HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley women's basketball program has added two players — Payton Kale and Shamicah Sturdivant — to its 2018-19 recruiting class.

Kale, a three-year varsity basketball player at South Caldwell High School, averaged 4.8 points per game as a senior this past season for the Spartans.

She earned All-Northwestern 3A/4A honors during her final season at South, finishing her Spartan career with 206 total points.

Catawba Valley head women's basketball coach Tisha England discovered Kale through a recent try out held at the Tarlton Complex.

"She came in and was fundamentally sound," England said of Kale. "She worked hard, hustled and did all of the little things. I invited her back for another workout, and she did extremely well. I think that she'll fit into our program really well. She's a role model and a role player. It's also great having someone locally for the support and having a great student athlete."

Sturdivant comes to CVCC from Sugar Creek Charter High School in Charlotte, N.C. where she averaged 15.2 points per game as a senior and scored 350 points, leading the Wildcats to a 19-5 record this past winter.

England believes Sturdivant has similar skills to graduating CVCC sophomore guard Tory Agrusa.

"She's a tall guard who can run the floor," England said of Sturdivant. "She can play guard and small forward. She brings a lot of athleticism to the team. She is very quiet and shy, but once she gets into our program, she'll be able to bloom."

Kale and Sturdivant join Chapel Hill High School's Aniya Taylor as members of the 2018-19 Red Hawk recruiting class.