Nicholas County Girls
Nicholas County Girls
Grizzlies have grit , look of a memorable squad
By Dave Morrison for the register-herald
Nicholas County girls coach Kam Hornsby well remembers the last time the Lady Grizzlies made a trip to the state tournament .
He was there , back in 2013 , and was a junior at Nicholas County .
Hornsby sees a lot of similarities between that team , which advanced to the Class AA semifinals , went 21-4 and featured notable players like Shealyn Shafer and Lauren Young .
“ My team has a lot of grit , and that team was the same way , a lot of grit ,” Hornsby said . “ And these kids don ’ t like to lose . Nobody likes to lose , but when these kids lose , they get in the gym the next day and they get to work , and they want to correct the mistakes they made .
“ I ’ m not saying we can do the things that team did , but that is just the belief I have in this team and in these girls .”
If the 2013 team had Shafer and Young , the 2024 version has Adrienne Truman and Olivia Stone .
Truman , a cross country runner , is the straw that stirs the Grizzlies drink . Last season , the 5-foot-7 senior averaged 16.7 points per game , 7.1 rebounds and 4.4 steals for Nicholas County , which finished the season 9-9 .
“ She has continued to grow ( over her career ) as a basketball player ,” Hornsby said . “ She is going to make us go . She is a prolific scorer . And she is going to draw a lot of attention . And that is going to open up things for some of our other players .”
One of those is Stone , who is a returning double-figure scorer from last season .
Jenny Harnish / The Register-Herald
Nicholas County ’ s Adrienne Truman , right , tries to get around Summers County ’ s Avery Lilly during the game in Hinton .
“ She is another of our seniors and I have coached her since the sixth grade and in the summer with my sister ,” Hornsby said . “ Olivia stepped up for us last year . She has worked hard in the offseason . I expect Olivia to have a big year for us .”
Madison Coffman , a 5-8 junior , is another returning player .
“ She is a defensive machine for me ,” Hornsby said . “ She plays at the top of our 1-3-1 and is at the head of our press and she always gives 110 percent . She gets to the rim , too . She has great post moves to start with , but I feel like she has found her touch this season .”
Tateny Mylott will have a bigger role on this year ’ s team and Hornby said she reminds him of someone else he knows .
“ She ’ s hard-headed and stubborn , like her coach ,” Hornsby said , laughing . “ She refuses to give up a basket . She ’ s always diving on the floor , and she is always going 100 miles per hour . She is a great player to have to let the other players see how that , while we might not be the most talented team on the court , in any given game there are things you can do to make up for it . Just a great player for us .”
Freshman Taylor White got some run with the varsity team last year and will be counted on more this season .
“ She got some time here and there and did put in a whole lot of work in the offseason ,” Hornsby said . “ She is one of the most unselfish players I have had . I ’ ve told her 10 , 20 , 25 times if you have the open shot , take it .”
Miah Jones will play in the post as a backup to Coffman and Brooklyn Nunley will be the first guard off the bench .
Addison Truman , sister of Adrienne Truman , and Kamryn Dorsey will also see time off the bench for the Grizzlies .
Nicholas County lost five seniors from last season ’ s squad .
But Hornsby believes an offseason of hard work is going to make a difference .
“ The girls played in the Beckley Summer League and at West Virginia State ( Hornsby ’ s alma mater , where he was a graduate assistant with both the men ’ s and women ’ s basketball programs ). I ’ m proud of how hard these girls have worked .”
Now a smaller Class AAA school , Hornsby nevertheless feels like his team will compete .
“ It is what it is ,” Hornsby said . “ I still think we are going to be able to compete and make a run . How far , I don ’ t know . But like I said , I believe these girls can go as far as they want to go .”
WV SOUTH BASKETBALL • 31