Coach Hutchcraft wants to play fast, really fast, take a lot of three-point shots, and play a style designed to maximize her team’s strength. While analytics say this is the model for success, very few coaches do it. Hutchcraft, of course, prefers this type of pace, but make no mistake—it’s a value-driven decision with the goal being to win as many games as possible. To play a national schedule and come home to compete against the best teams the state has to offer requires talent, understanding how to facilitate that talent, developing high-level basketball skills, and, more importantly, teaching high-level decision-making ability in complex game situations where players can read and react instead of coaches micro-managing every aspect of the game.

Conway is 22-1, #16 nationally (ESPN), and Arkansas’s #1 overall team. Conway’s only loss was at the hands of Monterey High School in Texas in late November. Monterey has Aaliyah Chavez, the top player in the country, averaging 36 ppg. Conway has been a basketball factory for several years, especially under Hutchcraft, where she won a state championship in 2023. Last season, Conway found itself as the state finals runner-up, with the core of the starting lineup returning this season. The staple of those returning was guard Alexis Cox, a big-time talent who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds last season. Cox is a D1 player taking her talents to UCA next season. Great teams, however, are not immune to adversity, and adversity is just what the team received when Cox went down with a season-ending knee injury over the summer. The culture of a championship-level program is always the next player up. For the Lady Cats, the next player or players up is a very talented group of young ladies with a ton of high-level basketball experience. Players like
Emerie Bohanon, a 5’7 senior guard, is doing it all this season and will play at the D1 level next season with UCA.  Bohanon just crossed the 1,000-point mark for her career.   Backcourt teammate Samyah Jordan is having a monster season, averaging 16 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals per game for the Lady Cats. Alivia Cox, 2025 guard attending UCA, also gives in-game production to the lady cats.  The future is undoubtedly bright with talents such as Traniyah Weston PG 2027, Libby Counts C/F 2027, and Rai Wilson 2027. Being nationally ranked is a great team success, but the end goal for this group will be a state title. They must beat some extremely talented in-state teams with legitimate big-time college basketball players and high-level coaches to do that. While the road is long and hard, this team seems prime to have a chance for another state championship season.