Erin Nelson
Hoover’s Ariana Peagler (14) dribbles the ball guarded by Prattville’s Macayla Hines (15) during an AHSAA Class 7A girls state semifinal game at Legacy Arena at the BJCC on Thursday, March 2, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
The journey to the four-peat has officially begun, although it will look a little different for the Hoover High School girls basketball team.
There is no more Aniya Hubbard or Reniya Kelly. They are both off playing Division I college basketball these days, after illustrious careers with the Lady Bucs.
Now, they give way to the likes of Khloe Ford and Kristen Winston, potentially two of the next star players for a proud program that has won the last three — and four of the last five — Class 7A titles.
“This group has never really had to blaze their own trail,” Hoover head coach Krystle Johnson said. “They’ve been role players or on JV. In an effort to have them create their own path, it’s the journey to the four-peat.”
Emphasis on the word “journey,” because that’s what Johnson expects this to be. The Lady Bucs will be by no means a finished product in the early months of the season, as this group of players is expected to grow and settle into roles.
“We have 12 people that at any moment could fill a role,” Johnson said. “We should be harder to scout because there’s not one person to stop.”
Ford and Winston are garnering college offers, and there’s also senior guard Ariana Peagler, the team’s lone returning starter. Kamryn Lee, Katie Ridgeway and Jillian Clark-Williamson are seniors in addition to Peagler. Lee and Peagler are no strangers to the big moments, but Ridgeway and Clark-Williamson will get their first significant taste of varsity ball this year.
“People look at what we lost, but these people were practicing against them every day,” Johnson said. “Jill had to guard Reniya five days a week. She’s not going to face anybody on another team better than Reniya. That’s the whole thing about being a program.”
Johnson hopes to see Ford, now a sophomore, have a breakout season. Ford now stands 6-foot-3, and Johnson noted her strong spring and summer AAU seasons.
Winston will be the first seventh grader to see the varsity floor for Hoover.
“You see her play and you’ll understand why,” Johnson said.
Sophomore Aaliyah Blanchard has grown several inches and expanded her game. Junior point guard Kaitlyn Gipson transferred to Hoover from Paul Bryant and will make an immediate impact, as she has already eclipsed 1,000 career points as a high school player. Nia Brown, Layla Cannon, Tatum English and Jaliyah Manuel are also on the varsity team.
“It may not be the names you know, but ones that people will soon find out,” Johnson said. “The name on the front of the jersey is still the same.”
Hoover has only lost nine games over the last five years. It will be tough to maintain that pace this winter, especially with the Lady Bucs playing teams like Bob Jones, Huffman and Hazel Green, in addition to several out-of-state teams.
The Lady Bucs will play in Class 7A, Area 5 with Thompson, Tuscaloosa County and Vestavia Hills.
“You can talk as much as you want and try to explain it to them, but until they do it themselves, they won’t understand how you have to play every night,” Johnson said.
