Southeast Missourian Player of the Week: Woodland's Josie Long

Junior Josie Long scored at least 20 points and grabbed at least 10 rebounds in each of Woodland's three games last week.

Woodland suffered a 10-point loss to Scott County Central to open the week, but the Cardinals bounced back with a 45-35 win against Perryville and a 50-35 victory over East Prairie to improve to 14-4 on the season.

Long also had 14 steals against Scott County Central to record a triple-double. But that's nothing new for her -- she averages a triple-double on the season with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10.5 steals per contest.

"She had an unbelievable week," first-year Woodland coach Robert Stein said. "She generally does."

Long had 20 of the Cardinals' 45 points against Perryville, accounting for nearly half of her team's points. She had six assists against Perryville and nine steals against East Prairie.

"On most night she either has all our steals, or most of our steals, most of our assists, most of our rebounds. ... She's a premier player, no question," Stein said.

At 5 foot 10, the athletic Long moves between shooting guard and forward, and normally she is assigned to defend the opposition's top offensive player.

Stein said his team regularly sees defenses designed to contain Long.

"She's been double-teamed a ton of times," Stein said. "It's not unusual for us at all for the other team to try to take her out -- luckily, as our record shows, our other four players are pretty decent most the nights."

And despite the attention, Long usually finds a way to have a big night.

"Without a doubt, she's our go-to girl when we have to have someone," Stein said. "No question she's getting better as the season goes along, but she's been really good since the first day."