MaxPreps Weekly Honor Roll, presented by the United States Marine Corps: Sania Wells, East Central

There's a structure in place at the Wells household.  It's a tag-team effort between parents Carvis and Samantha to help their 17-year-old daughter, Sania Wells, be a well-rounded student-athlete.

"Mama makes sure my grades stay up, daddy makes sure I'm putting in the work in the gym," Sania said. "Especially with the recruiting process going on, they're really a big help in that, too."

Sania is a really good student, but perhaps an even better basketball player. She credits her parents for their tireless work. But Wells has to take a large amount of credit, too, for her dedication in the classroom and on the court.

The junior on the East Central (Moss Point, Miss.) girls basketball team sports a 3.6 grade point average and her 25.7 points per game average this season put her third in the entire state in scoring.

In some games, Wells only played two quarters. When she played in entire games, she averaged 37.3 points a contest.

"She's really special offensively," East Central girls basketball coach Wes Brewer said. "She can score with the best."

Wells, who is a four-year starter with 2,334 career points, showed her offensive proficiency this season. After putting up 24.2 points per outing as a sophomore, she made it a point in the offseason to be a more explosive scorer.

Learn More: Semper Fidelis Athlete of the Month presented by the Marines

"This year was really when I started shooting my jump shots," Wells said. "Last year, and the years before, I was really a big driver. Now, I primarily love to shoot the ball (from outside). My 3-pointers have gotten a lot better this year, too."

Wells, who is the team's point guard, is tough to stop from the outside but still is deadly attacking the basket off the dribble.

She has always been a big-time score threat.

"I guess you could say I was a ball hog when I was younger playing pee wee, but as I got older I matured and everything," Wells said. "But I've always been the one that wanted to be with the ball and wanted to take it to the rim."

As an eighth-grader, Wells cracked the starting lineup on the varsity team. She's the first female athlete at East Central to ever accomplish that feat. Brewer couldn't keep her on the bench even though she was still in middle school.

"She was just really athletic and had a really high basketball IQ as a young kid," Brewer said. "I thought that it would be beneficial for her to get some varsity experience as a younger kid. … She's just grown every year as far as physically, mentally. She's just tough."

Wells never gets discouraged that she's the focal point of opposing defenses. According to her coach, she faces the toughest defender or multiple defenders every game.

"Really, you can't guard her one-on-one," Brewer said. "They try to run two people at her. We played in a playoff game and they were running two at her and three, four, five. She's one of those kids that I can't wait to see in the Division I level because there you might get a little bit of junk defense — but at some point, you're just going to have to go straight man-to-man. The best player's going to win."

Wells, who was named MVP during an in-state all-star game in March, isn't just a scorer. Her versatility allowed her to average seven rebounds and six steals per game as a junior.

"Any way that I can to help the team win, not just scoring, defensively," Wells said. "That's really important."

Added Brewer: "She's really gifted physically, so she plays really good defense, anticipates and jumps the passing lane."

Even though she's a prolific scorer, that's not even the best part of her game, noted Brewer.

"I think it's her vision," Brewer said. "She just sees the floor, she understands the game. You can't rattle her. I think that's from her starting as an eighth-grader."

Wells is also a dedicated AAU player, competing for the AL Southern Starz in Huntsville, Ala. She drives about five hours three or four times per year for practice. This season, the Southern Starz will be competing in the Nike EYBL circuit, so the competition level will jump up.

Playing for the Southern Starz has helped Wells become a more polished player and allowed her plenty of exposure to college coaches from around the nation.

"She had to get used to college coaches in the gym every day, college head coach, assistant coaches at every game," Brewer said. "Everybody wants her on their team, so it's hard to focus on basketball and have everybody in your head. I thought this year she handled it well given what you have to go through when you're that kind of player."

Wells has received scholarship offers from seven schools: LSU, Auburn, Boston University, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Tennessee at Chattanooga and Louisiana Tech.

Wells was speechless when she received offers from LSU and Auburn.

"I really like Auburn right now, but I'm still waiting on my official visit," Wells said.

Colleges like Wells' ability to score on the court, but also that she's a really good student.

To go along with her high GPA, Wells takes three honors and Advanced Placement courses.

Wells' in her fourth year as a member of BETA Club where she's constantly involved in her community. She takes part in an annual cancer walk and helps with raising donations for various charities through her school.

At her church, Wells dedicates time every third Saturday to helping collect and hang up donated clothing for less fortunate children and families.

Wells is also a volunteer referee for youth basketball games, running every Saturday for three months during the winter. She loves working with kids, especially those who play her favorite sport.

"She's an excellent student, high character kid, keeps her nose clean," Brewer said. "She's big into community service and does a lot of leadership conferences, a lot of things for our school. Just a sound kid. Basically, you couldn't draw up a player better on and off the court."

Know an incredible student-athlete who stands out in sports and in life away from competition? Click here to nominate them for a chance to be featured on MaxPreps.