Lady Huskies looking to ‘level up’ in final stretch
While watching her team warm up for a mid-January practice, Hewitt-Trussville High School girls basketball coach Tonya Hunter saw a T-shirt that struck a chord with her.
The shirt read “Level Up.”
It appropriately describes what the Lady Huskies need to do to reach their goals over the final few weeks of the season.
“We’ve got to find our level and level completely up to it and reach that bar really fast,” Hunter said.
Coming off the best season in school history last winter, when Hewitt-Trussville was the runner-up in Class 7A, the Lady Huskies lost five-year starting point guard Morgan Kirk. Hunter knew she would be difficult to replace, but she may not have realized the magnitude of the task in front of her.
As of Jan. 14, the Lady Huskies had used seven different starting lineups in the season’s first 20 games. Hunter said that’s already the most unique combination of five players she’s used in her six years at Hewitt-Trussville.
As Hunter puts it, it’s a good thing that she likes “challenges.” The shuffling of lineups is tough in and of itself, but the relative inexperience amongst some of them has prolonged the Lady Huskies’ development process this season.
“We’re trying to find a balance,” Hunter said. “Sometimes we look at a lineup, and we have a lot of youth in that lineup.”
Amiya Payne, a junior, has emerged as the Lady Huskies’ go-to scoring option, drawing the attention of all opposing teams. Many times when she touches the ball, she is being double- and sometimes triple-teamed by defenses.
“Coming into this year, I kind of expected it, but it still kind of scared me a little bit,” she said. “I just have to make the adjustments to it so I can help my team.”
Hunter said Payne has handled the situation well and, for the most part, has avoided becoming frustrated with the focus she now receives.
“She’s staying in the gym, which is the most important thing,” Hunter said. “Sometimes people get frustrated with it, but it’s a compliment and you’ve got to accept it and use it as motivation to play even harder.”
Players such as eighth-grader Jordan Hunter and freshmen April Hooks and Kenleigh Cahalan have been asked to contribute a great deal. Payne has been a varsity player since she was in seventh grade, so she has been able to encourage while understanding the challenges of contributing at the varsity level even at a young age.
“[I tell them] not to shy away from it at all and just stay aggressive,” Payne said. “If you shy away, people will realize that and they will attack you even more.”
Erica Jones is now the team’s lone senior. She has committed to play at the University of Mobile, citing the community, school, coaches, players and family atmosphere as reasons for making that her college home.
“It’s great, it’s a dream come true,” she said. “That’s been my dream since I started basketball and now that it’s come true, it’s amazing.”
Jones said she hopes to finish her high school career by “going out with a bang.”
In order to do that, the Lady Huskies will have to follow the directions of that T-shirt.
“It’s time to level up,” Hunter said