You’ll have to excuse G-MU head coach Jim Johnson if he is a bit partial to his leading scorer on the varsity girls team. Johnson, an old left-hander, has overseen the development of senior scorer leader Tanya Barnes, a lefty herself.

Around this area, Barnes has toiled for four years with little fanfare. The teams she has played on the previous three years accumulated a 21-35 record. Yet, Barnes has consistently put excellent numbers on the board, that despite the target on her back as opponents’ primary focus on defense. She led the county in scoring last year at 17.8 points per game, and was the third leading scorer in the area as a sophomore scoring 16.3 points a game on a team that won just three games.

Since that sophomore season, Johnson has needed to devise offensive schemes to free Barnes up. Johnson is not unfamiliar with facing junk defenses, most recently G-MU grad and career scoring leader Shelly Miles, the player who most resembles Barnes on the floor, was consistently defending with everything imaginable. “We just keep adding and tinkering to the things we do against (junk defenses),” Johnson said.

Johnson has become a master at having screens set for Barnes, moving her to the low or high post as needed, but also relying on Barnes’ instincts to create opportunities for herself.