Meridian High School’s Debreasha Powe has been named the MaxPreps Mississippi High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year. 

Powe helped the Lady Wildcats make it to the MHSAA Class 6A Final Four for the second year in a row, finishing with 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 steals and 2.2 blocks per contest during the 2020-21 season.

“I was excited but grateful at the same time when I found out, because it’s a great opportunity,” Powe said.

Her coach, Deneshia Faulkner, said it wasn’t a shock for Powe to earn such recognition, but it serves as proof to her player that she’s worthy of the praise she receives.

“She’s one of those kids who wonders if she’s good enough, and I told her this should be the answer to that question,” Faulkner said.

Powe said earning an award from a national sports network like MaxPreps helps to show her she’s deserving of the recognition she receives from playing basketball even when she’s sometimes critical of herself.

“I always feel like (what I do is) not enough — I still feel like I have so much to learn,” Faulkner said. “With this, it opened my eyes a little bit. It says I am doing something right.”

MaxPreps.com, a website that covers and serves as a database for high school sports, said in its press release about Powe that “selections are based on team success and individual excellence, in addition to local and state accolades,” which describes Powe and the Lady Wildcats well. It’s why Faulkner said the award is a useful tool both for coaching Powe and her teammates going forward.

“She’s very humble,” Faulkner explained. “Everyone else always seems to look at the good in her game, but she’s very critical (of herself), and as a coach that’s normally our job, so I kind of have to provide a balance and keep her reassured.

“It means a lot for the program, especially with a lot of younger kids coming up. It lets them know it doesn’t matter that you’re from Mississippi, there are people who are able to be recognized.”

Powe is set to compete in the Mississippi Association of Coaches’ All-Star game this weekend, and she’s excited to put her skills to the test against some of Mississippi’s best high school players.

“I’m really excited to see some of the people we played against this whole year and to see some of the players I’ll be playing with,” Powe said. “I’m ready to go there and have fun playing against others who are as good as me or better.”