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Paige Earns POY Honors In BBL

Bemus Point’s Walter Shines At Ivy League Championships

Jaysean Paige led the British Basketball League in scoring this season, averaging 22.6 points per game. Photo courtesy of BBL

Jaysean Paige took his considerable skills to the British Basketball League this season and the transcontinental trip has proven to be the right move.

The former Jamestown High School and University of West Virginia star has been named the BBL’s Player of the Year for the 2017-18 season by the British Basketball Journalists Association.

The honor, which was announced Friday, caps a season in which the Newcastle Eagles guard averaged a league-best 22.6 points per game, while finishing among the leaders in several other statistical categories, including: field goals made (284), first; two-point field goals made (223), second; 3-point field goals made (61), third; steals per game (2.29), second; and assists per game (5.71), second. Paige shot 49 percent from the field, including 36 percent from the arc, and 79 percent from the foul line. He also averaged 4.94 rebounds per contest.

The Eagles ended up losing in the BBL quarterfinals on Monday to the Bristol Flyers.

“I have to say congratulations at this stage to Jaysean for picking up the Basketball Writers Association’s MVP of the year award,” wrote Jeff King, the Eagles’ press officer and LiveBasketball.tv commentator. “Perhaps slightly surprising and there may be more to follow. But, there’s no denying Jay’s ability and potential, and he did lead the league in scoring.

Christina Walter

“Plus, he assisted and rebounded, too, with great numbers as a guard. He possibly could have had an even better season as at times he made it look ridiculously easy, but also at times he looked like a 23-year-old professional playing his first full year as a professional.”

“I’m very grateful for this award,” Paige said via the Newcastle website. “I would like to thank Fab (Flournoy, the team’s player/coach) for giving me the chance to play at Newcastle and my teammates who were there for me for the whole year.”

Paige was The Post-Journal Player of the Year in 2011 when he led Jamestown High School to a berth in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA championship game. He transferred to a Kentucky high school for his senior year and then played at two Division I junior colleges before ultimately landing a scholarship at the University of West Virginia where he was named the Big 12 Conference Sixth Man of the Year as a senior.

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Christina Walter will soon be starting her career with Morgan Stanley in New York City, but she sure has left her mark at Princeton University.

The senior sprinter on the Tigers’ track & field team, Walter (Bemus Point/Maple Grove) turned in quite a performance at the Ivy League Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Pennsylvania last weekend.

In taking third place in the 100 meters, Walter recorded a personal-best 11.80, which tied her for third all-time at Princeton, and she also ran a personal-best 24.45 in the 200 (sixth all-time at Princeton). Her other career marks include a 7.56 in the 60, first all-time; and 24.41 in the indoor 200, which is tied for second in school history.

Walter, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Peter Walter, will graduate from Princeton in June.

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