn Murray will also need to step up inside for NWG….
Another kid from over at Dudley, that was in the same mix about the time Akela Maize came through there was little Mo/Moriah Davis….
Some great games back in those days with Dudley vs. Page and Paris Kea, Dudley vs. Southeast Guilford and Kara Shutt and Dudley vs. Southern Alamance with Shay Burnett…
We were treated to some outstanding girls basketball when those teams met on the court…