Hi-Liners: From Then To Now Series... Sam Hatcher: “Quiet confidence with a splash of humility”
It all started because she tagged along with her sister, but for those of us that have had a chance to watch Samantha Hatcher play basketball, we are grateful she did tag along, and then stuck with it. But it wasn’t basketball she was going to do first. She started out with gymnastics and there again, it sisterly influence that got her into the gym.
“Sam started with gymnastics in V.C. when we moved here from Minot,” Phil Hatcher, Sam’s dad remembered. “Alyssa (middle sister) was involved so Sam decided she wanted to try it out. We even ended up with CC (oldest sister) trying it out for a year in junior high. I don’t know if she just didn’t want to go to gymnastics anymore, or just found that basketball was more her (Sam’s) sport, so we didn’t sign her up again.”
So Sam tried gymnastics, it didn’t stick. She then went to basketball. A couple of years after she started basketball, volleyball came into the picture. Again with volleyball, a chance to play with sister Alyssa was a big part of why she played and why she enjoyed it. So which is her favorite, sport not. “Sport wise and playing I think I liked volleyball because I started it later on,” Samantha said. “I started that in fifth grade. So I love volleyball, my sister played it so we could play it together.” Hatcher continued, “But team wise, I definitely like basketball better because I grew up playing with those girls and we’re all so close.”
So you could say, Sam started basketball because of her sister, then found a whole new group of sisters. “Sam always followed Alyssa into whatever she was doing, Phil said. “Alyssa did the VCPR rec league basketball, so when Sam was old enough she started as well. While at those games, Kim and Kevin Eggermont talked about putting together a traveling team and Sam was invited. I think they started around 4th grade with quite a few girls and now as seniors there was only four left, (Carly, Brooke, Sam, and Faith) plus Greta Goven, as she couldn’t find a traveling team so we took her on even though she was two years younger. In between rec league, traveling teams and school leagues we were pretty busy.” It was like that for volleyball as well the elder Hatcher said. “Once again, following Alyssa into the rec leagues, then J.O. traveling teams, then school leagues. Laura (Sam’s mom) even started coaching the different teams and kids through the younger years. “We would spend every weekend going to tournaments. Our combined Barnes County and Lisbon schools team
made a pretty potent winning combination back then.” She continued, “Depending on the season, would dictate what was being played in the driveway at the Hatcher household. And this was not just seasonal, it was year-round. When it was basketball season, the hoop was in high use. When it was volleyball season, serving on to the roof then digging the ball before it hit the concrete. Then back to basketball, then back to JO volleyball.” When Sam was a freshmen, The Hatcher’s were hoping she may get into one game to get a chance to play with sister Alyssa who was a senior, but that never transpired. But the next year, Sam went from coming off the bench to being a starter and helped that team reach the state tournament.
Fast forward to senior year, the volleyball team struggled and lost to West Fargo Horace in the play-in match in a hard fought five setter. During the basketball season, Sam found herself in an out of the lineup because of various injuries and illnesses, especially towards the end of the season. The team was coming off an impressive win over Fargo South, it was the third win in a five game stretch for the Hi-Liners who were hoping to host a play-in game. Then on senior night, Valley City played Grand Forks Red River who was ranked third in the state. The senior boys and
girls were honored in between games. Then came warm-ups, Hatcher injured her ankle during warmups and had to sit out the game. Add to that an issue with her tonsils and Hatcher missed the last two games of the regular season. She did get a chance to play in the play-in game and, like volleyball, West Fargo Horace ended the Hi-Liners season. And no one felt worse about the situation than Sam. “Oh my goodness yeah, I was really hard on myself about that,” Hatcher said. “Hurting my ankle that was really hard, on senior night, and I did that during warmups. Just a weird season and it stinks because it was my senior season.” It was equally hard for mom and dad to. “The senior night basketball experience was pretty sad. We were coming off a game that the team completely gelled and their improvement was shining. Of course, Sam is just a small part of any improvement but we were really looking at seeing what we could do against one of the best teams in the state that night. Our son Tyshaun had played in his first Lil’ Liners basketball game inside the HAC during the boy’s game halftime just prior and we knew it would be the last time we would likely see Sam play at the HAC.” Phil says.
Speaking of Tyshaun, when he joined the family, Sam got a chance to be a big sister, something she always wanted. “I definitely have always wanted a little sibling so when it happened I was so happy.
Last year, I went through some mental stuff, and without him, I don’t think things would have gone as well as they did because I got to go home and enjoy being with him and forget all the other stuff.” I think it is safe to say family is a big part of Samantha Hatcher. Lori McKenna wrote a song that was recorded by Tim McGraw called “Humble and Kind.” In this reporter’s opinion, that would be a good way to
describe Hatcher. And I think others would agree. “Sam is a pretty humble and quiet person, until she warms up. Is it possible to be an introverted extrovert?” Phil ponders. “Her teammates would surely agree that she has a quiet confidence and a splash of humility. She will be the first one to laugh at her own fumbles, sometimes right on the court.”
Outside of sports, Hatcher would like to go into wildlife photography and she can thank Mr. Toppen for that. “Mr. Toppen had us do a bird project,” Hatcher remembers. “We learned about 100 birds, then we would take a test on them. After that we had to go and take pictures of birds then you had to name the birds and all of that and I loved it.”
Hatcher has plans for the future, but for right now, she just wants to enjoy the rest of her senior year, with all her sisters, and little brother.