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Photo by Chris Todd<\/p>\nPhoto by Chris Todd<\/p>\n
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By Robert Wilson<\/p>\n
Canton\u2019s Shamira Morton decided this week to take her basketball talents and play college at Seton Hall.<\/p>\n
To give Mississippians an idea of where Seton Hall is, Seton Hall is closer to New York City than Canton is to Jackson.<\/p>\n
Morton \u2013 the two-time Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Girls Basketball Player of the Year \u2013 chose Seton Hall over Louisiana Tech and Providence.<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since I started playing basketball I wanted to play at the next level,\u201d Morton told Mississippi Scoreboard. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for Seton Hall giving me that chance to fulfill my dream. Seton Hall provides opportunities for players like me to succeed and that stood out to me more than the other schools. I can really see myself excelling in that blue and white, all while representing the state of Mississippi. I\u2019m very grateful for this opportunity and ready to show what I can do at the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Photo by Chris Todd<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m extremely proud of Shamira,\u201d said Canton coach Melissa Word, who won a state championship in 2013 along her back-to-back state runner-up finishes the past two seasons in her 27 years at Canton. \u201cShe has definitely helped put Canton girls basketball out there. With the offers she received, I really surprised that she would go so far away. Her family is really supportive of each other but I know they will be at as many games as possible once her college season rolls around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morton took official visits to Seton Hall, Providence and Louisiana Tech. She also had Division I offers from Southern Miss, Alcorn State, Alabama-Birmingham, Memphis, South Alabama, SMU, Tulane, Belmont, Murray State, George Mason, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Stony Brook and North Carolina A&T.<\/p>\n
Seton Hall plays in the Big East Conference. The Lady Pirates last made the NCAA Tournament in the 2015-2016 season. Tony Bozzella has been the coach for the past 12 seasons. He has led Seton Hall to six consecutive winning seasons.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-3 Morton averaged 23.6 points, 14 rebounds and 5.5 blocked shots and led Canton to its second consecutive MHSAA Class 5A runner-up finish this past season as a junior.<\/p>\n
Morton was second in rebounding and blocked shots and third in scoring in Mississippi by MaxPreps this past season.<\/p>\n
Morton has had season highs of 40 points (also a career high) against Velma Jackson, 21 rebounds against Germantown and 10 blocked shots against Leake Central, Provine, Greenville and Cleveland Central. She has career highs of 23 rebounds against Ridgeland and 12 blocked shots against Cleveland Central and Greenville as a sophomore.<\/p>\n
For the second straight year, Morton led Canton to one win from a state championship, this past year losing to Pontotoc 41-39 in the MHSAA Class 5A state title game. She had 22 points (10 of 13 from the field), 18 rebounds, 6 blocked shots, 3 assists, and 2 steals.<\/p>\n
Morton had 34 points (16 of 19 from the field), 14 rebounds, 7 blocked shots and 2 assists in a 68-33 victory over Lafayette in the first round of the state tournament. She had 15 points, 13 rebounds, 6 blocked shots, 2 assists, and 2 steals in a 59-45 victory over New Hope in the quarterfinals and had 22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and made the the winning shot with 2 seconds to play, in a 42-40 victory over Laurel in the semifinals in a rematch of last year\u2019s state championship game.<\/p>\n
Morton led Canton to a 28-6 record and a 16-game winning streak before the state championship loss. Four of Canton\u2019s six losses were to larger class teams (Class 7A Clinton and Class 6A Hancock) and out of state teams (Har-Ber, Ark., and North Little Rock, Ark.). It was the second straight season Morton has led Canton to a school record 28 wins and a 19-1 region record over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cShamira continues to amaze me with her work ethic and pure leadership on and off the court,\u201d Word said. \u201cShe has helped her teammates get better through her unselfishness and made them know that they are all vital to the team\u2019s success.\u00a0Because of the way teams are playing her (double and triple teamed), Shamira became a second point guard on the floor with her passing ability. She didn\u2019t take bad shots and our overall assists have increased because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFrom last year to this year, I have improved tremendously through my body language, mindset, IQ on the court, communication, and skill set,\u201d said Morton, who played for the Alabama Southern Stars EYBL AAU team, the same team that former Germantown High All-American Madison Booker, recently named the SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore at Texas, played for while in high school. \u201cI worked very hard in the off season after last year\u2019s season, and it helped me improve my performance this season. I plan to continue to do so for this upcoming season and for the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Morton\u2019s teammates look to her for leadership, both on the off the court.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cShamira is the spark that lights up our team,\u201d Canton senior forward Amya Hunter said. \u201cShe is the player who leads by example and sets the pace for us all. Her skills, dedication, and unselfishness on and off the court make her not just the best player, but her energy and commitment set the tone and we all follow her lead to greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cShamira displays great leadership qualities in the way that she carries herself,\u201d Canton freshman point guard Kylei Rogers said. \u201cShe\u2019s a great motivator and could get us pumped up in pressure situations. Shamira has unmatched work ethic and is always in the gym no matter what\u2019s going on. She\u2019s a great friend off the court. Shamira handles the fame and social media very well and it gives me a great outlook on what the future holds for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cShamira is an incredible player, and her talent speaks for herself, but what really sets her apart is her work ethic and leadership,\u201d Canton junior guard Dekendra Mitchell said. \u201cShe pushes everyone around her to be better, and she\u2019s the kind of teammate you always want on your side.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Photo by Chris Todd<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cShamira is a great player,\u201d said Germantown coach Jamie Glasgow, whose coached Madison Booker, the Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons before Morton received the award last year. \u201cShe has a really good touch around the basket and can hit the midrange shot. This combination makes it difficult to guard her. Shamira is very hard to keep off the boards. She is not only tall, but long. Shamira is the kind of player that you try to game plan to take her away and make her teammates beat you. It is a lot easier said than done.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt has been a joy to watch Morton\u2019s game grow and expand over the years,\u201d Northwest Rankin coach Tameika Brown said. \u201cShe dominates on both ends of the floor. Morton plays the game the right way, with energy, passion, and selflessly. I\u2019m looking forward to what she adds to her game for her senior year.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
She averaged 10.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.8 blocked shots and helped Clinton Christian to a 19-15 record and a third-place finish in the MAIS Class 4A state tournament and reached the MAIS Overall Tournament quarterfinals and made fourth team All-Metro Jackson two years ago season as a freshman before transferring to Canton for her sophomore year.<\/p>\n
She started as an eighth grader at Canton before transferring to Clinton Christian.<\/p>\n
Morton is the daughter of Shameka and Dewayne Morton. Shameka played basketball at Gulfport High and Jefferson Davis Junior College, now Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Dewayne played basketball at Canton High and Holmes CC.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Morton has three older brothers, Gregory Moore, Donovan Morton and Malachi Morton, and a younger sister, Daliyah Morton. Gregory graduated from Canton High and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC and will graduate next spring from Tennessee State. Donovan graduated from Germantown High and will graduate next spring from Jackson State. Malachi played basketball at Velma Jackson High and Yazoo County High. Daliyah is in the fifth grade at the Canton Arts and Science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Chris Todd By Robert Wilson Canton\u2019s Shamira Morton decided this week to take her basketball talents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[402,110999,111000,111001,111002,398,400,401,31257,111003,111004,99],"class_list":["post-190032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-canton-high","tag-melissa-word","tag-mhsaa","tag-mississippi-high-school-girls-basketball","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-basketball","tag-ncaabasketball","tag-robert-wilson","tag-seton-hall","tag-shamira-morton","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}