Bucs building upon lessons learned

In the record books, the 2017-18 season for the Hoover High School girls basketball team looks like a rousing success. 

The Lady Bucs posted a 30-2 overall record, winning their first 20 games of the season and 10 straight following their first loss. They won 22 games by double digits, many of those in dominating fashion.

But for head coach Krystle Johnson, it was the “best worst year” ever.

“We had a game where we took a game off and it was at the wrong time,” said Johnson, who enters her third season as the head coach at her alma mater.

That game was the final one of the Lady Bucs’ season, as Hoover dropped its second game of the year at the worst possible time: in the Class 7A Northwest Regional Final against Sparkman. The Lady Senators grabbed a late lead and held on for a 55-54 win to advance to the state semifinals.

“Knowing you went home 30-2 and had nothing to show for it except for a regional runner-up plaque is not a good feeling,” Johnson said.

At any other point in the year, that loss would have given Johnson a perfect teaching moment. She has long preached that talent alone is not good enough, as far as state title aspirations go. But that loss ended the season, and the Lady Bucs won’t be able to put into practice that lesson until a new season begins.

Johnson has already begun to see that gained experience take hold among Hoover’s four seniors this season. She said Skyla Knight, Joiya Maddox, Melanie Hall and Miya Kimber are playing with “more of a sense of urgency” as they lead the team.

“The seniors have gotten closer as a group and made a point to do that,” she said.

On the court, Hoover will look a little different this winter. The Lady Bucs lost four post players from last year’s squad, as Eboni Williams (Chattanooga), Jennifer Andrew (Montevallo) and Angela Grant (Faulkner) are all playing college basketball and Tori Hunter transferred to Spain Park.

That will force the Lady Bucs to play a more guard-heavy lineup this season, but Johnson was pleased with what she saw from her team in the summer as they adjusted to their new-look personnel.

“We’re fast, everybody can shoot and we didn’t have as many rebounding issues as we thought we would have. It forced everybody to step up,” Johnson said. “They know we lost a lot, so they’re stepping up to fill that void.”

The only true post player that the Lady Bucs will have is sophomore Rachel Hager, who practiced with the varsity team last season while playing with the junior varsity team. Hoover will attempt to surround Hager with proficient shooters.

“We’ll still be fast,” Johnson said. “We were fast last year. Everybody can shoot, everybody can handle the ball.”

Madison Adamson and Janae Hubbard are the two juniors on the roster, with Jada Knight and Hager the only sophomores. Ninth-grader Aniya Hubbard will be up with the varsity team this winter, as will Reniya Kelly, who Johnson said “doesn’t play like an eighth-grader.”

Hoover opens a tough schedule on Nov. 13, as the Lady Bucs host McAdory. They play several out-of-state teams throughout the campaign, along with reigning 7A champ Spain Park (twice), Wenonah and Madison Academy.