MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville team mates celebrate their win over Loyalsock for the district championship at Montoursville Saturday

Most Hughesville players began competing together as third graders. They learned together, grew together and experienced ups and downs together.

But they’ve mostly won together. And above everything they have pulled closer together.

That bond has grown stronger over the years and is a big reason Hughesville again is a district champion.

The Spartans (24-3) captured their second District 4 Class AAA championship in three years last Saturday when they defeated defending state champion Loyalsock, 45-38. That earned Hughesville a spot in tonight’s state tournament at Williamsport’s Magic Dome where they it will face Columbia. There, however the game plays out, the Spartans will do their best to rally around each other.

“We all love each other and get along,” center Anna Easton said after a super defensive game against Loyalsock. “Most of us have played together all the way through, so it’s really a lot of emotions, especially for some of the seniors.”

That senior class won 11 games during its first high school season. The next season, everything changed and Hughesville started making a statewide splash. The Spartans went 24-5, won their first district championship and reached the state quarterfinals for the first time.

Hughesville won 23 more games and reached the second round a year ago before capturing its first outright league title of the 2000s this season. Now, the senior Spartans have won 82 games and those behind them a whole lot as well.

The HAC-III perennially is one of the state’s toughest 3A leagues and features three state finalists and two state champions over the last five years. Everything has been earned the hard way and that is where the team’s chemistry proves so beneficial.

This is a talented team and a hard-working one, but it also is a connected one. When times are tough that provides a huge asset.

“I’ve been playing with the same people since third and fourth grade,” guard Kendall Hamm said after shining off the bench against Loyalsock. “The whole group is amazing. It feels so great being out there with them.”

“I think the positivity and the camaraderie and companionship of all the girls on the team is just amazing,” senior guard Kylie Temple said following her 13-point performance. “We’ve come such a long way. We know what everyone on the court is doing at all times.”

They also know that each player is going all-out all the time. Hughesville has some quickness, height and quality shooters. More than anything, though, it has relentless competitors. Seeing each other empty her tank pursuing victory all these years creates a confidence among all the players that they can find ways even when situations do not look promising.

That was the case against Loyalsock. The Lancers surged late in the first quarter and into the early second, building a six-point advantage. Instead of buckling, Hughesville remained optimistic and all the players coach Dustin King used made big impacts. By halftime, the Spartans built a four-point lead and stretched it to 11 late in third.

When Loyalsock cut it to two in the final four minutes, Vivian Draper forced a turnover; Maddie Smith and Allyssa King hit critical shots and Temple a game-changing 3-pointer. The defense did not allow another field goal and Hughesville became the program’s second district champion.

“There’s not much miscommunication and if there is miscommunication, we’re just able to fix it so well because we are all so close. We’re all of the same mindset; the same level,” Temple said. ” I can 100 % trust that everyone on the court, anyone coming in, anyone on this team will go 100 % and give everything they have.

“I feel safe and confident on what our team can do based off the mindset of every single one of the girls and what they want.”

What they want most are wins. Players are not chasing individual goals. When they do reach milestones, that’s part of the process, a means to an end.

But this foundation has been built upon unselfishness, work and trust. Hughesville has added more layers the past two seasons and has thundered back after struggling in the Heartland Conference championship.

That loss could have hurt some teams, but Hughesville used it as a learning experience. Again, the players looked forward, not back and responded by winning three straight district playoff games against three tough league rivals.

“Winning is more important to them than anything,” King said. “To see the adversity the kids have gone through, especially the senior group when we first game in, is incredible. The knowledge they are passing to the girls below them is awesome to see.”

It has been a similar story the past two seasons with the outgoing senior classes passing the baton. Prior to 2024, Hughesville was a program lurking in the shadows. It had some good seasons, but had never won a state tournament game.

Since then, the Spartans have won two district championships, a league title and three state playoff games. They did not know it when they first came together as elementary school students, but it would be those Spartans who changed everything at Hughesville.

Tonight presents another opportunity. But it goes beyond basketball and is just as much about relishing these times together. What a time they have enjoyed thus far.

“We’ve changed history,” Hamm said. “It feels great to be a part of that.”