PCHS senior solid shooter and solid teammate
“She’s what I would call a work horse,” PCHS head coach EJ Wyant said on Thursday. “She takes advantage of the opportunities given to her. There’s so many things now that interests kids…when we have an open gym I can count on that she’s going to be here. She’s putting in the work.”
During Thursday night’s Bull Run District opener against Rappahannock, Purdham put up a game-high 31 points despite a four-point loss to the visiting Panthers. Eight days earlier at Fort Defiance, the senior point guard surpassed the 1,000-point milestone for her high school career.
“Ever since I was little,” Purdham says of the moment she realized that among the many sports she’s played, basketball was the one that mattered most. “I’ve just always loved the game of basketball. I grew up around it with Dad, and you know he’s always been my support.”
Mike Purdham has coached both boys and girls basketball at PCHS over the years, and he currently helps Wyant along the sideline with the girls varsity team. So, he had front row seats when his daughter hit five three-pointers against Rapp on Thursday and was among the first to congratulate her during a pre-game ceremony for reaching the 1,000-point mark.
Ali said she’s benefitted from her time on the sideline watching her dad.
“I think I see the floor very well as a point guard,” she said last week. “I try to include my teammates as much as I can, and if an open shot is there, yeah I’ll take it, but I’m more so looking for my teammates.”
Coach Wyant confirmed that.
“She’s just an awesome kid. Good basketball player, she’s versatile, she can do a little bit of everything. But the thing that I appreciate about her is, if she had her choice, I think she feels better dishing, having a nice assist and one of her teammates scoring more so than scoring herself,” he said.
Purdham is now in her fourth year under Wyant, and the one thing that the coached has noticed most in her development is easy to see on and off the court.
“Her leadership…that’s starting to develop more so this year. In the past she’s kinda been a ‘watch me’ type of player, not that vocal… but now I think she realizes we really have a void in that area, so she’s really kind of getting out of who she is, so she’s not only ‘watch me’ but she’s talking a little bit and leading in that way,” Coach Wyant said. “Talent -wise and skill-wise, she’s been there for a while.”
Page County (0-1, 2-4) will travel to Riverheads for a 6 p.m. tip on Monday, Dec. 22. The Panthers have one more game before the New Year on Monday, Dec. 29, when they host Sherando at 4 p.m. Page returns to Bull Run action on Friday, Jan. 2 when they host Strasburg for a 7 p.m. tip.
For schedules, rosters and results, check the Bull Run District website.
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