By Robert Wilson
East Rankin Academy’s 6-foot-2 junior forward Liz Stevens is on pace to break Brooke Rhodes’ school record for highest scoring average in a season.
And Rhodes – who averaged 21.4 points per game and led East Rankin to its first MAIS Overall Tournament championship in school history in 2010 and is now Stevens’ coach at her alma mater – would love to see Stevens do it.
Stevens had a big week last week when she averaged 24 points and 12.2 rebounds led East Rankin to three victories.
For her outstanding performance, Stevens has been named the first Legacy Theater Flowood/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Girls Basketball Player of the Week.
Stevens – a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team for the second straight year – had 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots in a 65-37 victory over Heritage Academy, 30 points, 13 rebounds and 1 blocked shots in a 74-27 victory over previously undefeated Park Place Christian Academy, and 15 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocked shots in a 65-35 victory over Brookhaven Academy despite playing only an average of three quarters in each game last week.
Stevens is averaging 22.1 points, 14.1 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots and has led East Rankin to an 11-3 record this season going into this week. She scored a career high 38 points against Madison St. Joseph this season.
“Liz is such a joy to coach,” said Rhodes, who is considered one of the best shooters in MAIS history and scored 2,568 career points, and led East Rankin to its second Overall title and a school record 39 wins as its coach in 2024. “She is the most humble kid and genuinely doesn’t realize how special of a player she is. Liz just keeps getting better and better. And she is on a team where her teammates truly believe in her and will look to get her the ball and are all so proud of any accomplishment she gets.”
Stevens averaged 16.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 2.1 blocked shots and helped East Rankin to a 36-3 record, the MAIS Class 5A state championship and the Overall Tournament first round appearance last year as a sophomore. She was a member of the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson second team last season.
Stevens has offers from Southern Miss, Mississippi College and Appalachian State.
Stevens is the daughter of Courtney and Andy Stevens. Courtney was an All-American cheerleader at Magee High and Jones County Junior College and received a nursing degree from Mississippi College. Andy played baseball, basketball, and football at Puckett High and baseball at Madison-Ridgeland Academy, Hinds Community College and Mississippi State and works in insurance and owns a cattle farm. Stevens has two siblings. Sister Abigail played basketball and softball at East Rankin and is a sophomore on MSU’s softball team this year. Brother Andrew is a sophomore at East Rankin and plays basketball and on the sporting clays team. Stevens’ great uncle, Lennis, played football at MSU and was the football coach at Puckett High from 1972-2003.
East Rankin’s next game is against Lamar School in a MAIS Class 4A, District 2 game Friday at East Rankin in Pelahatchie.
Mississippi Scoreboard selects a girls basketball player from Hinds, Madison, or Rankin counties each week. Coaches can nominate a player by sending a text to Robert Wilson at 601.506.2276.
