By Kyle Parmley
TRUSSVILLE — It didn’t all come naturally for Hewitt-Trussville senior point guard Cayla Dillard.
Countless hours of hard work and dedication are to thank for the point guard reaching her goals, as Dillard eclipsed 1,000 points for her career with a solid effort on Tuesday night, despite the Lady Huskies’ 62-42 loss to Mountain Brook.
“This is what I’ve been working toward my whole career,” Dillard said. “I’m just happy I got there.”
Needing only five points in the game to reach the milestone, the All-Area floor general accomplished that late in the fourth quarter with a baseline drive, head fake and a shot that rattled around the rim before falling through the net. She finished the night with six points, giving her 1,001 points in total for her four-year career.
Hewitt-Trussville senior guard Cayla Dillard
file photo by Ron Burkett
“For four years, I’ve tried to reach this goal. It makes tonight feel a little better,” she said.
Dillard has been a mainstay on the varsity roster all four seasons at Hewitt-Trussville. She has done the majority of her work conducting the offense from the point guard position, but first-year head coach Tonya Hunter has used her at shooting guard occasionally in order to give the Lady Huskies an added scoring punch.
“That is such a great accomplishment for her and for this community,” Hunter said. “She’s reached her goal. You don’t have many kids that are going to reach 1,000.”
More importantly than her on-court accomplishments, Dillard has become an active leader in her school, church and overall community. Former teammates and coaches applaud her character along with the basketball ability.
“It has been a pleasure coaching and knowing Cayla over the last three years,” former Hewitt-Trussville head coach Stu Stuedeman said. “She has always put the team first and is willing to do anything necessary to ensure the team has success.”
Good luck finding someone to say a bad word about her.
“Cayla holds herself to a higher standard and lives with a unique integrity day in and day out,” Stuedeman said. “She makes a positive impact on others simply by choosing to live the way she lives.”
The Lady Huskies return to the floor Friday night, as they host Spain Park in another area bout. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. at Bryant Bank Arena.
