WALL, TX -- Last year, the Wall Lady Hawks looked to have all the makings of a championship contender. They had a solid nucleus of players return from their regional final run and things looked up for the Lady Hawks.
Yet, the then third-ranked Lady Hawks had their season cut short in the third round following a 42-37 loss to Lubbock Roosevelt in double overtime. That set the now top-ranked Lady Hawks on a sort of revenge tour, with the state tournament hopefully the final stop.
“I think last year was such a shock to people because, all year, everyone was saying ‘Wall’s no. 1. Wall’s the most athletic. Wall can shoot. Wall can do all this stuff,” said senior Abby Alexander. “So, I think everyone just had their hopes up and had those expectations. We didn’t meet them.”
During the 2018 offseason, the Lady Hawks had to live with that five-point loss whether it was breaking out a huddle by yelling the score or other reminders.
That’s fueled Wall’s dominance in a season where their only loss came at the hands of 16th-ranked Allen, a 6A program. Along the way, Wall has faced top 25-ranked teams across all classifications and has come away with their 30-1 record and a 22-game winning streak following that Allen loss.
That success in 2019 has come from veteran leaders like Alexander, Sawyer Lloyd, Jayden Fiebiger and Sam Rocha acting as coaches on the floor, making the job easier for Tate Lombard, who comes from a historic coaching lineage.
“I think they’re more mature,” Lombard said of his seniors. “That happens. A lot of our girls have been around for three or four years. Whenever you see the maturity level get stronger year in and year out, they’re more experienced and they kinda know how to play the game. When they do that, you don’t have to do as much as a coach. You let them figure it out kinda on the fly. These kids have done a great job of that.”
Having that experience has led to a multitude of things for the Lady Hawks, including young players buying into the philosophy and their roles which has also led to a deep roster.
For example, sophomore post Kaitlyn Stephens was called up to varsity late in the regular season. During Wall’s 53-41 win over no. 20 Canadian last week, Stephens was forced into action after Wall’s Fiebiger and Haley Palmore got into foul trouble. The sophomore seamlessly adjusted on the court and scored a team-high 12 points in the win.
“We’ve had a lot of balance. I think that’s one of the best things because we’ve been able to score in a lot of different ways,” Lombard said. “A lot of teams see us and try to take away our post game because we have a lot of good post players. The last few games, we’ve shot the ball well. So, it’s made it a challenge for the defense to kinda figure out the best way to guard.
“That’s a credit to our kids working on their shooting, their individual development, to where we take what the defense gives us and we still feel confident performing however we need to.”
Even in district games, where they won by an average of 51.1 points, Wall never let up. That stems from not wanting to be complacent after last year’s loss.
“I think the coaches thought that, we thought that because, last year, our biggest mistake was letting up on the little things,” Alexander said. “We ran our offense and stuff, but we weren’t doing the little things right, like making the right passes and the right choices. So, I think this year we put so much effort into doing every little thing right and not letting up on anything because we don’t want the same thing to happen as last year.”
“That’s been the changing point,” Lloyd added, “because we never let down, we never back down. We want to keep our foot on the gas pedal and never let up to never give them a chance to comeback.
But probably their biggest win of the year came on Tuesday in Lamesa, when Wall edged out no. 8 Shallowater 47-43 in the same round they lost in last year.
“Just thinking about last year and how we didn’t get over this hump to make it to the regional tournament, I think it set our standards high just because we want to be there again,” Lloyd said. “We want to achieve what we have in the past. So, it was really big that we did that. It was exciting.”
Now the Lady Hawks get a familiar foe in Brock, the team they beat in 2014 and 2016 to win state. Getting a rematch like that is exciting for seniors like Alexander and Lloyd who featured on the 2016 state teams.
“I’m very excited. Last year, we were hoping to meet them, but didn’t get the chance because we lost so early,” Lloyd said. “I’m excited because Brock’s an awesome team. We hear about them all the time.”
The only change Alexander would make to the regional semifinal would be to play their regional rival for a state championship, like 2016, because of what typically rides on the Brock-Wall games in all sports.
Other than that, Alexander welcomes the challenge.
“I remember in 2016, their coach was wearing all five rings. They had the roman numeral on their shirt,” said Alexander, who was a freshman that year. “They were so confident they were going to win even though we beat them in 2014 … After that game, me and Sawyer were just ready to beat them every year after that.”
But a win against a storied Brock program will not bring calmer water for Wall. Region I is where a state champion could be decided with no. 3 Idalou and no. 6 Jim Ned battling it out in the other regional semifinal.
To get out of the region, Wall needs to stick to their roles and be themself, Alexander says. Winning the region could also send Wall’s confidence soaring according to Lombard.
“It’d give you a ton of confidence,” Lombard said. “The last two games beating Canadian and Shallowater, those are two perennial powers in the Panhandle. To have wins over those programs and those coaches are a great mark for our program. We hope that we have two more ahead of us. We know that Friday is the most important game of the season. So, we’re excited for that.”
Wall faces Brock at 6:00 p.m. at Wayland Baptist University’s Hutcherson Center.
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