HONAKER, Va. (WYCB) — Following in your family’s footsteps can be hard, but for Honaker Junior Alayna McNulty, she’s embraced the challenge.
“Its always kind of hard knowing that people compare me to her” says Alayna McNulty about the pressure of playing in the shadow of her older sister LeeAnna.
While LeeAnna and Alayna never shared the court for Honaker, even as an 8th grader Alayna had a piece in the Tiger’s state title run.
“Alayna came with us her 8th grade year, she practiced with us all season, she was my 10th man even as an 8th grader, so she practiced with us everyday and it just feels like she’s been a part of us ever since we had LeeAnna so she just feels like family” says Honaker girl’s basketball coach Misty Miller. “We’re just super excited to have her and she does a lot of things for our program, for the team, and we depend on her a lot.”
Growing from the team’s 10th man into an impact starter game in and game out, McNulty’s performance was crucial in the Tiger’s Hogoheegee district title, scoring her 1,000th point on the way to Honaker’s victory.
Knowing she was approaching the milestone, it was in the back of McNulty’s head going into her junior season. McNulty saying, “I’ve always known that my sister and dad had scored their 1,000 points so I always looked up to them and I knew I was going to be close coming into the season, I didn’t know for sure if I was gonna get it or not, but I’m happy that I got it.”
Her coaches and teammates were sharing the big moment with her making sure to celebrate big for the milestone. Coach Miller adding, “for her to reach this milestone, I know it means a lot to her and it really excites me and the rest of the team, we’re really proud of her.”
The work is not done for McNulty and the Tigers as our News 5 Player of the Week looks to help her team piece together a playoff run.