After putting the finishes touches on a stellar sophomore season, Elba girls basketball player A’lyric Whitfield has been voted the ITG Next Alabama Female Athlete of the Month for March 2023, based on her on-court play during February.
Whitfield received 38.58 percent of the possible votes among a list of four finalists that also included Wetumpka’s Mya Holt, Southern Academy’s Mallory Sluder, and Mortimer Jordan’s Carolina Hathcox.
Whitfield ranked among the state’s top scorers this season, and her on-court impact was especially evident during February, when Elba made a deep run in the Class 1A basketball playoffs.
For the month, Whitfield averaged 26.3 PPG in seven games, a span that included a near season-high 35-point performance in a 63-28 win over Kinston in the Class 1A-Area 2 Tournament.
Whitfield also posted another 30-point showing in February – a 31-point performance in the Tigers’ regular-season finale against Zion Chapel – and she scored at least 20 points in six of those seven games.
Those games also included 26 points in both the Tigers’ area title win over Florala and against Georgiana in the first round of the state playoffs; 25 points in a win over Red Level in the state quarterfinals; and a 23-point performance in a loss to Marion County in the state semifinals.
Similar performances came often for Whitfield throughout the 2022-23 basketball season, as she had 24 20+ point showings for Elba, as well as nine 30+ point performances. She averaged 24.7 PPG in 31 games total, after averaging 17.2 PPG as a freshman.
Congratulations to Elba’s A’lyric Whitfield, the ITG Next Alabama Female Athlete of the Month and a player who will enter the 2023-24 season among the state’s best players.
