The story of Alycia Kimmel, Harpursville basketball star, begins four years ago when she was brought up to the varsity as a nervous, intimidated eighth grader.
Luckily, her older cousin Lindsay was on the team and also happened to be the first 2,000-point scorer in Broome County history.
Now as the Hornets captain, Alycia continues to thrive with the help of a cousin, this time Lindsay's younger sister, Hannah.
Alycia says, "We play really well together. We've been playing together since, I don't know, since we were really young. We're only six months apart so we've grown up together."
Coach Kurt Ehrensbeck says, "She's getting that opportunity to kind of step into her own as a player and it's nice to see her time has come and she's taking advantage of it."
Alycia averages more than 15 points a game for the state-ranked Hornets.
But even more impressive is her grade point average, 95.
Alycia plans to major in biology or environmental science when she goes to college.
For someone who works so hard on the court and in the classroom, it's almost an entirely opposite Alycia the rest of the time.
"Basically just hang out with friends. I'm kind of lazy outside of that. When I get a chance to take a break I like to just sit around and hang out."
An activity she's definitely earned the right to do.
Coach Ehrensbeck calls Alycia the team's leader and its calming influence.
A leader that could help lead the 13 and 2 Hornets to the conference championship game.
For now, she's this week's Academic All Star.
In Harpursville, Justin Horowitz, Action Sports.