Corbin Taylor, Valley basketball, Soph.
On the court: Taylor put together two of his best performances of the season at the right time, and that helped play a pivotal role in helping Valley to win the programs first ever UIL state boys basketball championship. In a 44-33 victory against Munday during a semifinal last week, the 6-foot-8 post poured in 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, which included a pair of 3-pointers, to go with 11 rebounds for a double-double. In the UIL Class 1A Division I state championship win over Fayetteville is where the sophomore really left his mark. Taylor was unstoppable throughout the game, finishing with a game-high 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting while snagging 12 boards for another double-double to earn game MVP honors.
Taylor finishes his season averaging 23.4 points a game on top of 11.2 rebounds a night.
Coach Aaron Green: “This team was so determined to finish job they’d started last year. The community has been so excited and has so much pride on what this team accomplished. Corbin played such a huge role for us. He is an amazing young man. He had an outstanding game in the state championship and pushed it to another level. He can go inside, we’ve always known that, but he’s done such a great job of making himself more of an outside threat. He is just a competitor and deserves all he is getting.”
Taylor: “It meant a lot for us to win this state championship as a team. This was a goal of ours after falling short last year, and it has been a goal for my brother (Kanyon) and I since we were little kids. It was just awesome to share this with all the guys on the team and celebrate. I think this year, I had another level of intensity, and I really did my best to work on my jumper. I knew I could always go inside, but I was really wanting to get my outside game going this year and I feel I did that.”
About Taylor
Favorite band or musician: Drake
Favorite social media platform: YouTube
Favorite athlete: LeBron James
Bet you didn’t know: He was born in China, and lived in China for seven years.
Parents: Jeremy and M’Lynn Taylor.