As a freshman guard coming in from middle, I was behind two starting Varsity sophomore stars, Kecia and Erica. My mom told me the best thing to do was just play Junior Varsity, although I didn’t want to..I did anyway.
I was considered a “swing player” along with two other sophomore girls, Jalessea and Angel. We accepted our role and helped the Junior Varsity basketball team get its first win of the season. We could never attend the post-game talk because we would have to dress for the Varsity game which was right after our game.
After about three more games as a Junior Varsity player, Coach McClure told the team that I was no longer a “swing player”, I was a full time Varsity player. My wish had been granted, I was a freshman on Varsity!!! Many players thought I would just ride the bench but I worked so hard in each practice to make sure I gained at least a minute on the court. My hard work paid off and I was getting ready for my first game as a Varsity player up until I lost my great grandmother. Now I had not only lost a loved one but couldn’t attend the seasonal opener vs. South Cobb. Coach McClure comforted me and told me don’t worry about basketball until I returned from the tragedy my family and I faced. I came back for the third game and Coach McClure told me to use my skills to keep or extend the lead and intensity; I was now 6th man and accepted that role and managed to do what I could in each game.
March 3, 2009 was my birthday and also a state playoff game for us vs. the Mceachern Indians, my rivals since middle school. I was able to come off the bench with a much needed spark for the team. I had a career high 16 points and was 10-10 from the free throw line; most importantly we were able to advance to the next round. “Freshman, Baylee Hawkins, led the Lady Spartans to the sweet sixteen” was the opening story of the Marietta Daily Journal for the next week and I also won Cobb County Player of the week. My hard work as a freshman was finally getting exposed to the media. Although we didn’t make it to the state championship, we were able to extend our history for a consecutive elite 8 appearance.
After the season ended I suffered a major ACL injury and now my career was on hold. How could this happen now? Right when everything was finally coming together, my world comes crashing down.
We lost three seniors, so roles changed for everyone as the next season begun. I was now seeking more playing time and working even harder to help my team work towards a state championship, which was everyone’s dream.
As a sophomore I made mistakes but this mistake cost me and my team. My teammate, Angel, and I had gotten into an altercation with our opponent on the court and suffered a two game suspension which managed to be the two biggest games of the season. My coaching staff was disappointed in us and more so we were disappointed in our selves. How could we let our team down like this? My mind raced and tears fell as I thought about my mistake. Our team wasn’t able to defend the Marietta Devils but was able to overcome the loss of Angel and me and win against Stevenson. A lesson taught to us all; don’t let an opponent take you out your game.
The season continued and we were able to qualify for state yet another year. Advancing on to the Elite 8, we once again came up short. This one was tough because the score was so close and we were losing two important seniors, Monica and Andreya.
On to my junior season and a change has been made, we lost a starter, Brittany, because she decided to transfer to Mceachern. Now my role has expanded to a starting guard along with the “swing players” my freshman year, Angel and Jaleassea, and the four year starters, Kecia and Erica. Such a small starting five but our work ethic was different this season compared to the past. We came on the court and played with such passion and heart. Was it because Brittany left us or was it because we wanted a state championship?
Whichever it was, we were able to qualify for state and win region on MCEACHERNS COURT.
Now we were a top seed and had a good chance of seeing a cobb county team in the elite 8..if we made it that far. The hard work got us there and now we had to face North Cobb, a team we lost to two times in the season. Would the paper read “The third times a charm for Campbell” or would it read “Campbell came up short…once again”.
Our team wanted to win so bad that we studied and studied different film. We even came up with a new defense just for North Cobb and that defense involved me guarding their best player and everyone else playing a zone. Not to mention that their best player had at least six inches on me. Could I face this challenge? I had to because I wanted a ring and our team deserved it. During the game we lost a key starter, Kecia, to an ankle injury. What to do now? She was our leading scorer! “There is no I in TEAM” and our team overcame the loss of Kecia and advanced to the final four, the first time in school history!!!
To the Gwinnet center was our next stop to play the team who defeated us the previous season and the defending state champs, Norcross. A step closer to that ring and a step closer to a state championship, now it’s really GAMETIME! Such a tough game that came to the very end, we failed and I couldn’t believe we came this far to not win it all. How could this be??? What did we do wrong???
The heart and the soul of the team, Kecia, Erica, Angel, and Jalessea, were now moving on with their life and my senior year was approaching I am the only returning starter. The Marietta Daily Journal Newspapers opening story was a picture of me explaining how I am the only key returner left. The talk of Cobb County was now “Campbell Basketball”. My minds racing and I’m worried about the season.
Coach McClure told me this was MY team and I needed to work hard to lead this team back to state for the 12th consecutive year. I wanted to work my hardest to at least do that for him because he did deserve that and more.
A couple tough losses and bumps and bruises, the season began to become a little rocky for our team. Games that were usually blowouts weren’t blowouts anymore and I wasn’t getting as many breaks I did like the season before. I started comparing everything to the season before and begun to become depressed. I cried and cried because I just wanted to win and we weren’t.
I didn’t give up and led my team to 4th place in the region. We now only had to win ONE game to get to state and this meant a lot to me. Harrison was our opponent and we blew them out and had a game winner during the season against them. However, that all didn’t matter because our season could end of ONE loss. I couldn’t let it happen like that.
The game was very intense and tough and at the end we came up short and didn’t qualify for state. How did we go from the final four to now not going to state? Did I not work hard enough or was my heart not in it enough? I let my team down, I let my coach down, and most importantly I let myself down. It was such a hard thing to take in but reality had set, my season had ended a tad bit early.
With my journey being so long and full of great memories, it had now extended and I was offered a basketball scholarship to Morris College in SC. All the sacrificing, blood, sweat, tears, and pain has now paid off and I plan to work even harder to win state championship at the collegiate level.