Peach County’s Nausia Woolfolk ready for next step

It was mid-afternoon, about the time school is done.

And Nausia Woolfolk was ready for a nap.

For the previous two afternoons, she competed in the GHSA Region 2-AAA track meet, held at Lamar County. And Woolfolk was busy, competing in the high jump, triple jump, long jump, shot put and the 4x100 relay.

Woolfolk won the shot and set a program record in the process, passing, no less, her mother on that list. You’d think the bus ride home only gave Woolfolk time to prepare an evening of smack talk for her mom.

“I was sleepy; I couldn’t get it,” Woolfolk said with a laugh. “I went home, took a shower and went straight to sleep.”

Soon enough, Woolfolk can return to her first sport, basketball.

“After this track, shot put and stuff, I’m going straight back to the gym,” said Woolfolk, a Florida State signee.

That’s part of the focus that has propelled Woolfolk to become the All-Middle Georgia Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the second straight time.

The Seminoles get a player who scored 1,169 points in the past two seasons alone while being the focal point of opposing defenses, on the perimeter and inside.

They’ll get a player whose senior year ended with a combination of satisfaction and frustration.

Peach County had struggled to get past the second round of the GHSA tournament for awhile, long before Woolfolk suited up. But the Trojans broke that slump, beating Ringgold 61-48 behind her 44-point night.

“We got half of the goal I wanted,” Woolfolk said. “That second round.”

The Trojans were in good shape through three quarters of the next game, against Johnson of Savannah, to raise the bar. After a rough start, they led 18-10 at the half and 29-24 through three quarters.

But Peach County hit a massive drought that lasted about six minutes.

“It was like, ugh. I can’t even explain it,” she said, the memory still fresh. “It just came out of nowhere.”

She knew there would be a rally by the Atomsmashers, she just expected the Trojans to answer. She expected herself to answer.

“The first quarter, we were all nervous,” she said. “The second quarter, it was time to play. And we did, the second and third quarter. The fourth quarter, we came out with something. I don’t know.”

Woolfolk finished with 13 points in the 46-43 loss, a game decided by a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

“I do think I had a bad game, but not as bad ...,” she said. “I took most of it on my shoulders because I was the leader of the team and I should have stepped up.

“I don’t know. That game, it was on, then it was off. I couldn’t get shots. It’s a team, but at the end of the day, I should have stepped up and said something, or just picked them all up.”

But she had to start with herself.

“When they were down, I was down, instead of being a leader,” Woolfolk said. “My head was held low, too. So I would take most of the blame for the loss.”

But she leaves having helped Peach County — which must replace longtime head coach Maxine Cherry, who has retired — become a program to watch. The Trojans finished 26-3 this year, following 23-4 last year and 21-7 two years ago.

Woolfolk averaged 26.6, 25.3 and 19.3 points in that three-year span. But the Trojans’ scoring went up and the record got better as her average slipped a little. She averaged 7.6 rebounds for the second straight season, and she upped her assist average to a career-best 5.3.

“As a better player. this year, I got more people involved,” Woolfolk said. “This year, I would say I had more opportunities because we had more players to get the ball to (who) knew what to do with it.”

Once track is over, she will start work full-time on her college career. Conditioning is her priority. She doesn’t want anybody “saying I can’t stick with them” or labeling her “the lazy one in the back.”

Woolfolk thinks she can compete for a starting spot, but won’t say it much. She’s more interested in proving it.

“I’m not going to go in and say I’m going to get it,” she said. “I’m going to go in and work for it, show them I do want it. I’m just going to push myself to that limit.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Peach County’s Nausia Woolfolk ready for next step."