Christoval’s Hughes Named San Angelo LIVE!’s Girls Hoops MVP

CHRISTOVAL, TX — After elevating her game and lifting Christoval to among the best teams in the state, Halle Hughes has been named this year’s MVP of San Angelo LIVE!’s All-Star Girls Hoops Team.

Hughes, who has signed to play at Angelo State University, took on a new role as Christoval’s point guard her senior season.

The 5-foot-10 Hughes filled up the stat sheet with 16.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.5 steals per game, and she often guarded the opposing team's best player.

She helped Christoval put together a record of 28-8 and defend its district title. The Lady Cougars took down No. 5-ranked Whiteface in the area round of the playoffs and nearly upset No. 3 Farwell in the regional semifinals.

Christoval head coach Brad Blalock said the Lady Cougars were able to reach new heights because of the way Hughes embraced playing a new position.

“We really felt this season that to be even more successful than we were last year, we needed to move her to the point guard spot, and she developed a whole new set of skills,” Blalock said. “She led us in points, steals, assists, rebounding. … So teams had to game plan for her in a lot of different ways. 

“She’s meant a lot to this program. You get to coach one like that once or twice in your lifetime.”

Hughes nearly helped Christoval topple a Farwell team that has ended the Lady Cougars’ season the last two years.

Christoval had a six-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Farwell was able to rally for a 50-47 win. Farwell went on to reach the state final.

“Obviously, we wanted to win state, so I don’t feel good about it,” Hughes said. “But being that close to the runner-up at state was pretty cool.

“Not being ranked all year and us doing that, it kind of proved something.”

Looking forward to college, Hughes’ goals are essentially the same.

“To just keep getting better and win a national championship,” she said.

Blalock said having Hughes play at the next level — and so close to home — is a blessing.

“She’s got a lot of little kids that look up to her,” Blalock said. “She’s playing at the second-highest level that you can in college, so it’s a neat deal. It shows our kids what you can accomplish and that hard work pays off.”