PITSBURG – Franklin Monroe senior Corina Conley, the daughter of Javan and Rebecca Conley has been named to the 2020 OHSAA First Team All-Ohio D-IV girls basketball team.
“I was so excited to see that,” Conley said of the All-Ohio award. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. I was just so excited because we breed some of the best basketball here in Ohio. To be on that list with that group of girls is huge. I was just so excited that I got the honor to be on that list.”
“It is everything about her,” said FM Lady Jets coach Abbey Moore. “Her attitude, her personality, the teammate that she is. All of those things combined have put her in this position to receive this recognition.”
“You can’t find a more deserving kid,” Franklin Monroe Principal PJ Burgett stated. “Corina puts in the time to be her best. She is the all-around package of quality character that you will find in a kid. I am confident that when you talk to her, she is going to thank God, thank her family and thank her coaches and her teammates for putting her in a position to be successful.”
“There is no way I could have gotten All-Ohio or any my awards without my girls,” Conley said of her teammates. “They are pushing me to keep going, they are always encouraging me, trusting me on the offensive end to pass me the ball. It wouldn’t be possible without all of them. You can have good players but if you don’t have a team around you, you can’t be a good player. You cannot have all the accolades without your team. These girls inspire me every day.”
“Coaches play a huge role, but throughout all my years I have never had a coach like Coach Moore,” continued Conley. “She is a great coach and she knows basketball really well. She’s like our mom. She has always poured into us spiritually and just wants us to be better as young women and growing in life and life’s challenges. There are no words to express what she means to us and the success we’ve had is because of the hard work she has invested in us.”
“Basketball is huge but outside the life of basketball growing spiritually and emotionally and all those other things are way higher than the game of basketball. That is what brings us all together with the game. Overall we’ve worked on getting better as a team and coach is really on us about what we’re saying because that is our culture. We want to have respect for ourselves, what we wear, who we are to other people and wanting to be world changers.”
“If we are bad examples, how does that help other generations coming up so it is setting the standard and setting the bar. Coach Moore is really honest about that and we all have respect for her.”
“We realize how important it is to be those young women in Christ and in our lives,” added Conley. “Learning how to take that to the next level in our lives because we are going to graduate and leave high school. You have to have those values and learn those things at a young age and Coach Moore does a great job of making sure that we know that.”
The 6’0” Conley led the Lady Jets to a 23-3 2019-2020 season record while being named the Cross Country Conference Play of the Year.
“Corina’s attitude is contagious,” Moore said. “She is a leader on and off the floor and people see that. You can’t help but not root for the kid. She has been fortunate here to have the teammates she has had to help support her and put her in positions to be successful like she has but at the same time she has put in the effort and the work and that is what it takes.”
“I don’t have a sister but all 12 of my teammates are my sisters,” said Conley. “I wouldn’t be the basketball player today without them and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them.”
Conley completes a four year Franklin Monroe basketball career as a four year starter for the Lady Jets compiling a 77-24 four year mark.
Conley and the 2020 senior class was playing eighth grade ball for the Lady Jets in Coach Moore’s first season at FM, while the varsity team was recording just two victories that basketball season.
“Looking back at my first couple years coaching, they set the tone with how hard we work and set the tone in practice with how we practice,” Moore said of current and previous team members. “I give those kids a lot of credit.”
“We have great families here and you know it’s getting taught at home as well,” Moore added. “That makes my job easier when I have that kind of support from the parents in our program and I give them all the credit for teaching these girls and raising these girls that way – and then we reinforce it too.”
The list was long of family, friends and supporters to thank.
My mom Rebecca, my dad Javan and my brothers Mason and Ethan have always been there for me pushing me through everything. Also my grandparents, Chet and Carol Conley and my aunt and uncle, Jess and Micah Conley,” said Corina. “They are always there, always cheering for me, always encouraging me and loving me.”
“Coach Abbie Moore, Whitney Rhodus (JV coach) and Brandy Fourman (Asst. Coach).” added Conley. “Coach Brooks (AAU), Coach Lea (AAU) and of course Jet Community. I am so blessed to have this community and supporters. It means the world to me.”
“We are super proud of Corina and all of her accomplishments,” Burgett said. “We wish her the best in all of her future endeavors.”
“Corina is a special kid,” concluded Coach Moore. “She’s had a special career here at Franklin Monroe and I know that will continue at Kentucky Wesleyan as well.”
Conley will continue her education while playing basketball for Kentucky Wesleyan University.
