Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Audre Benson (1) drives the ball downcourt as the Huskies face Sparkman during the first half of the AHSAA Class 7A girls Northeast Regional Semifinal at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Feb. 16.
It’s hard to argue with what the Hewitt-Trussville High School girls basketball program has done the last few years.
The Lady Huskies have been the Class 7A runner-up twice in the last four years and were put out in the Northeast Regional by eventual runner-up Vestavia Hills last winter.
But that doesn’t mean Hewitt-Trussville isn’t still striving for more. After all, that maiden state title has still eluded the program.
“The mindset this year is to win state,” senior guard April Hooks said at Birmingham Basketball Media Day at Thompson High. “This being my last year, I want to go out with a bang.”
Head coach Tonya Hunter feels she has the personnel to make a run at that lofty objective. Hooks and junior guard Jordan Hunter are each entering their fifth season on the varsity squad. Those two, along with senior Audre Benson and others, give the Lady Huskies one of the top backcourts in Alabama.
“I think we have some of the best guards on one team,” Tonya Hunter said. “You usually don’t have three to four guards that can handle the ball and we do. We’re guard heavy. We have girls that can get downhill and shoot it.”
Many of Hewitt-Trussville’s top players this year have been in the program for years. There are no secrets as to what is expected of them.
“They know what our practice looks like, they know our goals, they know exactly what our program stands for, and they’ve been a vital part of our program,” Hunter said.
Hunter also believes this year’s team can be a “player-led” one, a level she has been striving to reach for a few years now.
“It’s so much better when players are leading. When you’ve got young girls that you can trust and they can make decisions, we can coach from a different perspective,” she said.
Hooks is committed to play college ball at Alabama State University, while Jordan Hunter has made a pledge to Auburn. Benson also recently committed to the University of Central Arkansas. Hooks and Hunter flanked their head coach at the Media Day event and spoke to the team’s poise, aggressiveness and discipline as factors that will separate them from the rest.
“We’ve got a lot of girls that have played a lot of basketball,” Tonya Hunter said. “We have a group of girls that love basketball and come to practice every day. That’s going to be outstanding for us to coach this year.”
Hunter lauded the efforts of the team’s other three seniors: Lilly Gray, Lily Burford and DeAndrea Powell. They have been part of the highly successful junior varsity team the last two years and are going to be asked to make a big impact on the varsity team this season.
“I’m excited just to see some of the girls that have been through our program in a different avenue to come out and contribute in their senior year,” Hunter said.
Olivia Burton, Ashlyn Howard, Mia Ada, Amber Newman, Sara Phillips and Jasia Reedy are also on the varsity team this year.
Hewitt-Trussville competes in Class 7A, Area 6, with Spain Park, Oak Mountain and Chelsea. The Lady Huskies will enter the season as the favorites to win the area, but nothing is given in 7A ball.
“It’s still going to be a tough one,” Hunter said.
