SB Live Player Diary: How I helped make history on the hardwood at Hudson's Bay

Aniyah Hampton is the author of a periodical public journal with Scorebook Live Washington, which takes fans behind the scenes of her basketball journey.

Aniyah Hampton is a sophomore at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver. As a freshman, she led the Eagles to the 3A state regional round, the program’s best finish since 2007.

As my sophomore seasons slowly approaches, I’m starting to reflect. At Hudson's Bay, last season was one to remember.

We had the definition of a history changing season: we became the first Hudson’s Bay girls basketball team in eight years to reach the state tournament, and only the second of all time 

With a great season comes ups and downs. At Bay, the girls basketball team’s reputation hasn't been the greatest. Coming in as a freshman I was ready to help contribute to make history. Which is what we did.

Deciding where I wanted to go to high school was one of the biggest decisions I’ve ever made but I know I definitely made the right one. They are so many great schools in Vancouver that have great girls basketball programs and academics.

I chose to go to Bay because I wanted to be apart of a new era of girls basketball for Clark County, and I knew that Bay had the potential to start that new era.

I also wanted to usher Bay into that new era with friends that I had met when I transitioned from playing boys to girls basketball. 

READ |SB Live Player Diary Intro: Hudson's Bay's Aniyah Hampton never backs away from a challenge

Change came from within. Coming into season we were perceived as the underdogs. Nobody expected us to have the season we had except for our team and our families, our own school didn't even believe it until they saw it. I started the season as one of the captains, controlling the offense and being a vocal leader on and off the court. As a freshman, it definitely was a challenge, but that's what we do at Bay. We persevere. 

Being a leader right away for teammates who are years older than me, I was definitely nervous doing that because I constantly questioned if they would ever listen to me.

Quite honestly, I didn't think they would listen to me. And why wouldn’t they?

I was a 14 year old trying to lead a team and give tips and advice. But to my surprise, they did. They took me in and treated me just like everyone else. We all clicked as a team really fast and I think that was a major part in our success. League rolled around shortly after our preseason winning streak, we lost to the defending league champs both times but it motivated us to finish the season strong for higher placement in playoffs.

We finished league with an 8-2 record to earn home court in the first game of the playoffs. We won that game. Then, the second biggest test, we had to face the 3A defending state champs it was a tough loss but a well needed one. we were riding high before the loss and this game humbled us. We were now in a one and done situation, lose and we go home , win and we get closer to the dome. The next year was right around the corner.

After losing a nail-biter in the first round, we played three games in three days and won all three to make the state tournament which was last 16 standing.

But that season-ending loss to Roosevelt ... that was the hardest loss of the season. We were so close to our goal, the Tacoma Dome. One game away.

That left us hungry.

Our community constantly reminds us that we had a historic season. The whole way through are journey our fans, family teachers staff let us know. Our second to last playoff game was packed the energy. Feeling our community believe in us was out of this world. 

Fans came rushing the court right after the game when we beat Kelso for the third time that year — 53-37 in the district tournament. It was the best energy that we had as a team last year .

We are now even more prepared for this upcoming season, we have higher expectations and bigger goals for ourselves. 

Satisfaction won’t be reached until we meet those goals. For now, everyday is just another day in the office .

Signing off ,

Aniyah Hampton 

(Photo by Jaden Coleman)