Hiley Mazda Key Athlete of the Week: Ider’s Makinley Traylor
IDER, Ala. (WHNT) – Ider girls basketball head coach Jamie Pruett’s message to his team all season long was believe, and Makinley Traylor took that message to heart.
The sophomore guard got injured the first game of the year, but she believed she could make it back at some point during the season. She came back during the playoffs and helped lead Ider to their first state title since 1985, all well being named Class 2A state MVP.
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For that, Makinley Traylor is the Hiley Mazda Key Athlete of the Week.
“I was really happy, like we had just did something that we hadn’t done in forever, and celebrating with my teammates was a good feeling,” Traylor said.
But the start of the sophomore season didn’t go according to plan for Traylor.
“The very first game I got hit by a girl, and the next couple of days I found out I was having surgery. The doctors told me I wasn’t going to be able to [play again this season], so I had prepared myself for the worst,” Traylor said.
“She pretty much got tackled, and we looked at each other on the bench and thought ‘oh this is not good.’ I told the team we were going to keep fighting and crossing our fingers that she’d be able to come back towards the end of the season,” Pruett added.
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Rehabbing a dislocated shoulder, Traylor put her all into getting back this season, while cheering on her teammates who stepped up in her absence.
“I had started practicing, but when I was practicing, it wasn’t any contact or anything and begging JP ‘please just let me do it.’ Once I started rehabbing and feeling good, then I was like yeah I’m going to come back,” Traylor said.
“She’s a very hard worker, she’s dedicated to what she’s doing. She’s a very good athlete. There was days where she wasn’t in a good mindset and we tried to encourage her and sometimes she didn’t think she was going to get to come back. The team rallied without her and without the other girls stepping up, we probably wouldn’t have even been in this situation in the first place,” Pruett added.
Traylor came back during sub-regionals and made an instant impact. Then against the defending state champs Mars Hill, Traylor was clutch down the stretch at the line, finishing with 22 points to capture that blue map.
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“Thank god she did because she’s a huge asset to the team. You could just tell everyone out there, it was like a big relief when she got back out there. She’s one of those quarterbacks on the court and she means a lot not only offensively, but defensively and just making the right decisions,” Pruett said.
“It was fun watching them build into the team, but once I got back, everything fell into the spot of how it should be,” Traylor added.
We are always looking for standout student-athletes in the Tennessee Valley to feature! If you have a high-school-aged athlete that you would like to nominate for Hiley Mazda Key Athlete of the Week, you can email olivia.whitmire@whnt.com, claudia.chakamian@whnt.com or sports@whnt.com.
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