Bristol Herald Courier | Tim Hayes | Photo Credit: Now: Emily Ball Then: Contributed Photo
HONAKER, Va. – It was a bittersweet moment for Honaker High School girls basketball coach Misty Davis Miller as Senior Night festivities tend to be.
A celebration of those who have stuck it out in dedicating four years to a program and also the acknowledgement that the days wearing the team’s uniform are dwindling always brings with it a wide range of emotions.
This customary ceremony held before Honaker’s 61-10 crushing of Chilhowie on Feb. 12 hit a little different for the leader of the Tigers because of the players involved.
“I teared up,” Miller said. “But I tried to hold it together.”
Alayna McNulty and Kalli Miller.
Kalli Miller and Alayna McNulty.
Names synonymous with Honaker’s recent success were feted for their feats.
Those two standouts have been cornerstones for a team that has compiled a 92-17 record with four district titles over the past four seasons. They made major contributions for a VHSL Class 1 state championship team as freshmen and are trying to bookend their prep careers by finishing on top.
McNulty is a 5-foot-11 post player averaging 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block per game who can score in a variety of ways, controls the boards and is a rim protector. Her older sister, LeeAnna McNulty, was a star as well for the Tigers who now plays at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and her father, Steve, in his ninth season as an assistant coach at Honaker.
Miller is a 5-foot-2 point guard putting up eight points, six steals, four assists and three rebounds per contest, among the top facilitators and defenders in Southwest Virginia. She also happens to be the daughter of head coach Misty Davis Miller.
Honaker's Alayna McNulty (5) and Kalli Miller (11) | Photo Credit: Emily Ball