Hammond Steps Up

Gentry Senior Does All She Can To Extend Season

Gentry’s Shelby Hammond shoots a free throw during the Lady Pioneers’ game Feb. 13 against Lincoln in Gentry.
Gentry’s Shelby Hammond shoots a free throw during the Lady Pioneers’ game Feb. 13 against Lincoln in Gentry.

— Shelby Hammond could see her season and basketball career coming to an end. Gravette held a seven point lead on Gentry with about four minutes left in the 4A-1 District Tournament game.

But the 5-foot-8 senior took matters into her own hands.

She hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then got a steal off the fullcourt press and scored to give the Lady Pioneers their first lead of the game.

Gentry, which finished sixth in the conference, went on to win that game and then knocked off Lincoln, a team it had lost to by more than 20 points a week earlier, to earn a regional tournament berth. The Lady Pioneers (11-16) will be the No. 4 seed from the 4A-1 and take on 4A-4 tournament champion Dover tonight at 7 in the 4A North regional tournament at Maumelle.

“I just decided I was not going to lose,” Hammond said of her late-game fl urry against Gravette.

Gentry coach Tim Rippy said he watched Hammond become a more confident player as the season progressed.

“I think the biggest thing she’s done is in the second half of conference play, she’s willing to shoot the basketball when she’s open,” Rippy said. “We just explained it to her. What have we got to lose? If you’re open, you’ve got to take shots for us.

The results have been positive with a handful of games scoring in double figures.

“She’s hit some big shots for us,” Rippy said. “One thing, we put in a set play or two for her midway through the season and the first night we put it in, she hit four 3s.

“Maybe that gave her a little confidence. It’s like ‘maybe they do want me to shoot the ball if they put in a play for me.’”

But Rippy and even Hammond agreed she took quite a bit of prodding early on. But she decided it was up to her.

“I knew that someone had to do it and I decided to step up,” Hammond said.

As her confidence has grown, Hammond has become more than just a perimeter shooter.

The Lady Pioneers don’t have a true post player, so Hammond fills that role admirably, too, Rippy said.

“If she has the right matchup, she’s good at posting up and finishing,’ Rippy said. “She’s got a good drop-step move both ways. And we’ve had games where she scores inside early and it’s easier for us to set screens and get her open on the perimeter.”

Since she’s become more of an offensive threat, she has also seen her assists increase.

“She can fake, drive and kick it for somebody else, She become a more complete player.”

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