We Speak High School Basketball
North Paulding’s First Title Was Just the Start
The first state title in school history is supposed to be the hard one. North Paulding is set up like it was the easy part.
The Wolfpack went 30-2 last season and beat Grayson 64-58 for the Class 6A championship — the program’s first — avenging a finals loss to Grayson two years earlier. Morgan Landrum’s title-game line reads like a video game: 17 points, 21 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks, earning MVP honors. Kalee Hinkson scored a team-high 19, including a three-quarter-court buzzer-beater to end the third quarter, and her younger sister Kenzie added 11.
Now the scary part for the rest of Georgia: North Paulding graduated exactly one senior. Landrum, a Wofford commit, returns as a senior and a Preseason Second Team All-State pick. Kenzie Hinkson, a junior, is a Preseason First Team pick; Kalee, a Kennesaw State softball commit, is back too. Around them: 5-11 junior Talya Arnold, 5-10 sophomore Brooklyn Arnold, junior sharpshooter Ava Dyer, incoming freshman Vicka Junco and 5-10 sophomore transfer Ari McElrath from South Paulding.
The Wolfpack open as the preseason No. 1 team in the new Class 7A. First title: done. The encore roster says they meant it.
We Speak High School Basketball
Remember These Names: E’zariyah Clark and Amira White Headline Florida’s 2030 Class in Tampa
They haven’t played a minute of high school basketball yet. In Tampa, people are already learning their names.
E’zariyah Clark arrives at Tampa Bay Tech as a 5-11 forward and combo guard in the class of 2030, playing club ball for HER Elite. Prep Girls Hoops’ evaluation reads like a varsity scouting report: a midrange game, range out to the deep ball, and rim protection built on length and timing — a freshman who “should be a key contributor for TBT alongside a talented group of guards.”
Across town, Amira White gives Plant a 6-0 power forward from the same 2030 class, playing for MBJ Elite. Prep Girls Hoops calls her “a major addition for Plant as the program looks to reestablish itself among the top teams in Tampa and across the state,” pointing to a back-to-the-basket game with an outside shot to match.
Florida’s 2030 class, as Prep Girls Hoops frames it, is a group whose size and length make them names to watch from day one. Two of the biggest are starting their careers in Tampa gyms this winter. Remember where you heard them first.
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