Reigning Ostrowski Award winner Jordyn Dawson is up to her old tricks again, scoring an average of 26 points per game while leading the Highlanders (7-1) to the No. 1 ranking in last week’s Associated Press poll.

Huntington figures to stay there when the new rankings are released today as the Highlanders added a dominant 80-56 win over No. 3 Parkersburg South on Saturday.

Dawson, a Xavier commit, remains one of the most difficult matchups in the state as she combines low-post size with a point guard’s ballhandling ability and shooting range.

And while dominating games is nothing new to Dawson, Huntington coach Lonnie Lucas couldn’t list enough ways in which her game has improved from last year to this season. “She’s a lot more confident in her shot, especially from the outside,” Lucas said. “Her foul shooting is so much better than last year. She really worked on her game all around. She knows she has to play most of the time in big games — she doesn’t get much rest — but she’s stepped her game up totally. As soon as the rest of them step theirs up as much as she has hers, we’re going to be a lot better.”

Lucas said that Dawson should become the school’s all-time leading scorer a little later in the season for boys and girls, passing Tavian Dunn-Martin, who now plays for Akron after graduating a year ago.

Statistically speaking, Dawson’s biggest gain from a year ago may be at the foul line where Lucas said she’s gone from 58 percent to around 75 percent, a key improvement for a player that gets fouled often while slashing to the basket.

But more than any measureable metric, Lucas said he’s most pleased with Dawson’s maturity as a person.

“She’s matured so much emotionally too, she plays under control now,” Lucas said. “Little things don’t bother her like they used to. As a ninth grader, she was very immature. She could do a lot of stuff physically, but she’s improved so much in that aspect. This year is totally different. For so long, she didn’t even realize how tough she really was.”

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