All-Bi-City basketball: Runner-up finish and future stars

Arguably no team in the area can match its season against what the Central boys basketball team did. It went 32-2 and finished as the Class 7A state runner-up in Alabama, falling just four points short of its first ever state title.

That’s why the Red Devils coach, Bobby Wright, and top player, Tre Todd, were named the Ledger-Enquirer All-Bi-City boys coach and player of the year.

Of course, Carver girls coach Anson Hundley and Columbus junior Tatyana Wyatt should feel pretty good about their seasons, too. Hundley led Carver to a 24-5 record and a spotless mark in Region 1-5A play during the regular season. Wyatt averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds per game to lead the Lady Blue Devils to a 23-6 record and a trip to the state quarterfinals.

For their efforts, they’re the girls coach and player of the year.

It’s impressive to consider how far each of these individuals has come over their careers, some short and some very long.

Take Todd for example. Four years ago, he wouldn’t even consider himself a “basketball player.” Football was his favorite sport, the one he thought he’d have great success at and play at the next level.

But then he picked up a basketball, and everything changed. It was about his sophomore year that he started putting in what he described as “countless hours” at improving his game. Now, he carries a ball with him wherever he goes, and the results on the court show it. He averaged 16.1 points this season to lead the Red Devils but made his presence most known in the big moments. Time and again down the stretch, he put the ball in his own hands at the end of games.

“I always told myself that if I go down, I can take the blame for it,” he said, describing why he wanted the ball.

Wright said it was more that he’s just a big-time player.

“Big-time players make big-time plays in big ballgames,” Wright said.

Wright’s contribution to the team, of course, can’t be understated. In his long history as Central’s head coach he’s had two near misses, including this season’s, at a state championship. Despite falling short, he said he wouldn’t trade the season for anything.

“It was just tremendous,” he said. “At the end of it all, there’s only going to be one truly happy coach and one truly happy team. But I’m just really proud of my team and my guys. I thought, man, they had one spectacular season.”

A state championship is something the Columbus girls feel they can accomplish next season with the roster they have coming back. That will include Wyatt, who took on a leadership role for the junior-laden squad this season.

Wyatt has always been a key contributor on the team, but felt different coming into this year no longer being an underclassmen.

“Mainly, becoming that leader that I need to be because we had no seniors,” she said. “At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know,’ because I was an underclassmen.”

But then she handled it spectacularly, leading Columbus through an at-times challenging season. The Blue Devils battled back from a second-place regular-season region finish to win the region tournament and advance to the state quarterfinals. Next year, Wyatt knows the team’s aspirations.

“We need to go to state,” she said. “And I need to develop my skills better so we can get there.”

One team standing in her way will be Carver, which proved to be the peskiest foe of all for Columbus this year. Hundley’s Lady Tigers ran the table in region play in the regular season before falling just short of Columbus in the region tournament.

The primary reason was Hundley’s aggressive style.

“Ultimately, we’re small,” he said. “We’re just a small bunch of girls, so we have to do a lot of stuff to frustrate people. We have to press the ball, we have to be on the ball. We can’t sit back and let big girls come down and post us up. We try to get the ball before they can get the ball to them.”

And for most of the year, Carver was successful. Now, Hundley is preaching to his program that it is time to build on what they’ve established.

“That was a big deal,” he said of the success this season. “That was what we talked about over the summer and in all the things we were doing, just finalizing what we’ve been working on. Now, it’s improving the standard that these girls have set.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "All-Bi-City basketball: Runner-up finish and future stars."