Ever since she was 5 years old, ears have surrounded Samantha Brunelle when she hits the basketball court. Now that shes the highest-ranked sophomore basketball prospect in the nation, all eyes -- including two that belong to Geno Auriemma -- are upon her.Some say scoring is in her nature, and the Brunelle family traces that to their vast backyard.A decade ago, Rod and Katie Brunelle put down asphalt and put up a portable hoop so their only child could hoist a few shots in their vast backyard. The Brunelles live on a 300-acre family farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Ruckersville, Virginia.Samanthas uncle Billy runs the farm -- countless dairy cows and turkeys -- but Samantha handles the basketball department, honing her game on a half court surrounded on three sides by enough corn to make an Iowan envious.A year ago, Brunelles mother surprised her by painting white lines on the asphalt court. Free throws, 3-pointers, out of bounds -- they were all marked. Katie went even further by painting a yellow 33 inside the free throw area.That court is amazing, said Samantha, who wears No. 33 for her high school team. I put my headphones on, and I can shoot, and I can think. Its a peaceful time for me.That court represents utopia for Brunelle, but it has helped cause chaos for her opponents. As a freshman at William Monroe (Stanardsville, Virginia) last season, she broke two state records. Her 28 rebounds set the single-game Virginia mark, and her 650 points crushed the state record for points in a season by a freshman.Undeclared for college, Brunelle averaged 23.8 points, 17.5 rebounds, 3.2 blocks, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. She matched her uniform number and scored 33 points in her high school debut. She had a high of 52 points last season. The Central Virginia Player of the Year, she had a game in which she went 18-for-18 from the foul line.Her numbers explode off the page, and thats despite the fact that she faced constant double-teams and junk defenses, William Monroe coach Jess Stafford said. Theres nothing you can do at this level to keep her from putting the ball in the basket. Its in her nature to score.Hoops above allThat nature, of course, has a lot to do with Samanthas parents.Rod, now a realtor, was a 6-foot-3, 215-pound outfielder and first baseman. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 15th round in 1985 but never made it past Class A ball. He averaged .277 and hit 21 homers over four seasons.Katie, now the principal at William Monroe Middle School, was a 5-foot-10 post player at Division III Bridgewater College in Virginia. She later became the head high school basketball coach at Orange County (Orange, Virginia) before settling in as an administrator.Between Rods love for baseball and Katies devotion to basketball, it was mom who knew best. When the couple took newborn Samantha home from the hospital, the baby girl was wearing a pink dress and tiny, white, high-top sneakers.She was going to be a basketball player, Katie said with a laugh.Brunelle tried other sports. She competed in travel softball and volleyball leagues, and she was an aggressive hitter in both those endeavors. But there was something about basketball.One day when she was in seventh grade, Brunelle came home from practice and told her mom she wanted to be the best basketball player in the country. Katie explained that reaching that goal would take hard work and laser focus. The next day, Samantha announced to her parents that she was quitting softball and volleyball to devote her athletic energies to basketball and her quest to be the best.A unique tasteDespite all her basketball success, Brunelle is still a kid at heart.Ive never seen her have a bad day, Rod said.She has a go-kart -- it has some fender damage from when she drove it off an embankment -- and she has had loads of fun driving. She loves to joke around; telling people their shoelaces are untied when they actually arent is one of her favorite gags.She enjoys dancing, even when her teammates tell her to stick to basketball. At the very least, shes unafraid to try any move and post it on Twitter. Her latest attempt is Hit the Quan.I know the move, Brunelle said. Whether it looks good or not, I dont know.More than go-karts, practical jokes and dance moves, she loves ketchup. She puts it on just about any food, and she makes sure shes never too far from her favorite condiment.I always keep a few packets in my purse, she said. And I keep a miniature tube in my locker and in my lunch box -- just in case.Her penchant for ketchup sometimes disrupts her clean basketball look.I was wearing a white jersey, Brunelle said in citing an example. I was eating a hot dog at Jasons Deli, and my coach told me, Dont get any stains on your uniform. Sure enough, on my first bite, I got ketchup all over my jersey.It happens every time.Strong rootsTheres more to Brunelle than ketchup stains and dance moves, though. Shes an excellent student, with a 4.25 GPA. Shes interested in studying business and communications. A recent presentation won her third place in the state as part of the Future Business Leaders of America.In July, she culminated her impressive freshman year by helping USAs U17 team win a bronze medal at the FIBA world championships in Zaragoza, Spain. It was her first trip abroad but likely not her last.She got her first college scholarship offer when she was in seventh grade (Wake Forest), and Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has already been to two of her practices. But Brunelle, who plays AAU ball for the Boo Williams program and coach Mike Davis, said its too early to decide where she will enroll. She plans to take several official visits in the next few months -- she has already visited a handful, including Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas -- to start exploring her choices.Even so, she remains humble. When USA Basketball invited her to their U17 Colorado tryouts in May, Brunelle, playing against older girls, surprised herself by making the team.She received an even bigger shock when she returned home from Colorado. Hundreds of Greene County residents lined the streets to celebrate her accomplishment. She received a police escort once she crossed the county line, and that took her to her high school, where more friends awaited.There were a massive amount of people with signs saying, Sam, we love you! Stafford said. There was a guy with a tractor who had a sign. There were people on pickup trucks. There were news crews waiting for her at school.Sam had tears of joy. She had no idea this was coming. Shes a humble kid who just happens to be pretty good at basketball.Brunelles police escort went down Route 33, naturally.Its nice coming from a small town, she said. I have a community that is so loving and caring. I wouldnt want to be anywhere else. Leonard Fournette Jersey . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. Gardner Minshew II Jersey . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. http://www.authenticjaguarslockroom.com/Youth-Chris-Conley-Elite-Jersey/ . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Ryquell Armstead Womens Jersey . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Gardner Minshew II Youth Jersey . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. Lewis Hamilton put his FP2-ending crash down to newly-installed kerbs at the Hungaroring which sent him spinning off the circuit and into a barrier.After topping FP1, Hamilton managed just five laps before spinning off at Turn 11 and hitting the wall. Though he was able to recover the car to the pits there was some damage to the left side of his car, meaning Mercedes ended his session early rather than risk a failure later in the session.The shunt was followed by a precautionary trip to the medical centre but Hamilton told reporters he felt all good after the crash.Explaining what happened, Hamilton said: Well theyve got those new white kerbs [on approach to Turn 11]. I think I put my rear wheel just slightly over that white line and touched that kerb, theyre very slippy -- I dont know why theyve put them there to be honest, it was fine the way it was before.I hit the wall perfectly sideways so I was able to pull away. I just overloaded the wishbones, it didnt break anything, but rather than go out and have one of them fail we didnt go back out.Hamilton said it it would not be right to completely blame the track as the spin occurred after he went too far wide before turning in for Turn 11.?I dont put it [just] down to the track, it was obviously me putting the wheel in the wrong place. I prefer the way the track was last year but it is whhat it is.dddddddddddd It doesnt change the direction of the track or anything, its still an amazing track, but it just feels a bit different.The incident meant Hamilton sat out much of the session and will go into Sundays race having not completed much high-fuel running, though he will be able to lean on the data acquired by teammate Nico Rosberg.Asked if missing the session would hurt his chances of a fifth Hungarian Grand Prix win, he said: Well, time will tell. I think Nico had a pretty good run so I can obviously study that. The pace was feeling quite good, I was having good pace up until then.For sure its just about getting in the swing of things, and when you miss a session thats what you miss basically. So today I missed the long run so when I get into the race will be the first time of really attacking and seeing how long I can make those tyres work.It could be worse. The car is in one piece, fortunately. On a hot track like this its just about how you use the tyres and I didnt give myself the opportunity to learn what the race is going to look like. It actually makes it a bit more exciting because when I get to the race, nothings planned, it will be one lap at a time and rely even more on my driving. ' ' '