Haywood Wright

Steve Virgen

The future is now for Sage Hill High freshman Haywood Wright who

has been coming up big for the girls basketball team at the small

private school in Newport Coast. Wright, a 6-foot freshman center

with sound ball-handling skills, has been the key figure in the

Lightning’s 8-0 (?) start.

Last week, the soft-spoken hoops junkie led the Lightning to the

Fairmont Small Schools Classic championship. She was named Most

Valuable Player of the tournament after scoring 48 points in the

Lightning’s three wins, an average of 16 points per game.

The secret to her early-season success? Wright is a classic gym

rat. There’s hardly a week, rather a day, that goes without the

orange ball and hoop for Wright, a Laker fan at heart, yet someone

who would rather play than watch.

Wright plays basketball year round, competing for her club team in

the South County Lady Hoops program of South Irvine. Even though she

played volleyball this past fall, and is pondering to go out for the

Sage Hill softball team in the spring, Wright still finds time to

make her way to the basketball gym to return to the game she loves.

“I just like the running, the running while playing,” the Daily

Pilot Athlete of the Week said of basketball. “It’s an active sport.

You don’t run like that in volleyball. (Basketball is) just fun.”

Wright’s “ fun” comes on both ends of the court. Though she admits

her outside shot is not as good as she wants it to be, Wright is a

force inside the paint. Also on offense, Wright is like an extra

guard because she

dribbles so well. She’s one of the main reasons the Lightning can

break full-court pressure defenses consistently.

“Having a post player who is so tall and can bring the ball down

on her own, that helps so much,” Sage Hill Coach Shanna Renkin said

of Wright, who has obviously provided Lightning fans with excitement

for the future. “I want to her to bring the ball up the court

(against the press) because she is athletic.”

Wright has also gained a passion to have the ball in her hands on

offense, which has led to noteworthy aggressiveness, Renkin said.

“She goes after the ball like crazy,” the Sage Hill Coach said.

“She’s playing more aggressive lately and she attacking the basket.

She’s confident and she wants the ball in her hands.”

On defense, Wright frustrates the opposition, mainly because she

has just as strong as focus for defense as for offense. Actually,

Wright says defense is the strength of her game.

“Even though I’m big I’m pretty good at coming up on the guards,”

Wright said. “I can block their shots or I can just get my hands in

their face.”

In the Fairmont Small Schools Classic Wright had all facets of her

game working. She led her team to an easy 47-33 win over Buena Park

in the first round. She scored 13 points.

Then in the semifinals Wright stepped up her game, scoring 20

points and grabbing 12 rebounds in guiding the Lightning to a 51-29

win over Connelly.

She wrapped up tournament action with another double-double

performance, 15 points and 12 rebounds in Sage Hill’s 42-39

title-winning victory over Holy Martyrs.

For all the notoriety and praise Wright has received, she has been

quick to recognize and give credit to her teammates, including fellow

frontcourt standout Katie Puishys.

“It’s really been a great season, thus far,” Wright said. “Our

team is good and our team has the potential to do really well in our

league. It’s so cool to have all these wins. I hope it lasts, but I

know, eventually we’ll have to lose. But we’ll enjoy it while it

lasts.”