High school teammates meet again — on opposing teams

By Charles Hallman

Staff Writer

LaShay Holt and Annessa Hicks played together for one year at St. Paul Humboldt High School. Holt was a freshman and Hicks was a senior.

Their prep careers almost mirror each other: Both finished their high-school careers as 1,000-point scorers and were named the St. Paul City Conference MVP in their respective senior seasons. The two players also played

in the Inner City All-Star Classic.

Now the two Humboldt alums are in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Holt last Saturday led her St. Catherine squad with 11 points and five steals, and Hicks grabbed a rebound in her six minutes of action as St. Thomas won 61-32.

The MSR briefly talked to both women after the contest, which was played at St. Thomas.

Now a senior, Hicks transferred from Minnesota-Crookston to St. Thomas in 2011. “[Minnesota-Crookston is] a Division II school, and I didn’t like the type of commitment that they wanted you to have,” she recalled. “So I transferred to Division III.” The communications and journalism major, who plans to graduate this fall, added, “There’s a little bit of everything — you got basketball, school, and other things you can focus on. It’s not just basketball.”

“When I visited [St. Catherine’s], I liked the team, the campus and my coach,” said Holt, who’s studying business.

Last weekend’s contest was the final time the two former Humboldt players will play against each other. “I don’t play much, but when I do go out on the court, I do know that she’s out there,” noted Hicks, a 5’-6” reserve guard, of Holt, a starting guard/forward and her squad’s leading scorer. “She is trying to play the best she can, and I am trying to play the best I can.”

“It’s kind of weird,” added the 5’-9” Holt. “We once were working together, and then we are competing against each other. I didn’t want to guard her. It’s funny, because you know what each other is going to do because we played together.”

The two friends spent some time chatting after the game. “You feel proud,” said Hicks, “knowing that there’s two players from Humboldt that are in college, playing and just doing better things. You just feel like you can hold your head up high.”

Their college teams, however, are going in opposite directions. The Tommies are fighting for first place, while St. Kate’s fighting to stay out of the conference cellar. “I really love it, especially since we’re a young team and we will get to play each other as we grow,” stated Holt.

Now in her final season, Hicks said she’s aiming for a job in either advertising, public relations, or “something with sports — I’m looking at some internships now.”

Globe-tracking the Lynx

Maya Moore recently scored 54 points for her Shanxi team, the Chinese league’s top club.

Four teammates compete in the Russian League: Lindsay Whalen (Dynamo Moscow), Devereaux Peters (Dynamo-GUVD), Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson (Dynamo Kursk — their team will play in the EuroCup quarterfinals February 6).

Sugar Rodgers recently joined Arras (France) and had a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) in her debut.

Janel McCarville is playing for CCC Polkowice (Poland), and is now in Euroleague post-season play.

Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.  

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