When Jaylah Hardy steps on the basketball court the senior supplies more than what’s seen on a stat sheet. Besides points, rebounds, assists and even defensive pressure, the Signal Mountain playmaking point guard brings an energy that her teammates feed off of.
The younger sister of former McCallie all-state defensive lineman Jay Hardy, all of her abilities were on display during Tuesday’s 50-32 non-district home win over Baylor. Hardy closed the third quarter by converting a three-point play, after a strong drive to the basket, and finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
“Jaylah has had a really good season as far as being in control and her leadership,” Signal Mountain coach Kendra Bell said. “Her strength is being able to do a little bit of everything well. She is a tough player and has a nice game. It’s just nice for our seniors to be able to go out there and do their thing. We want to ride this out as far as we can go.”
The Lady Eagles also made 17-of-18 free throws and senior post Olivia Koontz, a Tennessee Tech signee, finished with a game-high 16 points (including 8-of-8 free throws) and blocked three shots. Koontz now has scored more than 1,800 points in helping her team to 104 wins in five seasons.
Heading toward the postseason, the combination of Hardy – the District-6-AA tournament MVP as a freshman – and Koontz – the 6-AA tournament MVP as a sophomore – have the Lady Eagles playing at a high level. With one week remaining in the regular season, Signal Mountain – which claimed two of the past three district tournament titles – stands 13-3 overall, including six straight wins.