Nate Olson: Lake Hamilton star guard Hayleigh Wyrick enjoys a royal night

By Nate Olson | Photos by Tommy Land

As Hayleigh Wyrick quickly squirmed out of the fancy dress and wiped off the heavy makeup, she was only thinking about one thing — basketball. 

The senior had just been crowned the school’s spring homecoming queen, but she had little time to bask in the glow. She had a basketball game to play. And play she did. The 5-foot-8 guard scored a career-high 34 points as the Wolves dispatched White Hall 63-34.

“I was just locked in,” the Arkansas Tech signee said. “As soon as I started putting on my uniform, I was just concentrating on the game and what I needed to do. I didn’t have a lot of time, but I was focused as soon as I got in the locker room.”

As is custom, the girls game precedes the boys game on typical game nights. However, on homecoming night, the girls play in the nightcap. So, Wyrick was crowned before the boys game, and then after numerous pictures with teammates, family and adoring young fans, she scurried as fast as she could in her high heels to trade them for her basketball shoes. 

“[Our team] is real active in our school community, and Hayleigh is one of the best with the younger kids, so they all wanted a picture with her afterward,” longtime Lake Hamilton coach Blake Condley said. “I wouldn’t have blamed her for being distracted. But this is par for the course for her. She is always focused and shows up ready to play.”

Wyrick also showed those little girls that it is cool for women to play sports, but they can also be ‘girly' girls. She made a bit of a statement that night.

“I never really thought about that, but it’s true,” she said.

“You don’t want a kid to feel like they have to be a certain way or act a certain way,” Condley said. “You want them to just be themselves and not conform. [Wyrick] has done a good job of walking her own path. I believe she is true to herself and does things the right way or the way she believes and just lets the chips fall where they may. It has worked pretty well for her up to this point.”

To make things even more special, Wyrick got to share her night with two relatives who traveled long distances. Wyrick’s uncle drove nearly four hours from Bentonville to escort her, and Wyrick’s half-brother from Dallas also made the trip. It was only the second time he had seen her play. 

“I was just on a high; I don’t think I quit smiling the entire night,” she said. “I live with my mom, and she gives me some tough love, and after games she will say I played well but could do this or that better. After this game, she said, 'I have nothing to say. You did good!.'”

So, how did she celebrate the crowning and the win?

“We all went to Waffle House,” she said. “It’s a tradition to go there to eat after we play. We celebrated there.”

Those post-game meals have been a lot of fun this season. The Class 5A Wolves are No. 6 in the SBLive Arkansas Top 25 rankings and sit at 19-2. They are undefeated in the 5A-South Conference and primed to take that title. 

“It really is special being a senior on this team and coming full circle,” Wyrick said. “We are working very hard and showing a lot of drive. Our sophomores are coming up big. I think we can make a deep state tournament run.”

And Wyrick is leading the charge. She paces the team in scoring (20.5 ppg), rebounds (7) and steals (2.5). She is second on the team in assists (3). 

“She’s one of the better players that has ever come through this program, and every night she comes ready to play hard and win,” Condley said. 

Wyrick loves basketball and takes pride in being one of the state’s top players, but she made a practical decision when it came to signing with a college program. She picked Division II ATU over Division I Louisiana Tech and Wofford, which hadn’t offered but was close to doing so when she signed, because of the school’s nursing program.

“That was important to me, and both of those take up so much time, so I needed to go to a school where they would work with me, and Arkansas Tech said they would,” she said. 

With that decision behind her, she’s been focused on bringing a state championship to Pearcy for the first time since 2009. The only other title came in 1995.

“A state championship would be the icing on the cake,” Wyrick said. “We just want to finish the year strong. The final outcome doesn’t always show the success you’ve had in a season, but a state championship is our goal.”

Wyrick also wants to win for her coach, who has never earned a state title in his nine years as the varsity head coach at LH and a previous stop at Bryant. 

“It would mean the world to me. A lot of people don’t know how amazing of a coach [Condley] is,” she said. “He takes care of so many things for us on and off the court. Our practices are crazy, and he teaches us so much about basketball, but it’s also so much more than basketball. To be able to give him a ring would put us on top of the world.”

The month of March could be memorable for Wyrick and the Wolves. But no matter what happens in the postseason, no one in the Lake Hamilton community will forget her career and senior season, including that historic night in late January.

“I’m really grateful, and it is really humbling — it’s hard to put into words,” Wyrick said. “I’ve put in so much work, and I feel like I am leaving my mark on Lake Hamilton. The sophomores look up to me, and I want them to be doing what I am doing right now. It feels good to give back to my program.”