DERBY, Kan. (Catch it Kansas) - Derby girls basketball is undefeated and ranked in the top five in the state in class 6A. The Panthers are led by one of the top players in the country in the class of 2023 in junior Addy Brown, a versatile forward who can strike from anywhere on the court.

“I am pretty proud of how we have played so far, we have some inconsistencies still on the defensive end but I think it will come as we go,” Brown said. “Every day in practice we just have to keep working on it and I think over time we will gel together more.”

Through the first six games of the season, Brown leads the Panthers in scoring, averaging 18.7 points and 13.3 rebounds a game.

“Everyone asks me how many points I had, and I really don’t care,” she said. “I just want to win and improve from last year. If I wasn’t improving, that would be bad. I just want to get better from last year and continue to win, that’s really it.”

Success on the court runs in Brown’s blood, as her older sister is former Derby star and current Oregon State standout Kennedy Brown.

“She is motivation for me to be like “I want to show you I am my own person and my own player and can do different things,” that has been something that has been really big for me,” she said. “But just seeing her get recruited over the years, it was like “ok that’s what I want to do, that is who I want to be.””

Brown holds multiple power five offers, but narrowed down her decision to Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas Tech. She said she’s applying an important lesson she learned from her sister to her own recruiting process.

“Just be patient, you are going to know when you find the right fit. That is what I am waiting for right now, I am not trying to rush anything,” she said.

While she’s excited for the next chapter in her career, she’s focused on bringing a title to Derby.

“We want to win state, that is our number one goal,” she said. “I think that is everyone’s goal, to get that ring, but we just want to get better every game. We are not going to take a single game for granted.”

RISING STAR: Addy Brown

Derby star helping Panthers to unbeaten start