MIDDLEBURG – As arguably one of the most prolific scorers in Clay County girls basketball; in the same ranks as Alicia Gladden at Orange Park (FSU), Mariah Masalin at Clay (Wofford) and even Keystone Heights school record holder Monique Cardenas (Florida), Middleburg High’s Hannah Roney signed off on an athletic scholarship to continue her playing days at Belmont-Abbey College in North Carolina.

Belmont Abbey, an NCAA Division II school in the Conference Carolinas, finished with a 8-21 win/loss record last year, 7-15 in conference play.

“The greatest moment was a gamewinner I hit in a district playoff game against Columbia with no time left on the clock right here in the Middleburg gym,” said Roney, who has been joined by younger sister Mallory the past two years. “The saddest hasn’t occurred because I’m still able to play and we have games left to play. It will be sad when it’s all over, but I will try to get Mallory to follow me.”

According to 32-year Middleburg High athletic director Alan Powers, the achievement is a first for him.

“Not only was Hannah a great basketball player and school ambassador, but she excelled in volleyball,” said Powers. “I think at this point she is also tops in her class academically with a 4.67 grade point average.”

Also on hand at the signing was Middleburg volleyball coach Carrie Prewitt, also a 32-year veteran at Middleburg, who said Roney set the tone at practice, at games and in the hallways.

“She always has a smile, works harder than anyone and makes the players around her great,” said Prewitt. “She came to me and we had her primarily as a defensive specialist but she evolved into one of our best attackers at the net.”

According to Broncos’ coach Michael Hayward; four years on the Bronco bench, two years as head coach, Roney is within a whisker of achieving a much-coveted 2,000 points scored in a varsity career. Roney, a shooting guard for the Broncos since her freshman year, punched up an area-leading 26 points per game in her junior year to push the needle closer to that 2,000 points.

“When she came here as a freshman after shooting the lights out at Lakeside,” said Hayward. “She started, was a captain, averaged 15 points and scored near 370 points. I knew we had something special.”

As a sophomore, Roney averaged 22.7 points per game; second in the First Coast area scoring leaders.

Hayward reminded fans at the signing of the buzzer beater three pointer that Roney hit against Columbia that gave the Broncos a district tournament win.

“We were down by two with five or so seconds to go,” said Hayward. “She ran down the sideline of the court, got the ball and hit a corner three-point bank shot for the win. I picked her up and carried her all over the court after that.”

Roney had games of 34 points twice, but hit an area high of 51 points in a match with Bradford.

In her junior year, Hayward said, Roney averaged 26.5 points per game, but, more importantly, he was able to start building a team around her. She also scored her 1,000th career point.

“Most players will be celebrated for 1,000 points in a career, but she was there in the middle of her junior year,” said Hayward. “She would end that year at 1,850 points.”

As Roney’s senior year comes to a close, with five regular season games remaining with playoff games additional, Hayward had her at 1,910 as of the signing.

“If you are not here the next four or five games, you’ll miss something special,” said Hayward.

Of the three aforementioned players; Cardenas, a four-time all stater as a Lady Indian with three state titles and a runnerup finish in the 1990s, achieved a mark, without a three point shot, of 2,805 points that still stands as a girls (and boys) school record and one of the area’s all time great records. Glidden became a defensive specialist at FSU and Masalin excelled at Wofford after scoring just under 1,500 points for Clay.