Lady Huskies equipped to return to postseason

It’s not standard practice for a basketball team coached by Tonya Hunter to be sitting at home when the high school basketball postseason begins. 

Yet, home is where the Hewitt-Trussville High School girls basketball team was last spring while the Class 7A playoffs were unfolding. The Lady Huskies were eliminated in the opening round of the Area 7 tournament.

“We didn’t play up to our potential,” said Hunter, who is now in her fourth year at Hewitt. “We were really good in spots. We just could not el together.”

Hunter’s 2015-16 squad at Hewitt-Trussville surpassed expectations, making a run all the way to the Northeast Regional Final, one step shy of the Final Four. But after last season took an unpleasant turn at the end, Hunter took a step back to examine the state of the program.

“This offseason, we took more weeks than I’ve ever taken before to reevaluate what we were doing and how we could change,” Hunter said. “We came in in May, and from them being off that spring, they bonded more.”

Given Hunter’s history — she led Shades Valley to the 2014 6A state championship — combined with the talented core the Lady Huskies have returning, expectations are certainly high, especially for a team that missed out on the postseason last spring.

“We’ve been here four years, so I think that fourth stage is going to be special for us,” Hunter said.

Leading the way is a dynamic backcourt duo of senior London Coleman and junior Morgan Kirk. Coleman transferred to Hewitt-Trussville prior to her sophomore year and has been a leader from her first game. Kirk has been a starter on the varsity team since she was in middle school.

“She’s matured so much,” Hunter said of Kirk. “I was so ecstatic about her this summer, playing point guard.”

Hunter has also been pleased by Christina Till’s development. Once just an outside shooter — albeit a good one — the senior has become more of a leader and become a more consistent factor on and off the floor.

“Her confidence is so much higher,” Hunter said.

Leah Harrison and Erica Jones are sophomore post players who should experience a significant leap in production. They were thrust into action last year, and Hunter knew growing pains would follow.

“I played those freshmen immediately off the eighth-grade bench with no experience,” Hunter said. “We saw it some nights and we had to deal with it, but now they’ve got that experience and they know and that’s helping them tremendously.”

Freshman Amiya Payne is a newcomer who should make an impact this season. She has varsity experience from her last two years at Clay-Chalkville, and Hunter said her potential has no limit.

Jada Jenkins, Whitney Winchester, Lauren Golden, Trenady Lockett and Tia Gardner make up the rest of the varsity roster.

Hunter said the Lady Huskies will be a defensive-minded team, and will use the offensive side of the floor as a means to get back to its preferred side of the floor as soon as possible.

“We want to score quick and get back to what we love doing, which is playing defense,” she said.

It’s not likely the Lady Huskies will be sitting at home again this spring, but they aren’t going to look past the road ahead of them.

“We’re just going to take every game, every practice, and take it day by day,” Hunter said.