Camp to assist Bruce in Australia trip

It’d be easy for South Lafourche rising senior guard Traya Bruce to get content or stagnant.

Why not? She’s been amazing since stepping foot on the Lady Tarpons’ campus as a freshmen, owning three-straight All-District seasons and two-straight years as the district’s MVP.

It’d be human nature to sit back and enjoy it all a little – even if for short periods of time.

But that’s not in Bruce’s DNA.

Complacency and self-satisfaction aren’t words that this standout guard are interested in.

To her, the only focus is on improvement, and she said she knows there’s always a lot of room for that.

Bruce said she’s working tirelessly this offseason to better herself, spending countless hours in the gym to work on various aspects of her already-polished game.

She said she knows her senior year will be huge when it comes to her recruitment and eventual collegiate selection. Between now and then, she said her focus is on becoming the best version of herself that she’s ever been – both on and off the floor.

“My offseason is going well,” Bruce said. “Individually, I’m working on my body strength for college ball. I’m not playing AAU this summer, so because of that, I’m always in the gym. I’m working on everything because nothing is ever perfect – in any aspect of my game.”

Bruce is right. She wasn’t perfect as a junior.

But she was about as close to it as anyone has ever been in the history of the Lady Tarpons’ program.

As a junior, Bruce averaged 22.0 points per game – her second-straight season averaging 20 or more points. The output helped lead the Lady Tarpons to the Elite Eight of the Class 4A State Playoffs – despite the team playing most of its season without post Victorianna Nelson, who is unquestionably one of the better players in the state.

It was in the playoffs where Bruce’s stock really scored.

In the Class 4A State Playoffs, Bruce was Russell Westbrook-like, doing just about everything for the Lady Tarpons from scoring to assists to steals and rebounds.

She scored 105 points in the team’s three postseason games, eclipsing the 30-point barrier in every game.

Coach Rainie Terrebonne said she was relentless – unwilling to take no for an answer.

An opposing coach said she was playing at a level which he’d never seen from a junior.

“We tried to deny her. We tried to guard her close. We tried everything and she still found a way,” LaGrange coach LaKeem Holmes said after the Lady Tarpons beat his team in the second round of the playoffs. “She’s a great player and at home in these types of games, great players have that ability to take over games, and she took over this game for their team late. You’d have to watch a lot of basketball to see someone do something like that.”

Perhaps Bruce’s motivation for the dominant season was an accolade she earned before it ever took place.

In October 2016, she was selected to be part of the 2017 Down Under Sports Hoops Classic – a prestigious basketball tour that takes some of the most gifted players in the country to Australia to showcase themselves in front of college coaches and scouts who are searching for talent.

Bruce is going to be a member of the Central Conference Girls’ Basketball Team during her trip. She leaves on July 10.

Bruce said the Australian trip is something she’s looking forward to – an opportunity to see the world, while playing the game she loves.

She said while in the foreign land, she plans to be a sponge – studying everything around her, both on and off the floor.

“This will give me a chance to improve my game and pick up skills I may never have seen before,” she said. “It will also give me the opportunity to see what it’s like playing for coaches and players I have never met and know nothing about. It’s exciting and I’m happy for the opportunity.”

And there’s a way that the community can help ease some of her costs in the process – while also making their children better at the game of basketball.

Since Bruce’s spot on the team was announced, she’s been busy fundraising to help support the costs associated with the trip.

Her last fundraiser will be a community basketball camp, which will partner Bruce with two of the most well-known basketball coaches in the area.

On May 27-28, Bruce will host the Down Under Basketball Camp at the Cut Off Youth Center – an event open to area children eager to better their skills during the offseason.

The cost is $25 per child, and the camp is sponsored by Greg Curole and Clarence Moore.

All proceeds for the camp will go to benefit Bruce with her trip.

For more information about the camp, call (985) 696-4341.

Bruce said she wanted to thank everyone for the support she’s received throughout her career.

She said there’s no place she’d rather live than South Lafourche.

“The community has been amazing with its support,” Bruce said. “I’m grateful.” •

Traya BruceCASEY GISCLAIR | THE TIMES

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