1/3/22
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Some people are born with the type of athletic genes that make difficult plays look ordinary. Tom Brady, LeBron James, and Serena Williams have something most athletes don’t — the ‘it’ factor millions of young Americans chase.
Pesli Taylor is not among the elite. But that didn’t keep the Alma senior from launching 3-pointers in empty gymnasiums when no one was looking.
At 5-foot-5, the flat-footed Taylor learned a long time ago her game wouldn’t include inside moves against 6-foot post players. Her solution was simple — if you can’t beat them, shoot over them.
Through 12 games, Taylor is averaging 3 ½ 3-pointers per game while shooting 36.5 from beyond the arc.
The hard part, she’ll tell you, is having two defenders face-guarding her.
“It’s tough, but at the same time, there’s a team backing me up that can hopefully do the same thing when you’re being guarded,” Taylor said. “It opens up the court for everybody else.”
Last week, Taylor eclipsed assistant coach Chanlee Bottoms’ 18-year-old school record for 3-pointers by hitting 15 3-pointers during the Sheridan Invitational.
Heading into Friday’s 5A-West opener with Harrison, Taylor leads the team with 46 3-pointers — and 158 for her career.
Bottoms hit 147 3-pointers between 2002-05.
“Any shot I like, but the 3-point shot, that’s my favorite shot on the court,” Taylor said.
Back in the day, when an impressionable Taylor filed into Charles B. Dyer Arena with her parents, Brent and Amanda Taylor, Presli marveled over the play of former Lady Airedale Abbye Ostrander, an athletic guard with a flare for making big plays.
“I never talked to her, but I always loved to watch Abbye Ostrander,” Taylor said. “She’s definitely my favorite.”
As much as Taylor liked watching Ostrander, she’s nothing like her. Taylor doesn’t mirror Bottoms, either.
Presli Taylor is a self-made player, coach Codey Mann said.
“Presli, from where she was when I first got here, to the player she’s made herself is pretty remarkable,” Mann said. “She spends a lot of time in the gym perfecting her shooting form. It might not be the most conventional way to shoot the ball, but she’s perfected it.
“One thing about Pesli, when she sees one go in, she’s liable to hit four in a row.”
Bottoms agrees.
“Her work ethic, being able to come up here and transition her 3-point game, I think that has a lot to do with her success,” Bottoms said. “I can remember me coming up here to work kids out, and Presli Taylor’s here with Pat Widders, or whoever, always trying to get better.
“The way that she shoots the basketball, it’s all because of her work ethic.”
As good as Taylor is on the basketball court, she’s equally as efficient when it comes to soccer. She led coach Cory Sturdivan’t squad in scoring as a junior.
Taylor knows her way around the links, too. Which, in the era of kids raised on travel ball, keeps her family on the go.
“Every weekend, we’re playing basketball, golf, or soccer,” Taylor said. “With (younger brother) Jack traveling everywhere, and with me traveling everywhere, if no sports are going on, then something must be wrong.”
The Taylors moved to Alma before the start of Presli’s third-grade school year. Brent Taylor was a star football and baseball player. Taylor’s mom, Amanda, hails from Maumelle.
“I remember I used to live in Maumelle, and I would come up here with my grandparents,” Taylor said. “One weekend, the Lady Airedales had a basketball camp and I always dreamed of playing in the Alma Arena. When we finally moved here, it was a dream come true.
“It means so much being here.”
Like many athletes, Taylor goes from one sport to another, which can be taxing on her tiny frame.
When the Lady Airedales are finished with their basketball season, Taylor will switch shoes for soccer. It won’t be an easy transition.
“Soccer is more of a long-distance sport, and basketball is more about sprinting,” Taylor said. “It’s definitely a hard rotation. Going from basketball shoes to (soccer) cleats is the hardest thing ever on your feet. - from the hardcourt to the turf is really hard.
“But it does help with the IQ when it comes to finding space.”
Taylor said it takes a few weeks to get her soccer feet up to speed. “It usually takes until the conference,” she said. “That’s just part of it.”
Two years ago, Taylor and the Lady Airedales endured a winless campaign that included being shut out 12 times.
Last March, the Lady Airedales finished 4-9-2, with Taylor leading the team with 11 goals.
“Presli is a fierce competitor on the hardwood or the soccer field, but off the field or court, she’s also a true team player. What she doesn’t have in size she makes up for an unparalleled work ethic and the ability to lift those around her to new heights,” Alma soccer coach Corey Sturdivant said. “She has a talent for finding herself in the right place at the right time. She’s an invaluable asset to Alma in both sports and an inspiration to all of our girl athletes.”
“It means a lot to win in soccer because we work so hard,” Taylor said. “We’re not blessed with a program like everyone else — who has been playing a lot longer. Succeeding in soccer means a lot.”
Having Taylor mesh with younger players like Jordan and Jaden Gramlich and Daimya Parker and Zoey Kimes is big too.
“I’ve been really proud of her development and her maturity and how she’s grown into a leader for us,” Mann said. “We need big things from Presli for us to carry on this year.”