Mohegan — There is never a danger of Nalyce Dudley showing up and taking it easy. And that goes for practice, too, with the New London High School girls' basketball team.

"You would think kids would turn it on during a game," New London coach Tammy Millsaps said. "Nalyce is the same way in practice. She's one of the first kids in sprints, she's the first one down the floor in transition, when the ball goes up she's gonna knock your head off to go get it. If she's got to push you through the wall, she's gonna push you through the wall to get it.

"So what she does out here is an exact replica of what she does in practice. This is no show she's putting on."

Oh, but Dudley, the 5-foot-11 guard/forward, put on a show over the last week in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I tournament, which culminated Tuesday night with the second-seeded Whalers' 66-55 victory over No. 1 Bacon Academy before 1,375 fans at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Dudley was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after finishing it with 81 points in three games. She had 28 points in a 69-29 victory win over East Lyme in the quarterfinals and 28 more in a 70-64 semifinal triumph over Ledyard. Dudley had 25 points in Tuesday's championship game, among them a reverse layup, an offensive rebound, a spin move and a steal and a fast break.

"I just have to turn her motor down sometimes," Millsaps said. "Most coaches don't have that problem. They have to turn the kid's motor up. That kid just never stops. I love that energy."

Dudley, a first team All-ECC Division I pick for New London, which won its 12th straight game Tuesday, revealed a secret to her success.

"This is something my dad will always tell me," Dudley said. "I always try to think of something that will really make me mad and I just try to take it out on the court. Both my parents are supportive. They tell me all the time just think of something. I just think of the most random stuff ever and just use it on the court ... like when I have to get up in the morning to go get the dog. I don't like waking up early so I just try to use it to my advantage."

Dudley has worked hard. She was several inches shorter as a freshman, playing for the Whalers' varsity team. That's where she acquired the guard skills that she now uses as a 5-11 forward dribbling up the floor against the press.

Millsaps said Dudley began gaining confidence at the end of last season, but due to COVID-19 New London was 4-7 last year. This season, Dudley showed her mettle in January in the ultra-competitive Rose Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y., where New London (19-3) made a two-game appearance. Dudley had 40 points in the two games, including a 27-point, 18-rebound performance in a 57-46 win over Frederick Douglass Academy.

"Nalyce, at the beginning of last season she didn't have a lot of confidence, she didn't feel like she was a good basketball player, she didn't think she did a lot of things well," said Millsaps, in her second season. "But once we put her into a system and we started setting up plays for her to get to the rim ... when kids put the ball in the basket, you'd be surprised how well they start playing."

Dudley is relatively quiet. Millsaps said no matter her critique of the junior she only gets two words in return: "Yes, coach."

On Tuesday, Dudley had her own cheering section. She has four siblings, including 3-year-old Khalis, whom she calls "my little twin." A few of them were wearing T-shirts with Dudley's name and number on them as well as her picture.

"It was definitely a lot of hard work," Dudley said of her ascension to ECC tournament MOP. "Freshman year I was short and I knew I was going to have to keep working because the girls were taller than me and it just paid off. (This year), I knew I had to step up as a leader and show what I have to do for my team.

"It was sad. We didn't get to play ECCs last year due to COVID. But we're here now and we won. ... I just know that I have to keep fighting, just keep pushing hard."

Said Millsaps: "She has a motor that doesn't stop. You can't teach that."

v.fulkerson@theday.com