<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/CarlyHeim2019.jpg?fit=790%2C527\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/TatyanaLegette2019.jpg?fit=683%2C1024\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re going to be really close to maybe win 100 games in four years which is just remarkable,\u201d Hobson said. \u201cI mean if you look at their four years, it\u2019s going to be four 20-win seasons, probably broke a dozen team records for winning, and winning streaks and regionals. They\u2019re going to play in three NCAA tournaments. That will be more than any other class has ever done and hopefully, they\u2019re still writing it as we go. It\u2019s not over.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThough the legacy of the seniors will live on, the regular 2018-2019 season draws near to its conclusion as the Tigers head into senior weekend ranked third nationally and with a record of 17-1 in MIAA Conference play.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs the team looks towards the playoffs, Legette strives to keep a sense of excitement burning within her younger teammates that she hopes will continue even after the season concludes.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI hope to leave the excitement that I felt I brought to the team on the bench and on the floor,\u201d Legette said. \u201cI like to think of the game as fun and exciting and not more of a job, just think of it as something you get to do in front of everyone that you love and just have fun with it.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nLegette prepares to wrap-up her college career with a legacy of more than just the energy she brought to her team. Indeed, she leads the team this season in rebounds and also holds the highest per-game scoring average of any of the players (13.2 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game).
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe forward credits a portion of this success to the connection she experiences while on the court with her fellow senior and roommate, Heim.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cPlaying with Carly for as long as I have, it\u2019s just a bond that you can\u2019t really put into words. I love Carly and she\u2019s a great teammate,\u201d Legette said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to really say much when we\u2019re out there. She knows what I want to do and I know what she wants to do and it\u2019s easier for us to play with each other and get things going out there.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnfortunately, the chemistry on the court between the two seniors ended abruptly when Heim suffered an ACL-tear during the Tigers\u2019 Feb. 2 match-up against Nebraska-Kearney. Though the injury proved to be the conclusion to Heim\u2019s season, the senior from Hoxie has experienced a basketball career that has impacted her on a personal level.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve definitely matured a lot. I have a lot of close friends now. It\u2019s just fun hanging out with them every day and growing with them and seeing how they grow,\u201d Heim said. \u201cI think that\u2019s going to be one of the parts that I miss most about basketball.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nSimilar to Legette, Heim hopes that the mark she\u2019s left upon the team has been one that serves as a reminder of what it means to be fully dedicated to a program.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cOur team word is impact,\u201d Heim said. \u201cI think it\u2019s the impact that we\u2019ve had on everybody, how we show up every day and how hard we work during game days and how we just don\u2019t give up.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe seniors on the women\u2019s team are not the only players that have demonstrated this strong work ethic on and off the court over the course of the past four years. In fact, the Men\u2019s Head Coach, Mark Johnson, suggests that his group of five seniors has been one that never required extra motivation.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ve been a big part of our program for a long time and you can just look outside some of their talents and the points they\u2019ve had to the quality of people they are. They\u2019ve represented our program well,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re going to miss most about them. You can\u2019t always guarantee the person you\u2019re bringing in. There\u2019s no guarantee they\u2019re going to be the quality of person we have leaving.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis year, the team\u2019s roster includes senior guards, Grant Holmes, Trey O\u2019Neil, Marcus Cooper, and Kyler Kinnamon, along with forward, Brady Werth. Werth has led the team this season in both rebounds and points per game (16.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cYou look at the year Brady Werth has had. He\u2019s one of the better players in the MIAA and I would be very disappointed if he wasn\u2019t an all-conference player this year,\u201d Johnson said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/BradyWerth2019.jpg?fit=790%2C527\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nEven with Werth\u2019s personal accomplishments, Johnson cites the team\u2019s success as the product of a group effort to which all of the seniors contributed. He credits O\u2019Neil as a key player dedicated to the overall welfare of the team.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/TreyONeil2019.jpg?fit=790%2C527\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\u201cTrey O\u2019Neil, he\u2019s shown character,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy that cares more about team success than his own success.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/MarcusCooper2019.jpg?fit=790%2C527\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nJohnson believes that this character was supported by the growing confidence of Kinnamon, the willingness of Holmes, and the athletic ability of Northeastern Colorado transfer, Cooper.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/GrantHolmes2019.png?fit=790%2C447\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nFor Kinnamon, the four years spent on the court with this group of men have been a time of lessons learned. However, the support of his family, teammates, and coaches has helped him along the way.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/KylerKinnamon2019.jpg?fit=790%2C527\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n\u201cMy family has been with me all the time and I\u2019ve had really great teammates and the coaches have been there,\u201d Kinnamon said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of fun. I wouldn\u2019t change anything that I\u2019ve ended up here and I\u2019m hoping to go out with a bang.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\nEven as the end of the regular season draws near for both teams, Kinnamon stresses the importance of maintaining focus on the team and not on the fact that the senior season marks the end of an era for the players.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt is in the back of my head and it\u2019s hard to avoid those thoughts but you try not to let it be a distraction and just keep going about your work,\u201d Kinnamon said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor now, it\u2019s time for the seniors of both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams to enjoy the spotlight as they prepare for their games back at Gross Memorial Coliseum this Saturday. Both teams prepare to match-up against Pittsburg State with the women tipping off at 2:00 and the men at 4:00.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STORY BY MAKENNA ALLEN This weekend is a time to celebrate the Fort Hays men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs. It is a time to appreciate… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":44233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3394,7349,3395],"tags":[12564,69,604,3466,12003,310],"class_list":["post-44215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mens-basketball-sports","category-sports","category-womens-basketball-sports","tag-allison-schwiezer","tag-fhsu","tag-fhsu-athletics","tag-fhsu-mens-basketball","tag-makenna-allen","tag-tigers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/My-Post-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C629&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44215"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44234,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44215\/revisions\/44234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}