Kudos to sophomore basketball player, Caitlyn Demaree! Caitlyn’s impressive performance this season has been highlighted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Thanks to her strong work ethic and talent, Caitlyn leads area players in 3-pointers per game (3.8) and has twice broken the Principia record this season. Here is the article about Caitlyn at Principia: DEMAREE LEADING NEW-LOOK PRINCIPIA For much of the last four seasons, a large portion of the offense at Principia revolved around guards dumping the ball into the paint to have center Alli Ball – who is now playing Division I basketball at Akron – finish it off. My, how times have changed. This season, three of Principia's top four scorers are guards and that group is led by sophomore guard Caitlyn Demaree, who is averaging 14.1 points per game. Of those points, plenty have come from behind the 3-point arc as Demaree is the leader among area players in 3-pointers per game (3.8). “This is actually the best shooting team I’ve ever coached, and Caitlyn is as good of a shooter if not better than the other players we’ve had come through here, which includes two of the last three state players of the year (Liz Gilman and Alli Ball),” Principia coach Shad Nichols said. “It's a change of pace, but we have a different team now. We're very young.” Demaree has already broken the school record for 3-pointers in a game, which was five – twice this season. She hit six and then against Normamdy Dec. 3, in a 80-21 win, Demaree hit nine threes and scored 30 points. Nichols said Demaree's success is a tribute to her work ethic. “She has learned from the players that have come before her how to work hard and be successful at something,” Nichols said. “She’s in the gym in the mornings before school multiple days per week working on her game and her shooting. Then, she stays after practice to make 10 free throws in a row before she leaves the gym. So part of it is, she’s the first one in the gym and the last to leave. What truly separates Caitlyn is her belief that the ball is going into the basket. She is so confident in her shot. It’s either that, or she realizes how much fun it is to put the ball in the basket, and so she just keeps doing it.” The veteran coach added that he sees a bright future for the sophomore, even with so much resting on her shoulders. “We’ve never asked a sophomore to carry the team like she is being required to do,” added Nichols. “She’s seen multiple box-and-one’s and overplays to try and stop her from scoring. To go from averaging one point a game as a freshman to leading the area in threes as a sophomore is pretty remarkable. She is our next great player.” For her part, Demaree said she's glad to see all of her hard work come to fruition. "Being the leading 3-point shooter shows me that all the work and practice I have put in is really paying off," Demaree said. "I also see how hard work and persistence can manifest itself in my life, and it encourages me to keep improving and to keep working hard on and off the court." Source: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/high-school/girls-basketball/thornton-back-with-a-vengeance-for-jennings/article_72da08d4-969f-11e4-844a-f301228b027f.html