Houston girls try to make third-straight title game
The Houston girls basketball team knew it wouldn’t have as much offensive firepower as last year when it made the Class AAA state title game for the second year in a row.
All-time leading scorer Jayla Hemingway is now at Mississippi State, Madison Griggs just broke the freshman record for 3-pointers at Memphis, and Melisa Carter is averaging a doubledouble in junior college.
“We’re just a different team because we’re having to rely on some things other than just offense,” coach Ben Moore said. “We averaged 70 per game last year. We could kind of go out and feel like we could get into a rhythm offensively and be ready to roll. We’re having to really rely on some defense and some toughness and some intangibles.”
Despite averaging nearly 10 points less at 59.4, the Lady Mustangs are 14-3 with wins over Olive Branch, White Station and Collierville and first in District 15-AAA at 3-0. They’ve added a talented group of freshmen and returned one of the top players in the area in point guard Destinee Wells.
‘She’s a lot tougher than people know,” Moore said. “She’s an exceptional defender when she wants to be. She’s just smart and she knows what she has to do to win.”
Wells, the No. 86 senior basketball prospect in the nation according to ESPN, is averaging 17.6 points, 5.6 assists and 2.4 steals. The 5-foot-6 senior’s scoring average is 5.4 points higher than last year.
“This year having a lot of freshmen I knew I had to step it up with my leadership, and I just love it because I know it’s going to help me at the next level,” said Wells.
The four-year starter passed the 1,000-point mark last February. She scored 25 points in Houston’s doubleovertime semifinal win over three-time defending champ Riverdale.
She signed with Belmont in November.
“I think it was just a good fit for me all the way around,” Wells said. “They have a really good academic program and they have a really good basketball team. I love the coaches and the atmosphere, and they have a really beautiful campus, so it just had everything that I was looking for.”
Wells said she’s working on getting her shot release quicker and beating her defender off the dribble so she can create scoring opportunities for her teammates.
““I like to create for my teammates, like drive and kick out and everything,” Wells said.
“So I know in college there’s going to be help defense. So I’m focusing on being able to beat one man and knowing when the help comes to look for the next pass.”
Her younger sister Brittani is a freshman guard who is averaging 4.2 points. Wells said this is the first time they’ve played on the same team in awhile but that they compete against each other regularly.
“At home in the backyard that’s all we do is play one-on-one. She’s closing the gap a little bit but she’s not all the way. I still got her,” Wells said.