Merrillville Gary Tribune Post

 

There are several words and phrases that can be used to describe Roosevelt's Tatianna Washington.

Where to start?

How about clutch?

"I wanted the ball in her hands to finish games," Washington's coach Melonie Martin said before the Panthers headed to the Class 3A Rensselaer Regional. "She's been Miss Come Through for us."

They lost 62-34 to Benton Central in the regional, but that doesn't take away from a season in which Washington led her team to a sectional title.

In some games she did it single-handedly.

So another word to describe her would be "standout," though it doesn't do her justice.

Oh, she had help at times. Melanye Washington (no relation to Tatianna) and Jessika Thrash were frequent contributors in Roosevelt's late-season and postseason run that included seven straight wins before the regional loss.

But Tatianna Washington was the ultimate scoring machine in several games this season, including a career-high 39 points against Wirt.

She led the area in scoring (25.6 points per game) by a large margin, which earned the senior another monicker: 2009 Post-Tribune Player of the Year.

She also averaged 6.7 rebounds and 4.7 steals per game. But there's more to Tatianna Washington than driving to the basket, producing oodles of points and grabbing rebounds or steals.

Another word to describe Tatianna Washington could be "mentor."

She wasn't just the best player in the region this season. She also might have been the best person.

"She has really grown as a person even since last year," Martin said. "She took on more responsibility by taking on a job, getting in more activities at school, taking care of two younger siblings."

That includes her younger sister, Chesalena, who was a sophomore on this season's Panthers.

"I see her having an impact on her sister," Martin said. "Chesalena has always been a really good student, but she didn't really consider herself as an athlete."

Being a good mentor wasn't exclusive to her sister. In fact, Tatianna had plenty of sisters playing around her.

"I was trying to be more of a mentor to my peers," Washington said. "The players were looking up to me, calling me their big sister since I?was the only senior. It was great."

She also said before the regional that one of her main focuses this year was to be more of a leader for the Panthers since they had six freshman seeing significant playing time around her.

Washington wasn't just clutch on the court as a player, scoring more than 30 points more than all other area girls combined. She was clutch as a person, growing, maturing and turning into a leader in so many ways.

That, as much if not more than her basketball talent, will help her at the next stage of her life, no matter where that may be.