http://usatodayhss.com/2015/gatorade-three-pillar-candidate-breanna-cavanaugh
Gatorade Player of the Year
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Three-Pillar Candidate: Breanna Cavanaugh
By Steve Ouellette, Special to USA TODAY High School Sports February 26, 2015
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Each season, Gatorade recognizes one student-athlete from each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. who embodies its Player of the Year program’s three pillars: athletic production, academic achievement and exemplary character.
Each week during its Gatorade State Player of the Year selection process, USA TODAY surfaces one candidate who meets those criteria and deserves recognition as a serious Gatorade State Player of the Year contender.
Name: Breanna Cavanaugh
School: Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.)
Sport: Girls Basketball
Class: Senior
Athletic Production: Some players can be rattled by a missed shot or a hard foul or a questionable call. But it’s pretty apparent that nothing bothers Breanna Cavanaugh when she’s on the basketball court.
When the game is done, she knows that she’ll have a blanket on her bed, food in her stomach, a brother by her side and parents who love her. All comforts which for years she thought she’d never have.
Cavanaugh and her brother Dawonye (11 months older) were born to a teen drug addict in Camden, N.J. As infants, they were often left—day or night—in an unattended crib, until they were taken away by child protective services and matriculated into a broken foster care system. At the time, Breanna was one.
For six-and-a-half years, the siblings bounced from house to house. Frequently, they were underfed, and often they huddled together for warmth in a cold bedroom without blankets.
They were beaten by foster parents, bullied by other children, and when Breanna was four or five, she witnessed a man stabbed in the street.
At one point, the inseparable duo were wrestled apart for two months and kept at separate locations before they were brought back together inside yet another sub-standard home.
Then, a kindly social worker helped work a miracle, finding a caring couple—Dan and Bernadette Cavanaugh—who were willing to adopt both children, and provide everything that they had long lacked.
Breanna has since grown into one of the top high school guards in the country. Ranked as the No. 93 recruit in the Class of 2015 by ESPN, she’s averaging 19.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 3.5 steals per game.
Cavanaugh missed eight games early in the season with an injury and the Buccaneers went 1-7 without her. With her back on the court, Blair was 17-1 and captured its fifth straight Prep A state title. Cavanaugh scored a team-high 29 points in a 72-53 win over Peddie in the final.
Her past won’t ever be forgotten, but it has certainly been overcome.
Academic Achievement: Cavanaugh has maintained a B-plus average at Blair Academy. She has committed to the University of California-Berkeley, where she expects to major in forensic science to help prepare for a career in the FBI.
Exemplary Character: Cavanaugh has volunteered locally on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, youth basketball programs and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
Blair Academy, Breanna Cavanaugh, CAL, Gatorade, girls basketball, New Jersey, Gatorade Player of the Year
https://vimeo.com/109971005
Gatorade Player of the Year
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Three-Pillar Candidate: Breanna Cavanaugh
By Steve Ouellette, Special to USA TODAY High School Sports February 26, 2015
798 SHARES SHARE TWEET EMAIL
Each season, Gatorade recognizes one student-athlete from each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. who embodies its Player of the Year program’s three pillars: athletic production, academic achievement and exemplary character.
Each week during its Gatorade State Player of the Year selection process, USA TODAY surfaces one candidate who meets those criteria and deserves recognition as a serious Gatorade State Player of the Year contender.
Name: Breanna Cavanaugh
School: Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.)
Sport: Girls Basketball
Class: Senior
Athletic Production: Some players can be rattled by a missed shot or a hard foul or a questionable call. But it’s pretty apparent that nothing bothers Breanna Cavanaugh when she’s on the basketball court.
When the game is done, she knows that she’ll have a blanket on her bed, food in her stomach, a brother by her side and parents who love her. All comforts which for years she thought she’d never have.
Cavanaugh and her brother Dawonye (11 months older) were born to a teen drug addict in Camden, N.J. As infants, they were often left—day or night—in an unattended crib, until they were taken away by child protective services and matriculated into a broken foster care system. At the time, Breanna was one.
For six-and-a-half years, the siblings bounced from house to house. Frequently, they were underfed, and often they huddled together for warmth in a cold bedroom without blankets.
They were beaten by foster parents, bullied by other children, and when Breanna was four or five, she witnessed a man stabbed in the street.
At one point, the inseparable duo were wrestled apart for two months and kept at separate locations before they were brought back together inside yet another sub-standard home.
Then, a kindly social worker helped work a miracle, finding a caring couple—Dan and Bernadette Cavanaugh—who were willing to adopt both children, and provide everything that they had long lacked.
Breanna has since grown into one of the top high school guards in the country. Ranked as the No. 93 recruit in the Class of 2015 by ESPN, she’s averaging 19.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 3.5 steals per game.
Cavanaugh missed eight games early in the season with an injury and the Buccaneers went 1-7 without her. With her back on the court, Blair was 17-1 and captured its fifth straight Prep A state title. Cavanaugh scored a team-high 29 points in a 72-53 win over Peddie in the final.
Her past won’t ever be forgotten, but it has certainly been overcome.
Academic Achievement: Cavanaugh has maintained a B-plus average at Blair Academy. She has committed to the University of California-Berkeley, where she expects to major in forensic science to help prepare for a career in the FBI.
Exemplary Character: Cavanaugh has volunteered locally on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, youth basketball programs and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
Blair Academy, Breanna Cavanaugh, CAL, Gatorade, girls basketball, New Jersey, Gatorade Player of the Year
https://vimeo.com/109971005