PORT NECHES — It was rough for Brittany Brevell when she joined the Port Neches-Groves varsity basketball team in her sophomore year, she said.

“I did not know very much what I was doing,” Brevell said. “I had zero confidence with the ball. I had zero confidence on defense. I just didn’t know what I could do and I didn’t think I could do much.”

Today, as a senior, she’s starting for the Indians and much more confident in the contributions she makes for the team. Those contributions may not always translate into points in the scorebook, head coach Kara Skinner said, but Brevell’s contributions are apparent to anyone watching.

“Brittany is a hard worker,” Skinner said. “She’s come a long way in the four years that she’s been here. She’s gone from somebody that did not see the floor a whole lot at all to starting her senior year, and I feel like she’s earned every bit of her playing time.”

Brevell has racked up her share of numbers, though. The Port Arthur News Girls Player of the Week excels as one of the Indians’ leading and consistent rebounders. She had nine rebounds against Memorial and 15 in the third-place game against Rosenberg Terry at the Brazosport tournament.

“I’ve definitely come very far,” Brevell said. “I think I’ve realized that it’s not about how many points you put up. It’s about how you can find a way to help your team win, whatever you can do to help your team succeed, and I think that’s what helped me come so far is knowing that just because I’m not putting up the most points per game, I can still find some way to help us get wins.”
Brevell said she worked to build up her confidence, playing in as many games as she could, practicing outside of school, and competing in spring and summer leagues. It’s who she is: She does not like to quit.

“I don’t like to give up,” she said. “Once I set my mind on something, I pretty much want to do it until I can’t do it any better. I want to always try to improve. Coach helped a lot. I had her on JV and then she knew that I didn’t have any confidence and she made sure that I knew that I could get better and that things could be better for me.”

Skinner said that part of bringing Brevell to the level of confidence she has now is letting her understand that she is capable of performing well. Brevell is very intelligent and has a good game IQ, Skinner said, which gave her a foundation to improve her game, but it can also leave her prone to self-criticism.

“Brittany is a very intelligent kid,” Skinner said. “Brittany, for instance, I feel like understands how to use her body, how to get position on people, she understands leverage, beating people with her feet, little things that can sometimes be difficult to coach. I think trying to get Brittany to understand that it’s OK to make a mistake, trying to get her to let go of mistakes, building a confidence in herself, I think that’s what we’ve had to work to pour into Brittany.

“She’s so determined, she will not quit, and that’s internal, she’s driven. That’s a great word for her, driven.”

The Indians had a bye on Tuesday and will face Cleveland again on Friday at 7 p.m. at home.