While the transition from playing basketball on the high school level to the junior college level wasn’t easy, former Trinity Episcopal stand-out Mallory Archer said she has made it and is loving every minute of it.

Archer, 18, is a freshman student at Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, and is also a shooting guard for the girls’ basketball team.

Archer said she has started a few games this season, but added she has gotten most of her minutes coming off the bench.

“I love it. I love my team and everybody on it,” she said.

Archer said the collegiate game differs from high school, but not as much as she thought it would.

“It is not as fast as I anticipated,” she said. “It is not that much faster than high school, but there is more competition.”

Archer said with the rise in the level of competition, she has had to adjust her role as a player on the team.

“In high school I was a prominent player. In college everybody is a prominent player,” Archer said. “You have to adjust to players being just as good, if not better than you.”

Off the court, Archer said her biggest challenge has been time management. She said she has had to learn to balance time for studying, practicing, traveling and playing.

She said traveling might be the toughest aspect out of the four. Archer said in high school, her farthest away game was two hours. Now she said the average trip is three hours.

“You get home late a lot, and you have to go to class the next day. No excuses,” Archer said.

She said the five-hour bus trips are really not fun, especially if her team loses.

“When we lose, coach makes us ride back in silence because he is so mad,” Archer said.

Archer said while she studies a lot, she is still undecided in what she wants to do in the future. Currently she said she is thinking about teaching and coaching.

“Usually if you coach you have to teach. I have always wanted to coach, ever since I was little,” Archer said.

She said she does not know where she will continue her pursuit of those plans yet.

“I haven’t thought about where to head to school next. I guess it depends on who is looking at me in the future,”

In the mean time, when she is not traveling, studying, practicing or playing basketball, Archer said she enjoys hanging out with friends in Hattiesburg, going out on the weekends and hunting for deer.

“I’m a little behind when it comes to hunting. My dad has already shot the limit, but hopefully I will get one soon,” Archer said.