Sports
Former Hawk, Huff named EA coach
By Griffin Pritchard
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Paige Huff knows basketball. The Huntingdon College grad spent time as a member of the Lady Hawks basketball team and learned the game from coach Buzz Phillips.
This winter, she hopes to pass along her hoops knowledge to a group of Lady Wildcats.
Huff, who graduated with a Bachelor’s in coaching education earlier in the year, was named the new girls’ basketball coach at Edgewood Academy, replacing Emily Insinga.
“I owe all of this to Buzz Phillips,” said Huff.
“He called me up this summer and asked me if I wanted to be a head coach. I thought he was joking.”
Huff, a native of Foley, accepted the job less than three weeks prior to the start of the 2008-2009 school year.
“There are no AISA schools in the county I lived in,” said Huff.
“I know very little about the AISA, I’ll probably learn a new rule every day.
“But, at the same time, it gives me an advantage with these girls of approaching every game with a fresh mindset about who we are playing.”
One of the obvious goals for Huff in her first season at the helm of the Lady Wildcat varsity and junior varsity basketball teams is to improve upon the 2007-2008 season. During that stretch, Edgewood won only one game. The Lady Wildcats upended Hooper Academy.
“Our goal is to win the area this year,” said Huff. “We plan to make it to the state tournament this year.”
Huff and the Lady Wildcats will be playing in Class AA this winter after falling out of Class AAA as a result of the league’s re-classification earlier in the year. Edgewood will play a schedule that is comprised of area foes Evangel, Lakeside, Autauga and Springwood. Outside of the area, the Lady Wildcats will face Macon-East, Prattville Christian, Crenshaw Christian, East Memorial Christian, Taylor Road and East Memorial Chrsitian.
“We have a lot of depth this year, and we have three pretty solid seniors,” said Huff. “We have some height and that is going to help us out a lot and from what I’ve seen so far, we’re going to be very quick on the floor.”
Huff said that she plans for the Lady Wildcats to press the opposing offense and run a fast-paced offense.
Overall though, the transition from player to coach has been successful.
“I’m really comfortable here,” said Huff. “I think I fit in well.”
Edgewood’s 2008 season is slated to start Nov. 18, but that is dependent on the status of the Wildcat football team in the playoffs.
