Season ends for Calhoun women
HUNTSVILLE — Calhoun women’s basketball coach Candace Byrd-Vinson saw Thursday what she wants the future for her program to look like.
Unfortunately it was the team her Warhawks were playing in the state tournament semifinals.
The Shelton State Bucs, ranked No. 13 in the country, ended Calhoun’s season with an 89-35 win to advance to today’s final vs. Wallace-Hanceville at 4 p.m.
“They are an impressive team,” Byrd-Vinson said, “but I told our girls we have nothing to hang our heads about. The last game doesn’t take away what this team has accomplished.”
Calhoun’s program was shut down in 2001. It was a build-from-scratch season for the Warhawks.
Sometimes beating the same team three times in one season can be tricky. It wasn’t tricky for Shelton State. The Bucs have won the Alabama Community College Conference tournament seven straight times and 15 of the last 17 times.
Shelton State (29-3) had earlier wins over Calhoun of 88-31 and 84-41. The Bucs had scored over 100 points in seven conference games this season. They have scored over 90 in four other conference games.
Calhoun (17-12) had four players with six points each, Kesiah Rogers (Sparkman), Tashanti Watkins (Austin), Jortaysia West (Anniston) and Kennedi Hawkins (Florence).
On the bright side for the Warhawks, the program loses just one player, Kyndall Crutcher (Athens) to graduation. The teams’ top two scorers in Hawkins and Watkins can return.
“I don’t know if everybody that can return will be back,” Byrd-Vinson said. “That’s something they have to decide.
“I do know that to compete with teams like Bishop and Shelton State we have to get taller and stronger. That’s what it will take to get the program where we want to be. I’m excited about the future. This first season was an amazing success. Now we can work to take the next step.”
