Nansemond River High School girls’ basketball coach R. Calvin Mason Sr. delivered high praise to senior guard/forward Aneka Yelverton when commenting on what she brings to the Lady Warriors.

He noted the team’s motto since he’s been with it has been, “Hard work, commitment, dedication.”

“She exemplifies all of those characteristics, and that’s why she is where she is now,” he said of one of his team’s undisputed leaders and foremost stars. “I couldn’t ask for a better representation of what we stand for.”

Yelverton has been impressive as she has helped her team to a strong start this season, and her play has led to her being the Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.

In the Lady Warriors’ 81-48 home win against Indian River High School on Dec. 10, she produced 34 points and 11 steals. Two days before during a 79-24 victory over visiting Hickory High School, she registered 29 points and eight rebounds.

Then, despite a 73-69 road loss to Western Branch High School on Dec. 11, she still contributed 27 points, five rebounds and four steals.

“It was my best basketball performance since I’ve been playing high school ball,” Yelverton said of her play that week. “So it felt really good to see everything coming together.”

Mason said her 34-point, 11-steal performance against Hickory was “probably her most complete game she’s had since she’s been on the varsity (team).”

Yelverton did not build this level of personal success overnight.

“In this day and age, there’s so many people that want instant gratification,” Mason said. “She did it the old fashioned way — she just worked hard.”

She pointed to preparation as the key to making her standout play possible.

“I think it was before, just the work in the offseason and working out with Trinese Fox, and that definitely prepared me to play,” Yelverton said, referring to the former Lady Warrior player who is currently an assistant coach with the team. “I think I just had really good shot selections in those games.”

Yelverton has played for the Lady Warriors since her freshman season, and during that time, she has undergone a significant evolution.

She averaged three points a game as a freshman, 15.3 as a sophomore and 16.7 as a junior. This year, she is averaging nearly 24 points a game.

“The game has slowed down for her where she truly understands what she’s doing on the floor,” Mason said. “Before, she was kind of one-dimensional. She was just a shooter.”

At the end of last season, she responded to Mason’s challenge to become a better defender and a better leader.

“She’s worked hard to develop her skills to the point where we can stay in the man defense that we like to play,” he said. “It’s helped her, it’s helped the team overall and it’s helped her in the eyes of college coaches.”

She wants to play college basketball at the Division I level, and that is a level where she is commanding interest.