The Statesboro Blue Devils girls earned the number one seed in next week’s region tournament and are currently 20-3 overall and 8-3 in region play.

One of the key players on this year’s team is senior center Alyssa Staten who has more than 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Wednesday afternoon Staten signed an official letter of intent to go to Northeastern University in Boston this fall.

“I felt like Northeastern had the academic rigor and was competitive athletically for me,” Staten said. “I just felt like it was the home for me. It is pretty far away from home but when we got there, we just knew it was the right place despite how far it was from Statesboro. My mom and dad were both on board so I’m really excited.”

“Alyssa is a leader on and off the court,” said Statesboro coach Marty Holder. “She is committed to making her school and her community better. She participates in numerous clubs and organizations as well as volunteers at an elementary school regularly. She still has the motivation and energy to dominate on

game night. This season Alyssa has been more vocal on the defensive end and that has really been key to our success. She is the true definition of a student athlete.”