Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week: Sanders' scoring burst lifts Laurence Manning to pair of wins

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Jaden Sanders has been a key player for Laurence Manning in each of the last two seasons. He proved that in a big way last week, scoring over 20 points in a pair of Swampcat wins. Those two games also propelled the high-flying senior to the Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week.

"It shows to me that (the Laurence Manning community) is family to me," Sanders said. "They care for me and want to see me win."

Sanders opened the week with an explosive 25-point performance against Pinewood Prep. After the Swampcats got out to a slow start, they needed all of Sanders' scoring output to come away with a 70-61 win.

"We started out slow and I realized something had to change," Sanders said. "This was a good team, and we couldn't slack because if we slacked, we were going to lose. So I changed something in my mind, locked in and just do what I can."

He followed that game up with another 21 points in a 57-49 win over Orangeburg Prep. Sanders said he didn't necessarily go into the two games looking to be the team's leading scorer. He just wanted to come away with wins.

"My mindset going into the game was to be the best teammate I can, play hard and do whatever I can to win the game with my team," Sanders said.

Sanders credits LMA's early success to the chemistry he has with his teammates. Sanders is part of a strong returning core from last year's team, which includes Aaron Medley and Bryce Acord. On top of that, Brandon King comes back into the fold after missing last season with an ACL injury. All of these guys have played together and its paying off this season.

"That's a big part of us winning because all of us have chemistry together," Sanders said. "All of us have been playing together is a big part of our team because we know our tendencies because we know what we're good at and we know how to move together.

"(Teams) can't just focus on one person. It's just hard to stay with us because we have so much talent on the court."

Sanders was an all-region player last year, but he thinks he's seen some major improvements as he enters his senior season.

"I feel like my athleticism and playing hard on both ends of the court," Sanders said of where he's improved the most. "Last year, I didn't go 100% a lot and I was really disappointed in myself for that, so I decided to change. That was my biggest leap is that my mindset is to go 100% every game."

Next week will provide Laurence Manning's biggest test of the young season, as the Swampcats will face off against a slew of public school talent in the District 9 Officials Christmas Basketball Tournament at Manning High. The Swampcats are slated to face the host school on Monday, before playing Summerville and Crestwood. Sanders is looking forward to the challenge.

"I am super excited because that shows where we're at as a team," Sanders said. "Those schools that we're playing are really good competition. I'm not saying the teams we play aren't good competition, but these public schools, I can't want to play with them to see how we play teams that push us to the limit. I want to see how we react to it."