Photo by Erin Nelson.
Hewitt-Trussville’sCole Trest (10) guards Vestavia Hills’ Reese Gurner (11) during the second half of a game at Hewitt-Trussville High School on Jan. 8.
In the Hewitt-Trussville High School boys basketball locker room, one of the walls is covered up with printed pictures of many of the Huskies’ key moments throughout the season.
These moments are not of the typical nature. There are no 3-point baskets or game-winning shots. There are no dunks or clutch free throws.
No, the wall is filled up entirely of one type of play: charges.
The charge is described by most coaches as the most selfless act in all of basketball, as it requires sacrificing one’s body by absorbing contact from an opposing offensive player and, more often than not, hitting the floor hard.
Through the first half of the season, Hewitt-Trussville had over 70 photos on the “charge wall.” Nearly a third of them belonged to Cole Trest, one of five seniors for the Huskies this season.
“He’s endeared himself to me because of his toughness,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Jeff Baker said.
While the school record is unofficial, Trest had roughly 70 career charges in his varsity career through the month of December and believed he needed around 20 more to become the all-time leader in Huskies history.
Trest is a 5-foot-10 post player and is not the prototypical basketball player. He played linebacker for the Huskies’ football team and has played lacrosse as well. He has fully bought into the idea of doing whatever it takes to help his team win games.
“What makes Cole unique is he loves competing,” Baker said. “He just loves to be in a game. He’s low maintenance. He shows up and does what he’s supposed to do.”
Baker said he has been told he is most animated on the sidelines when one of his players takes a charge. It is one of the pillars to the “Hustleville” moniker the Huskies live by, a play on the Trussville city name. Hustleville plays include taking charges, diving for loose balls and fighting for rebounds.
“It just brings energy to the team and me too,” Trest said. “I enjoy it, everybody’s happy, and it can change a game. Why not?”
Trest calls the art of taking a charge “being in the right place at the right time,” but many would argue that the pain associated with taking a charge would hardly be “the right place” to be.
In a game against Wenonah last year, Trest hit the floor so hard while taking a charge that he bit through his tongue, an injury requiring a hospital visit and subsequent stitches.
“I’ve still got the scars. It’s pretty cool,” Trest said.
Trest made that comment with a smile on his face, a pretty common expression for Trest.
“The three years I’ve known him, he’s never had a bad day,” Baker said.
Trest is the ultimate team player and pairs that with a relentless work ethic. When he’s not playing one of his three sports, he finds time to work shifts at a local Subway restaurant. No matter where he’s at, he’s focused on lifting the others around him the best way he can.
“It’s just the way I was raised,” he said.
