One thing about Whitney Hay, she really stands out.
I’ve followed her career since she began playing varsity at Elizabethtown and even then I knew she would be some kind of player. Even surrounded by a group of super stars and future college athletes, Whitney was destine to become something special.
From 2015-2016 to the present , Hay has scored 2,299-points and although she has had a little help during that time, most defensive coordinators always felt as though to stop her (or at least slow her down) was an important strategy to beating Elizabethtown.
What makes her so dangerous is that she can not only drive to the basket with effectiveness, but can drain it from outside and is a dangerous rebounder as well. She can play fast or slow and watching her come down the court on a transition drive so many times in the past, I can’t imagine what it would take to slow her down. Along with being a little over six foot, Hay is the prototype scoring guard for any contending team.
Although she made contributions on the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 teams, it wasn’t until the next three seasons that she really came into her own. During the 2017-2018 5th Region Champion team, Hay scored 710-points as the Lady Panthers beat Bardstown to make their tenth trip to the State Tournament. The following season, she piled up 767-points as the Lady Panthers made another run at the state tournament, but failed.
It was her senior season that may have best defined her as she missed several games early in the season as the Lady Panthers were beset by season ending injuries and starters nursing some as well. Although she scored only 473-points, she helped hold the team together at certain points while starters Ellie Taylor and Sydney Clark missed games because of injuries.
For so many reasons, the 2019-2020 season will be remembered for so many things and one will be the fact that the Lady Panthers won their eleventh 5th Region Championship during a season where everything didn’t go right. Still, they managed to persevere.
Hay listed one of her accomplishments as getting to play her last high school game at Rupp Arena in the KHSAA Girls State Tournament. The final result wasn’t to her liking as they lost game one to Bullitt East, but she got there.
Sometimes athletes who accomplish so much during their varsity career are looked upon in a different light than others who don’t. Still, Whitney Hay doesn’t want you to feel sorry for her after her last high school game. In her five season varsity career at Elizabethtown, she has played for two great head coaches, never failed not to play in a Region Championship game and made three trips to the state tournament.
It’s ironic that her last official high school game was also the last week of high school sports everywhere. Every student athlete wants a senior year to remember, but this one was most definitely off the charts. I remember that day because as we drove back from the State Tournament, we talked about the possiblity of whether games might be pushed back. I was also wondering when I would get to see Whitney Hay again and ask her a million questions about her last game.
Well, Whitney is doing quite well. She has been staying in shape and is preparing herself for her next life as a college athlete at Belmont.
By the way, Whitney was always a great interview and never once turned any of us media hogs down no matter how tired or banged up she was. She always gave credit to her opponents and her teammates, who she once said “None of what we achieve would ever be possible.” That’s a good upbringing. I’m sure credit has to go to both parents for helping develop her humble demenor.
One of my last images of her is a photo of both she and Ellie Taylor walking off the floor after their loss to Bullitt East. My initial thought was how happy the two were when they beat Bethlehem just four days ago and how quickly it changes. Somehow, I think Whitney will be alright no matter where she goes.
After all, she is some kind of player and that’s why she was the Sporting Times Female Regional Winter athlete of 2020.
