Lady Bucs relying on hidden stars to step up

Check back with Krystle Johnson at the season’s halfway mark.

By the end of the year, the Hoover High School girls basketball coach expects to know much more about her team than she did in early October, when she sat down to talk about the 2019-20 edition of the Lady Bucs, the defending Class 7A champions.

“I think we’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ll feel a lot better about them in January. I’m anticipating November and December to be challenging. But in January, I should feel a lot more confident in what I’m looking at.”

Johnson has no doubt that Hoover possesses the talent to be one of the state’s best teams once again. The problem lies in the lack of varsity experience on the roster, as the Lady Bucs have less than a handful of players that got significant minutes a season ago. And the ones that did get experience will be needed to take on much bigger roles this winter.

“We’ve got some stars, but they’ve been hiding behind the girls that left. I don’t think people realize they’re as good as they are,” Johnson said.

Hidden behind last year’s stars were players like Madison Adamson, Jada Knight, Aniya Hubbard and Reniya Kelly. They all contributed to last season’s success, but were not necessarily required to play at an elite level in order for Hoover to win.

“The summer was good for us, because those 25 games (we played) showed them this is not AAU, you do have to show up,” Johnson said. “Now it’s like you have to do it.”

Then there are players like Janae Hubbard and Rachel Hager, who have been around but were sidelined with injuries for portions of last season. Add in Kristen McMillan, a transfer from Spain Park, and that gives the Lady Bucs seven players with at least a measure of varsity experience.

Last year’s senior class didn’t have to look far for any motivation. After winning the 7A state championship in 2016-17, Hoover was knocked out in the regional tournament the following year. Making the defeat more disappointing was the fact the team lost just one game in the regular season before bowing out in the postseason.

That loss put last year’s team on a redemption tour, which it completed with a 47-33 win over Hewitt-Trussville in the state title game on March 2. Hoover won 34 games and lost just one, running away with double-digit victories in almost all of them.

But now the likes of Joiya Maddox, Miya Kimber, Melanie Hall and Skyla Knight have departed and are competing collegiately. Maddox signed with Rutgers, Kimber went to West Alabama and Knight is at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Hall is a track and field athlete at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa.

Campbell Hecklinski — one of three true guards along with Knight and Kelly — Olivia Johnigan and Haleigh Cephus are also on the roster. Johnson also mentioned Devon Davidson and Alicia Reyes as a pair of freshmen that could contribute to the varsity team at some point.

This year’s team will have to forge its own identity.

“Our team theme is nice-ty,” said Johnson, making up a word to describe her team. “We need them to be nice (and) nasty. They are the sweetest girls. But they’re easy to coach.”

Johnson said she also believes that following last year, there is a perception that the Lady Bucs won’t be as tough to beat this season.

“If I was them, I’d be disrespected,” she said. “People are definitely overlooking some of our players.”

The key for Hoover this season will be maturity, according to Johnson.

“All of them have had some type of adversity since they’ve been here, so I’m hoping that through that adversity, they’re already strong enough to withstand whatever adversity they face,” she said.

In the months of November and December, while Hoover is attempting to find that identity and jell together, the schedule is still tough. In those first two months, the Lady Bucs will play the likes of Huffman, Madison Academy, Ramsay, Hazel Green, Shades Valley, Spain Park, Wenonah and Hewitt-Trussville, along with a few tournaments.

But Johnson believes being tested early on will pay dividends once area play begins in January.

“We intentionally made the schedule hard because January and February is what matters,” she said. “If we’re losing games in November and December — no, we don’t want to lose them, we shouldn’t lose them — but I’m more focused on making sure we’re ready for January and February.”

Hoover begins the season on Nov. 14 at Huffman.