Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org

A youth movement at Christiansburg High School is building a foundation for the girls’ basketball team with Julia Moschella leading the way.

This season, she was asked to play many different positions and roles, and for that effort, she has been named the All-County/All-City girls’ basketball player of the year. In addition, she was also named to the all-conference first team.

Moschella, who is just a sophomore, found her shot from behind the arc and is becoming a threat to score from almost anywhere on the court. She credits spending almost every day in the gym for her success on the court.

She was also faced with the challenge of adjusting to a new coach.

“I think there is a changing of the attitude here at Christiansburg with a new coach. With everyone back next season, I think we will be much better and could be on track to make a run into the postseason,” she said.

Moschella started playing basketball in the fifth grade and has honed her skills on several travel teams.

“I feel this past summer I got a lot stronger and tried to shoot almost every day,” she said.

When thinking about her future in the game, she admits it’s early but she would love to have the opportunity to play in college. In addition to basketball, she takes karate twice a week and is running track at Christiansburg.

Moschella was joined on this year’s all-county/all-city girls’ basketball team by Meghan Shelton of Blacksburg, Charli Dietz of Radford, Paige Johnston of Eastern Montgomery and Olivia Boyd of Auburn.

Johnston averaged eight points per game but expertise came on the boards. She had 274 rebounds in 23 games to set a new Eastern Montgomery single season mark.

Dietz was a big surprise this past season as a freshman and sets the foundation for the Radford program’s future. She averaged 12.3 points per game and pulled down 4.5 rebounds to push Moschella for player of the year honors.

Boyd has been the constant factor for the last four years at Auburn. While she didn’t see double figures much this past season, she played a big role on and off the court.

Her coach, Eddie Maynard, echoed those feelings.

“Olivia’s biggest asset to the team was her leadership. She was awarded our Auburn Eagles Outstanding Leadership award for girls’ basketball at the winter sports awards banquet,” he said. “Her attitude and commitment to be on the same page with the staff was a big help in this first year transitioning to a new coach. She was vital in laying the initial foundation of the new culture we are trying to bring to that program. I only wish I had gotten to coach her sooner instead of her senior year.”

Shelton was a double-figure scorer in all but three of Blacksburg’s game this season, garnering a second team all-conference honor.