When the Wayne County Lady Yellow Jackets finished last season, head coach Kala Hires would have been overjoyed to know that her girls would make history for the Wayne County high school girls’ basketball program with a trip to the Final Four. Hires would have been happy, but not necessarily surprised.
“This season has definitely been one to remember, for not only our team, but our community,” Coach Hires said. “From the very beginning, I was fortunate enough to have a group of girls I did not have to beg to get in the gym and work, and I very rarely had any miss practices, including in the summer. It seems as though everything began to click for us over Christmas break, and when we came back to the second half of our season we hit the ground running and never looked back,” Hires said.
Wayne had to battle injuries this season but kept pushing through and at the end of the regular season the Lady Yellow Jackets grabbed the 4A-AAAA region title.
“I knew that our defense had become so sound that we would be able to compete with the top teams in the state. With this being said, I can’t really remember a point when I thought past the next game we had. We played some really good teams along the way that could have gone either way so I was just grateful to get to each step as we won the next game,” Hires said.
Finishing 12-0 in region play during the season, the Lady Yellow Jackets defeated Burke for a second time, 57-47, claiming the region title and establishing home court advantage for GHSA AAAA State Playoffs. Wayne had to play hard and adjust to different styles of basketball but once the tournament play opened the Lady Jackets rolled. A 38-35 win against West Laurens led to a second round game against North Whitfield. Again the Wayne County Yellow Jackets continued to use the defense that had helped them dominate this season, to win, 42-38. The Lady Yellow Jackets got past Bainbridge with a little more breathing room, 47-38, which gave them a berth into the Final Four. “The girls were hyped as we ended each game with a win. They knew that each game won they were making school history and there were definitely points when we had to look back and realize that we had actually made it as far as we had,” Hires said.
Wayne would face Veterans High School from Warner Robbins, Georgia. Veterans has gone from a one win season in its first year of existence in 2010 to a 30-2 season last year including a 43-42 loss to Carrolton in the Final Four.
If you could put the Wayne season into one game, the Final Four game against Veterans. No doubt the Lady Warhawks understood the heartbreak of a close loss to go the state championship game. Nothing went right for the Lady Yellow Jackets in the first half but coming out of the locker room, Wayne seized control and outscored Veterans 19-7 in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Lady Yellow Jackets pulled to within two points, 26-24, under a minute left in the game but Veterans clung to its lead fueled by a pair of free throws in the final 40 seconds.
“I was very proud of the effort our team put in against veterans in the second half. We went in to the locker room at half time only scoring 3 points. I think that was when I realized the moment may have gotten a little too big for them and we needed to figure out a way to get the girls back in the game. They came out on fire and ready to play. We lost by four points, but i was so proud of the grit they had when they didn’t just give up. they held a state championship team to 28 points, and while we came up short, that was nothing to be ashamed of,” Hires said.
This season is going to give the momentum to continue to work hard to get better every year.
“Making it to the final four this season was such a pivotal moment for our program and I already have girls ready to go back to work to try and get their again. The support from the school and the community made the girls want to work even harder to make them proud and I think that those returning players know they have big shoes to fill so that we can get back again. I cannot imagine any other team having the support we had from our administration, AD, and community. I still am having people I’ve never seen before come and tell me they were pulling for us. They are a big reason we had such a successful season and I am excited to see what our future holds,” Hires said.
SE-SP-3.16-WayneGirlsbasketball
Lady Yellow Jackets Make History with AAAA Final Four Trip
By John Wood
