By Mike London
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CHINA GROVE — Carson graduate Hannah Isley has always done it on the low profile, so it may come as a surprise that she finished eighth in her career for the women’s basketball program with 867 points.

“She doesn’t say much, but there’s a strength in her that you love, respect and trust,” Carson head coach Brooke Stouder said. “We knew we could count on her in every game.”

On Carson’s all-time goalscoring list, the 5-foot-8 Isley slipped between former teammate Ellie Wilhelm and Carson’s assistant coach Chloe Monroe, which is pretty good company.

Isley doesn’t appear to be incredibly fast, but she is a smooth and focused athlete. She is No. 1 on Carson’s list of scorers for football. She had a furious finish on the court, tallying 12 goals in two dominating season-ending games to earn statewide recognition from MaxPreps. She finished her senior season with 29 goals and her career with 73.

But this will be basketball for Isley at the next level. She recently announced that she was heading to Pfeiffer for more hoops and more education. This is where Stouder played ball and graduated some time ago. Isley will join her twin sister, Riley, a Pfeiffer tennis rookie.

“Hannah is excited and Pfeiffer’s coaches are excited,” Stouder said. “She understands what it takes to compete at a high level. I believe she can be an impact player for them.

Isley was a winner.

It helped to have really talented teammates, but she was a big part of what happened at China Grove. She played four college seasons for exceptional teams. Carson was 96-11 in his day and 41-3 in conference. She helped the Cougars win a Christmas Tournament Championship, four Conference Championships, three Conference Tournament Championships and, of course, a State Championship. The program won its first state title with a 19-0 2021 season.

Graduation losses were heavy after the state championship, and the Cougars were expected to be average in 2021-22.

But they were far from average. Mary Spry and Isley led an inexperienced team to 25-4, more championships and three playoff wins.

“We asked a lot of Hannah and she took on a different role each year and adapted to the needs of the team,” Stouder said. “For us to be successful this season, she had to play most of the game every game. She was going to score consistently every night and she was going to have to defend our opponent’s leading scorer, be it a guard or a post.

Isley led the Cougars with 80 deflections and took 12 charges.

She averaged 14.3 points on 43 percent shooting and had 6.3 rebounds per game for all-conference and all-county honors.

She made 47 3-pointers. When teams played her to drive, she made 3s. When teams used it as a shooter, it was quite difficult to drive. She also got more than her share of points running the floor in transition.

She scored six times in her 20s as a senior and hit double figures 21 times.

“She hurt our opponents in different ways,” Stouder said.

Pfeiffer moved to Division III a few years ago and was 11-14 with a freshman team in 2021-22.

Isley should be able to help right away.