By Gene Schallenberg
Staff Reporter
HUNTSVILLE — It was a season of firsts for the New Waverly girls basketball team.
After eking into the playoffs in the final game of the regular season, the Lady Bulldogs had quite a memorable playoff run.
New Waverly defeated Hardin in the regional quarterfinals to advance to its first regional tournament.
The Lady Dogs didn’t stop there and rolled into the Region III championship game where Leon dashed their hopes of reaching their first state tournament.
“It really was an amazing year,” New Waverly head coach Eldridge McAdams said Monday afternoon. “When you don’t think something’s going to happen, it does.
“We played with our backs against the wall at the end of the season. After a rough first round, we started clicking and it couldn’t have come at a better time. We were just a few minutes away from state.
“It was bittersweet at the end. It was sweet because the girls had gone further than any other Lady Dogs team had before. It was bitter because you saw how disappointed they were when it was over.”
Helping to get New Waverly on the brink of its first state tournament appearance was junior guard Kayla Williams.
Williams, who averaged more than 20 points a game, not only was the District 21-2A Offensive Most Valuable Player, but also garnered all-region and all-state recognition as well.
“Kayla was the backbone of our team from start to finish,” McAdams said. “She was great to be around. She was a great leader and led by her actions. The girls followed her.
“She’s the first girl I had that was all-state. It’s like icing on the cake.”
Another reason the Lady Dogs advanced as far as they did was the play of sophomore guard Myeisha Williams, who averaged 18 points per game. Myeisha Williams was named to the all-district first team and along with Kayla Williams, was selected to the all-region team.
“Myeisha did a great job,” McAdams said. “She was a great counterpart to Kayla. She’s a sophomore and still learning. She’s good to have because she hustles and plays good defense. With her and Kayla, we had a good combination.”
Also picking up all-district honors was junior post Jai Cleveland, who was a second-team selection. Cleveland scored 7.5 points, snagged 8.3 boards and averaged 3 blocks a game.
“Jai had a real good year,” McAdams said. “She got a lot of rebounds and blocks. I was hoping that she’d get on the first team.”
Shelby Nunez, Whitney McCullough and Alex Abbott picked up honorable mentions. McCullough and Abbott were also on the academic all-district team.
Trinity guard Shambrail Woods was the District 21-2A Most Valuable Player. Centerville’s Brittany Thomas was the district’s defensive player of the year and Trinity head coach, Jozette Jenkins, was the league’s coach of the year.
