Redhawks sign big scorer out of Hancock

The Southeast Missouri State women have signed one of the leading scorers in the history of Missouri high school girls basketball.

Southeast coach B.J. Smith announced Friday that Sonya Daugherty, a 5-foot-8 senior guard at Hancock High School in St. Louis County, will play for the Redhawks next season.

Daugherty, a four-year starter at Hancock, scored 2,703 career points, which is No. 9 in Missouri girls basketball history. Her 26.5 scoring average is No. 7 on the list.

Among St. Louis area high school players on the Missouri side of the river, Daugherty is the career leader in scoring and scoring average.

"We're really happy to sign her," Smith said. "She sure enough brings some big-time talent. She's a big-time scorer, and a very good athlete. She can really score inside and out, and she's a very good shooter.

"Because of her scoring, her other strengths may be overlooked, but her high school coach said she's a great defender."

Daugherty was a two-time St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro first-team selection, as well as a two-time Class 3 first-team all-stater as she led Hancock to berths in the Class 3 final four the past two seasons.

As a junior, Daugherty averaged 32 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and she scored 34 or more points in five of Hancock's six playoff games.

As a senior, Daugherty's scoring average dipped to 23.9 points per game, partly because Hancock beefed up its schedule and partly because she found more ways to get her teammates involved in the offense, according to Hancock coach Mitch Fusco. She averaged 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 4.9 steals while shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point range.

"She has a chance to be significant for us as a freshman, depending on how she adapts," Smith said. "But she's talented enough to make a significant contribution right away."

Smith, who this year completed his third season at Southeast, has primarily built a strong program through junior college recruiting. But three of the four players he has signed so far for next season are high school seniors, including Dexter all-state forward Rachel Blunt.

"Our philosophy has been to sign the best players we could, regardless of whether they were junior college or high school," Smith said. "When I first got here, we couldn't even touch some of the best high school players, but now we've been able to make a lot of progress in that area.

"Between Sonya and Rachel, I think it gives us a level of freshman we haven't had before. I'm really excited about Rachel as well. I think she can have an immediate impact for us next year."

In addition to Blunt, Southeast has also signed high school guard Szandra Pál from Hungary and 6-6 center Joiceline Thesing from Labette (Kan.) Community College.

Smith said Southeast plans to sign at least one or two more players.