Sports

Milan Quinn’s voice is matching her game.

PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON

Berry Academy forward Milan Quinn, a Wake Forest signee, is one of Mecklenburg County’s top players. The senior averages 17.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.4 steals and 2.7 blocks per game.

The Berry Academy senior has become a more vocal leader in her final season with the Cardinals (16-5, 9-1), who play Alleghany Street rival Harding High tonight for the MEGA-7 3A/4A regular season championship. Quinn, a 6-2 forward who has committed to Wake Forest, is one of Mecklenburg County’s best all-around players, averaging 17.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.4 steals and 2.7 blocks per game.

“She’s a versatile player on the court,” Cardinals coach Ryan Copeland said. “Off the court she’s learning how to be a leader vocally and she leads by example. In the past, she’s been very quiet. I’ve encouraged her to speak up, get on (her) teammates; get on them a little bit. She’s stepping up to the plate.”

Quinn’s latest accomplishment was breaking the 1,000-point barrier, which she did Feb. 8 in a 43-27 win against Charlotte Catholic. She started the week 34 points away from the 400-point mark for the season with two games to play. Then there’s the postseason, which will give Quinn an opportunity to add to her career-best campaign with Berry, which is a game behind Harding for the top seed in next week’s league tournament.

“It took some hard work, but I feel like I’ve been improving over the seasons,” Quinn said. “This year I feel like I’m really stepping up. That really helped me.”

In addition to Copeland pushing leadership, Quinn took it upon herself to hone her all-around game. She’s improved as a defender and has become Berry’s top offensive option, capable of scoring off the drive or playing opposite 6-4 freshman center Ra’Shika White. It worked against Catholic, where both scored 11 points.

“It’s a luxury to have the size we have,” Copeland said, “and when they go to double-teaming a freshman, I can let my upperclassman go to work. They had two people touching (White) all night after the first couple of buckets, then we took advantage of the space.”
Said Quinn: “When they started double-teaming (White), it opened up the outside more, so we got more open jump shots and stuff like that.”

Quinn is a matchup nightmare for most defenders. She has the size to post up smaller opponents, the speed to get past bigger defenders and the ball-handling skill to get teammates involved. When starting point guard Imani Parr missed the first three games of the season with a concussion, it was Quinn who ran the offense.

“It’s a luxury to have a 6-2 point forward,” Copeland said. “She can handle it. She’s put in a lot of work before I got here. She could handle it from day one.”

Berry will need Quinn to come up big in the postseason with the young Cardinals, who have just four seniors and a first-year coach in Copeland. Going deep into the playoffs would be an ideal closing chapter.

“We have a whole new team and we’re really close,” she said, “so I’ll miss playing with them and seeing everybody grow.” she said.

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