Nansemond River High School’s Brandon Eubanks and King’s Fork High School’s Amesha Miller enjoyed plenty of individual and team success this year. Their respective strong seasons earned them the honor of being named the Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Winter Players of the Year.

Eubanks and Miller have both enjoyed solid seasons in their respective sports. They both represent student-athletes to the highest standard. Hard work, dedication and preparation make up the DNA in what makes both athletes special.

Eubanks, a junior swimmer, was an integral part of a successful Nansemond River boys’ swim team this year. His team won the most regular season meets in school history this season.

Eubanks pushed his own limits during each meet and encouraged his teammates to help the team get better throughout the season.

For the Eubanks family, swimming seems to come naturally, as Brandon’s older brother Logan received this very same award in 2015.

“It feels great,” Brandon said of his success. “It feels good to know that hard work pays off and that I am surrounded by people that support me throughout my swims.”

One of Eubanks’ biggest highlights of the year came by way of a win over Western Branch High School. It was the first time the Warriors had defeated the Bruins in school history.

The junior contributed individually by placing first in the 100-meter butterfly and 400-meter freestyle. He also was a part of a 200-meter medley relay team that placed second and a 400-meter freestyle relay team that placed first.

The Warrior finished his junior season as a conference champion and state qualifier in the 500-yard freestyle. He placed 24th in the state.

Nansemond River coach James “Shamus” Riley saw the difference in Eubanks from his sophomore to his junior year and noticed his times were dropping. He saw that Eubanks was becoming a faster swimmer, which could leave room for even more growth during his senior season when he returns.

Miller, a senior girls’ basketball player, was amongst the best in the state this season. She helped lead King’s Fork to its first state championship game, playing at a high level throughout the year. She has accumulated many accolades along the way.

She eclipsed 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for her career at King’s Fork and is the Conference 17 Player of the Year. Miller has made first-team All-Conference, All-Region and All-State.

It is impressive what the senior was able to accomplish considering she was held to a high standard before the season started.

Miller wanted to live up to the hype, and she did so by averaging a double-double for the Lady Bulldogs, who came within a tenth of a second of winning the school’s first state championship.

“I enjoyed my senior year a lot,” Miller said. “This has been my favorite season on and off the court. The fact that I was a part of a team that made history with my teammates was awesome.”

Miller will go down in King’s Fork history as one of the most decorated players in the program’s history.

She idolized players like Sugar Rodgers, who made her mark at King’s Fork. Since her freshman year, Miller had plans to leave a legacy, and she did. She has set a standard at King’s Fork for future student athletes to admire.

Next for Miller will be the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She had garnered a lot of interest from multiple NCAA Division I programs before deciding on UNCG, where she will major in biology.