Security Federal Athlete of the Week: Jan. 16-22

Partnering with Security Federal, the Warren County Sports Authority will honor a standout local athlete each week. The WCSA and the Friendliest Bank in Town love seeing great athletic achievement and there are plenty to pick from every week in Warren County. From winter to summer, spring to fall, and on courts, fields, diamonds, dance floors and anywhere else an athlete can succeed, Security Federal and the Sports Authority are going to be on the lookout for the best of the best!

Boyd PG Laney Copeland

The Lady Broncos are in the midst of a historic season after starting the season with 14 straight wins and moving to 19-2 overall. In the middle of all their success is sophomore point guard Laney Copeland, an ascending talent who has lifted Boyd to a different level.

In her first season with Boyd, Copeland has taken the controls of the offense and guided the Lady Broncos to scoring over 60 points per game. In the early stages, the transfer guard from Sparta was a facilitator, capable of keeping the offense in flow and finding open teammates. Over the last few weeks, Copeland is showing she's as big of the threat to score as anybody on the roster.

Copeland has led the team in scoring in seven of its last 10 games, including a 20-point performance in a big road win last week against Dickson Christian Academy. For the week, when Boyd went 3-0 and improved to 5-0 in TSIAA play, Copeland scored a team-best 50 points (16.7 ppg).

Her outburst in wins over Victory Baptist, DCA and FCA featured elite shooting (50 percent from the field, 40 percent from deep) and aggressive defense. In the last three games, Copeland has snatched 16 steals, sometimes just ripping the ball away from opponents to create easy looks.

Coach Tim Page has seen his PG really grow over the year and now opposing teams are getting a heavy dose of her talents.

"Laney is really coming on as a leader and is forcing teams to change the way they play. She is forcing teams to guard the entire court at full speed every minute,” said Page.

Copeland will get a chance to keep her splendid season rolling this week in key matchups for the Lady Broncos. Boyd faces crosstown rival Covenant Monday night, then heads on the road to play Franklin Road Christian Tuesday in a battle of unbeaten TSIAA teams.

Stay tuned to the WCSA website for more coverage of Copeland and the Lady Broncos.