SHEPHERDSTOWN — Ainsley Donnelly, a local fifth grader, won the AAU World Championship with the WV Thunder AAU basketball team earlier this summer.

As the only member of the team from the Eastern Panhandle, Donnelly drives hours to practice and play with the team.

Donnelly started playing basketball when she was only 4 or 5 years old. Both her parents played basketball, as well as her older sister, so it felt natural that she would play, too. When her sister joined the WV Thunder team, Donnelly saw the environment and decided she wanted to be a part of it too. She joined the youth team and has continued to develop her skills, traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to play high-level teams.

This year, her team achieved an impressive 40-game win streak. Donnelly b

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