Dee Alexander and Saniyah Hall keep playing their game and ignoring the haters

BERLIN, Ohio – Even when there doesn’t seem to be anything to hate, there will always be those who want to hate anyway. Purcell Marian’s Dee Alexander and Laurel’s Saniyah Hall are no exception, even if they are two of the best girls high school basketball players in the state of Ohio.

The two faced off in a highly anticipated game at the Classic in the Country on Monday afternoon, with Purcell Marian picking up a 63-54 win.

Alexander and Hall put on a show for those in attendance, with Hall leading all scorers with 28 points and Alexander dropping 27 in the winning effort.

“Two big players came out and made big plays today,” Laurel head coach Terrina Robinson said. “They both were almost 30-point scorers today. I think that is just a testament to who they are as individuals. It just shows that no matter what kind of defense you put on them, no matter great players are still going to make great plays and that’s what happened today.”

The coach on the other bench saw it the same way, especially in the Reese Center with what feels like a tournament game.

“Both are great players,” Purcell Marian head coach Jamar Mosley said. “Putting on a performance like they did in this type of environment was special.”

What’s even more special is that despite their talent, both players are still so young.

Alexander is a sophomore and was the Division III Player of the Year last season as a freshman while Hall is arguably the best freshman in the state of Ohio this season.

As for playing against Alexander, Hall is impressed with what the sophomore can do on the court.

“She is a really talented player, and it was fun playing against her,” Hall said. “It was like a matchup, me and her going at it. She’s a good player. She is the best player I have played against.”

Alexander also was impressed with how this year’s top freshman performed.

“It was a competition, she is a tough freshman,” Alexander said. “She got out there and she knew what she was supposed to do. She’s a good player.”

While everyone was anticipating the matchup between the two stars, neither made the game about themselves, and instead played the game within the confines of what the team needed.

“One of the things we talk about as a team in our program is not really getting caught up in the moment,” Mosley said. “I think (Dee) did a really good job of not getting caught up in the moment and in her words, playing the game that she knows how to play.”

Robinson felt like Hall knew about the matchup but wasn’t fazed by playing against a great player.

“I think she understood the matchup, but I think she understood too she is good and I am good,” Robinson said. “She said it best herself – I just wanna play basketball. I just wanna hoop.”

Not only do the two youngsters understand that the game is about ‘we’ instead of ‘me,’ but they are both willing to listen to coaching and put in the work necessary to make themselves and their teams better.

“The best thing about Dee is that she is coachable,” Mosley said. “When she is not playing well or when she is not doing the things we talk about, she is soaking everything in. She is coming off the floor and asking questions. She is the most coachable kid I have ever coached.”

Hall shares the same desire to learn and get better, something that was evidenced right away by senior leader Mari Bickley.

“All of our freshmen, like Saniyah, do a good job of listening and learning from us and taking what we do and learning from it,” Bickley said earlier this season. “And they are perceptive to what we are telling them. They just want to learn.”

Hall acknowledged that she has looked at the trajectory of Alexander as she progresses in her high school career and when asked what advice she would give the freshman, Alexander said it was more about the off the court noise than what happens on the court.

“I would just say let the haters say whatever they are going to say and let the crowd say whatever they are going to say,” Alexander said. “Just keep playing the game you know how to play and don’t let the crowd get to you.”

It might seem hard to believe that a player who averaged 25 points per game and helped lead her team to a championship as a freshman would have any haters, but Alexander says she has heard plenty.

“It was ‘you are not really what you are’ and trying to bring me down and not let me play the game I know how to play,” Alexander said. “But I put it to the side.”

While she is only 14 years old, Hall knows the haters are out there and seems to be doing exactly what Alexander would have advised.

“I haven’t really heard it only because I try to ignore it and it really doesn’t get to me,” Hall said. “I try to shut that out as much as I can. If they do come, I am not going to fall for it.”

So far, Hall has done a good job of not thinking about the outside stuff and has only focused on the game.

“At the end of the day, she is just a kid with a ball in her hands and that’s all she thinks about,” Robinson said of Hall.

That seems to sum up both Hall and Alexander – they are just two kids who want to do what they love and that is to play basketball.

Haters be damned.

Photo Gallery (photos by Jeff Harwell)