Sports

Prior Lake's Barton plays key roles on point, at short

February 4, 2015 at 12:09AM

Q&A Shaye Barton Prior Lake (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Senior Shaye Barton holds key leadership roles for Prior Lake's girls' basketball and softball teams.

Barton is the starting point guard on the basketball team and plays shortstop in softball.

She is the leading scorer on the basketball team, averaging nearly 15 points per game. The Lakers are aiming for their first winning season since 2010-11.

Here is a closer look at Barton:

Q What is the best movie you've seen in the last year?

A "American Sniper."

Q Three songs I never skip on my iPod are …

A … "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars; "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls and "TNT" by AC/DC.

Q Three words or phrases your friends or teammates might use to describe you?

A Competitive, aggressive and funny.

Q What are your three favorite apps?

A Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Q Who do you like to follow the most on Twitter, and why?

A LeBron James. He is my favorite all-time athlete and the greatest to ever play the game.

Q At my first varsity practice, you felt …

A … nervous and afraid to make a mistake.

Q What did you work on most in the offseason?

A In basketball, I worked on developing a better midrange game and overall shooting. In softball, I worked on having better pitch selection and driving the outside pitch.

Q You know you have an edge on an opponent when …

A … their body language shows defeat and no confidence.

Q What is your favorite meal before a game?

A A No. 1 from Jimmy John's.

Q What are your goals for the remainder of the 2014-15 school year?

A To never stop leading my team even in the face of adversity. To give everything I have in my last year of high school sports.

Q What is your most memorable moment as a high school athlete?

A Competing for the championship in the Class 3A softball state tournament my sophomore year. We lost to Elk River 4-3 in extra innings.

Q How do you balance school and sports during the year?

A It takes a lot of time management and making sure I use my time wisely.

Q If you could change one thing about high school sports, what would it be?

A I wish high school basketball used shot clocks.

Q Name one sport that you don't play, that you wish you could and why?

A Football. When I was little I would play back yard football with all the neighborhood boys, and at least one would go inside crying every time we played.

Q In 10 years, you hope you're …

A … happily married with three dogs and working my dream job.

Q Do you have a secret talent — and if so, what is it?

A I'm very good at catching food, such as grapes and popcorn, in my mouth from long distance.

Q What is the best sports advice you ever received?

A You have the ability to change your situation. If you don't like the playing time you are getting, spend more time practicing and make the most out of every opportunity that is given to you.

RON HAGGSTROM