As competitors, Grafton seniors Olivia Wilson, Hannah Olson, Emily Beyer and Savannah Baxley remember the losses more than the wins from their historic four-year run anchoring the Clippers’ girls basketball team.
Though they found it difficult to look past last week’s season-ending loss in the 4A South Region quarterfinal, the four seniors end their high school basketball careers with a winning legacy, which includes four consecutive Bay Rivers District regular-season titles, three district/conference tournament titles and a 97-16 overall record — a body of work no sports team in school history has matched.
In addition to leading the most successful four-year stretch of any team in school history, the foursome also steered the Clippers through one of the most dominant runs in Bay Rivers basketball history, posting a 66-6 mark against district opponents.
Because the Clippers set high standards for themselves, the losses stick with them regardless of their many accomplishments.
“We’re proud of what we accomplished, I just don’t think it’s set in yet because we still think about what we could have done to get back to states this year,” Olson said.
While Grafton’s coach Tommy Bayse also had high hopes of sending his seniors out with a fourth consecutive state tournament appearance, he said not even a winless season could tarnish the legacy his core group of four seniors will leave behind.
Their contributions as freshmen in 2011, when Wilson, Olson and Baxley earned starting roles, helped spark Grafton’s unprecedented run to a Group AA state-tournament while capturing district-tournament and Region I titles along the way.
As juniors and seniors, when they were the focal points of the team, they posted a 38-1 record against district opponents en route to sweeping both the regular-season and district/conference tournament titles.
“Most players can hang their careers on two district titles,” Bayse said. “But those girls set high expectations and are never satisfied.”
Wilson, who will play next year for the Apprentice School, led the team in scoring each of the past two seasons, averaging around 20 points per game. A four-year starter who became the program’s all-time leading scorer after eclipsing more than 1,600 points and 800 rebounds for her career, Wilson earned a spot on the all-district team each year and was named the district and Region I Player of the year as a junior.
Olson, who joined Wilson on the Group AA all-state team as a junior, has been one of the most versatile talents in the district. Her fierce competitive nature, leadership and ability to contribute in nearly every statistical category — she finished her career with more than 1,100 points, 500 assists, 300 steals and close to 600 rebounds — is why Bayse refers to her as “the glue that held everything together from the beginning.”
“Olivia and Hannah have been our stars,” Bayse said of his two all-state performers. “Olivia is just a scorer and solid rebounder who can play inside and out. Hannah is the best all-around player I’ve ever coached. She’s like a coach on the floor.”
Beyer, who averaged 15 points and four assists this season, provided excellent ball-handling, perimeter shooting and reliable defense while developing into the best pure point guard Bayse said he has coached during his 10-plus years with the Clippers’ program. Her ability to score off the dribble and as a spot-up shooter helped her net more than 950 points in three seasons as the Clippers’ floor general.
Baxley, a scrappy defender who never shied away from guarding an opponent’s best player, did all the things that do not show up in the box score and enjoyed every minute of it.
“She’s just the definition of a role player who doesn’t mind doing the small and receiving the attention that our scorers get,” Bayse said of Baxley, who will attend Virginia Tech in the fall. “Emily is probably the most improved of the four players from day one. She’s really blossomed into a complete point guard.”
Bayse said each of the girls had equal importance in the team’s success, which makes the group special compared with other teams he has coached. Good friends off the court, their cohesion translated onto the hardwood.
“They’re such a tight-knit group,” Bayse said. “I think we’ll probably have players in the future who can match their individual talents, but I don’t think there will ever be a group that clicked the way they did together.”
The four players said one of the most defining moments of their careers came as freshmen when they edged rival York late in the regular season to clinch their first district title. Olson was the hero, burying the game-winning 3-pointer late in regulation.
“I think that’s when we realized we had the potential to be pretty good,” Olson said.
Two years later, arguably their biggest win in program history came in the Region I Division 4 championship game against a Courtland team most had picked to win the state tournament. The Clippers played one of their most sound all-around games of the season to avenge a near 30-point loss against the Cougars in the region final the year before.
“That was like the sweetest revenge,” said Wilson, who led the Clippers with 20 points and 12 rebounds in the win. “They beat us pretty bad the year before and a lot of people were calling them the favorites to win states and we wanted to make a statement.”
Aside from their athletic achievements, each of the four seniors also sport impressive grade point averages above 3.5.
Beyer boasts a GPA above 4.0 and hopes to study some biology at either Florida State or Coastal Carolina. Baxley plans to follow in her two older sisters’ footsteps and attend Virginia Tech while Wilson and Olson have each committed to continue their playing careers at the next level. Olson, a three-sport standout in volleyball, basketball and softball, has signed to play softball for Elon University next spring.
All four, who have been playing sports together since middle school, said being good friends who have chemistry on and off the court has made their run that much more enjoyable.
Bayse called the foursome a “once-in-a-lifetime” group from a coach’s perspective, but said he has plenty off-the-court memories as well.
“They’re better young ladies than they are basketball players,” Bayse said. “They would come over and run with me during the summers, or just hang out and watch TV at my house. I’ll remember some of those times as much as any game.”
