Unselfishness leads Qua Hines to PrepXtra Player of the Year
It is rare that a coach ever has to demand a player to be more selfish, but from time to time this season Gatlinburg-Pittman girls basketball coach Katie Moore had to try and get that out of Qua Hines.
Anybody who saw the Lady Highlander’s senior guard play knew she was capable of scoring 20-plus a night, but that is not Hines' style. She would much rather distribute the wealth.
“It just shows you that she is a great teammate,” Moore said. “She sees the floor well, and there many times when I’m yelling at her, ‘Qua, you have to look to score,’ but she is always looking to give somebody else the credit. She just brought a lot to the floor.”
Everything Hines brought to the floor led to her being named the 2016-17 PrepXtra Girls Basketball Player of the Year after a season in which she averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.
“It means a lot to me because I’ve worked hard all year to become Player of the Year,” Hines said.
That work paid off not only for Hines, but for the Lady Highlanders as well.
After falling in the Class AA sectionals two consecutive years, Gatlinburg-Pittman finally got over the hump, defeating Greeneville to clinch the program’s first berth in the state tournament. Once they got there, they erased a five-point deficit late in the fourth quarter and beat Westview in overtime to reach the semifinals, the furthest any school from the area made it.
All of that came months after so much had been taken away from the community in lieu of the wildfires that ravaged the area. During that run, the Lady Highlanders were playing for much more than a gold-ball trophy.
“It was a rough time for the community, and we just felt like we had to give something back to them,” Hines said. “It felt good to have our community come out and support and give them hope and something to cheer on.”
No player was as crucial to that hope than Hines, as she scored, passed, rebounded and defended throughout the best season in program history.
All of that talent will now be housed at Lincoln Memorial, where Hines signed to continue her career back in November.
“As long as she gets in the gym and continues to work as hard as she has in high school, she’ll be great for LMU’s program,” Moore said. “I’m very familiar with them and I think she can definitely go there and do somethings next year as a freshman for them.”
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