Payton List's growth as a leader, scorer have been vital to Beaver Area's success

Oftentimes over the past few months, a voice would reverberate through Beaver Area High School’s gymnasium and cause everything to come to a halt.

Balls would stop bouncing. Sneakers would stop squeaking. All of the chatter and side conversations? Yup, that would stop, too.

Whenever the Bobcats would lose focus or fail to execute a drill correctly, there was that voice again. It was Payton List, Beaver Area’s lone senior and star forward, who has frequently beaten 13th-year head coach Greg Huston to the punch to get her teammates back on track during practices.

“At first, they just kind of stared at me,” said List of the early instances of her coming into her own as a vocal leader for her team this season. “But then, I would explain to them, ‘Hey, I’m not doing this to be a jerk. … I’m doing this because I know you have so much potential and I know there’s so much more. I just want to see that killer instinct really come out.’”

Heading into this campaign as the only returning piece of the rotation from last season’s Bobcats — who finished 20-1 and won the program’s first-ever WPIAL championship — List knew she’d have to step up in almost every way. The 5-foot-11 wing has done just that so far for 10-4 Beaver Area, scoring 24.2 points per game for a group that sits firmly in second place in WPIAL Class 4A’s Section 2.

List made leaps in her development this offseason while juggling two other sports. In the summer, she competed all over the country with her travel softball team; in the fall, she was the star of the Bobcats’ volleyball team.

Despite missing Beaver Area’s summer basketball workouts because of her commitment to softball — which she’ll continue playing at Virginia Tech after graduation — List has increased her scoring average from last year (14.3 points per game) by nearly 10 points. She’s currently second in scoring among all girls players from the WPIAL and City League, sitting behind only Corynne Hauser of WPIAL Class 1A Rochester.

“I think she understands like, ‘I do have to carry this team a little bit,’” said Huston, whose group features only four other upperclassmen aside from List. “ … She has to get out there and put the ball in the hoop. She’s embraced that. And it’s never felt like it’s been too big for her.”

One could argue that List would’ve been better off sitting out this season and avoiding the inevitable toll her heavy workload will take on her body.

After all, she already helped Beaver Area make history last year by playing a key role on a squad that brought home the school's first District 7 title. And she’s already secured a scholarship to play Division I softball for the Hokies, a program that she committed to in September 2020.

But missing her last opportunity to compete with her teammates wasn’t something List gave much consideration.

“I (came) back for the girls,” she said. “I really enjoy this team that I have. And I really enjoy all the underclassmen. … There’s nobody on this team I wouldn’t want to play basketball with. And I just really enjoy being with all these people and all the coaches, too.”

List followed up a run to the WPIAL title game and PIAA playoffs last season by winning a PIAA championship with the Bobcats’ softball team in June as a star pitcher. It’s her laundry list of accolades — both on the basketball court and beyond — that makes Huston put List in a category of her own as far as athletes he’s coached throughout his career.

“She’s got to be probably considered the best female athlete — and maybe the best athlete overall — in Beaver (Area) history,” Huston said. “It’s been fun to watch her grow into that.”

Despite her legacy being all but cemented, though, List isn’t satisfied just yet.

She has aspirations of winning another WPIAL basketball championship and believes that — even with a roster that’s collectively much less experienced than the one from last year — her and her teammates “still have the same chances” of doing so.

The vision that List has for this Beaver Area squad is probably, more than anything, what’s led to her being a fiery leader at times this season. As the winners of nine of their past 11 contests, the Bobcats hope to build off their momentum with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.

And List, just as she’s been all season, will be there to push the group to do just that.

“It’s your last high school season — this is your time to have fun,” List said, “but also get serious when you need to.”

Contact Parth Upadhyaya at pupadhyaya@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @pupadhyaya_.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Payton List's development has been key to Beaver Area's success