Anchorage Christian’s Sayvia Sellers named Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year for girls basketball

For the second straight year, the open and shut case for the best girls basketball player in the Last Frontier has been officially closed. Anchorage Christian star point guard Sayvia Sellers was announced as the 2023 Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year for girls basketball on Wednesday.

The University of Washington Division I signee received the honor for the second year in a row and is in the midst of another sensational season. Sellers is looking to close out her illustrious prep career by leading the Lions to a fourth straight state championship and back-to-back 4A titles.

However, the Gatorade award doesn’t just recognize outstanding athletic achievement on the court. It also takes into account academic excellence and extraordinary character both on and off the court.

Sellers has maintained a weighted 3.07 GPA and has volunteered in her local community both as a youth basketball coach and with the Special Olympics.

On the court, the 5-foot-7 guard has guided ACS to a 21-2 overall record in the regular season. At the time of her selection, ACS had extended its record of consecutive victories against Alaska opponents to 114 as of the team’s final regular-season game on March 3. Through 23 games this season, she averaged 26.0 points, 9.2 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 steals per game.

“Sayvia is an amazing player,” said Soldotna head coach Eric Pomerleau in a statement. “Her handle, finishing and shooting are next level. At our tournament (the Al Howard Shootout), she was the MVP and won the free-throw and 3-point contests. She can get a bucket whenever she wants, but she’s not a selfish player at all.”

[ACS star Sayvia Sellers takes pride in being an inspiration to the next generation]

Her impressive high school resume includes being a two-time first team all-state honoree, a three-time state tournament MVP and ranking as the No. 28 recruit in the nation for the Class of 2023 according to ESPN.com.

She is just the second player in program history to receive the award, joining Destiny Reimers, who was the 2019-2020 honoree.

Sellers is the first multi-time recipient since Dimond’s Alissa Pili was honored three straight times from the 2016-2017 season to the 2018-2019 season. Prior her reign, West Valley’s Ruthy Hebard accomplished the same from the 2013-2014 season the 2015-2016 season.

Pili was just named the Pac-12 Player of the Year after after a standout campaign for the University of Utah women’s basketball team. Hebard also starred in the Pac-12 and parlayed a standout colligate career at Oregon into a professional career in the WNBA. She was drafted No. 8 overall in 2020 by the WNBA’s Chicago Sky where she has since won a title in 2021.