WMBB News 13 - The Panhandle's News LeaderGraceville's Wynterra Pittman- Scholar Athlete of the Week

The Graceville girls hoops team starts Regional play on Tuesday night, when they travel to South Walton to take on the Lady Seahawks. The Lady Tigers will turn to Senior Wynterra Pittman to help with a win in that Semi-Final game, and to say she's a seasoned vet when it comes to Varsity basketball- is an understatement.

The four year letter-winner has been to two regional finals, and know that it takes for the Lady Tigers to win.

"They look up to her. They've watched her win in some big situations kind of carry the team and she really improves everybody else's game as well," says Coach Jon Habali. "She brings the best out of the other players."

The other players are used to watching Wynterra bring her best to the court, as she averages 14 points and grabs nearly 10 rebounds per game. But she also brings her best when it comes to hitting the books- sporting a 3.8 GPA in the classroom.

"Trying to balance both is gets tough," says Wynterra. "Having tests, late games, traveling and stuff, but you have to balance both. It's school before basketball."

"Her intelligence plays out on the court," says Coach Habali. "It's nice to have a smart girl that can get everybody else on the same page as a team and have everybody else know what's happening and what needs to be done."

While Wynterra isn't the most vocal player on on the court- it's what she does on, and off, that's gained the respect of her teammates.

"Some of them ask me how I do both, I always tell them- school comes first and then basketball," she says of her priorities. "I try to motivate them to play more, get a lot of experience in the game."

"When they see someone who works so hard in the classroom, and on the court, the other girls are going to want to follow that," says Coach Habali. "They try to work just as hard and try to push themselves as well."

"If they see me down, they start looking down, so I try not to get down you know? Keep high spirit- motivate the younger girls. We have a lot of younger girls, so I try to help them out," says Wynterra.

Trying to help out the younger girls, and with a win on Tuesday night- helping the Graceville Lady Tigers inch one step closer to Lakeland.

After high school, Wynterra looks to continue her hoops career, and has taken trips to numerous colleges. She wants to study physical therapy, and plans on making a decision on where she wants to hoop sometime in March.