An Airedale By Birth

Alma senior Breella Hughes leads young basketball team by example

By Kevin Taylor

Alma Schools

There are no markings indicating exactly where Dustin Hughes buried a tiebreaking 3-pointer that helped Alma rally for a 54-49 overtime win over Siloam Springs some 26 years ago. And, while Breella Hughes isn't sure where her dad launched that basketball so many years ago, she's certain she knows the stories.

All of them.

"I'm sure he (Dustin) remembers," Breella said. "He was telling me the other day all about his stats. his sophomore, junior, and senior years."

Two-and-a-half decades later, it’s Breella’s turn to launch jumpers from beyond the 3-point line. But, unlike her dad, the oldest of Dustin and Amanda’s three kids, Breella will graduate later this spring as a three-sport athlete - volleyball, basketball, and cheer.

Her accomplishments, notwithstanding, saw her start for three seasons on the volleyball squad, which included beating Greenwood in 2024 for the first time in 12 years. She was part of some basketball nostalgia, too, which included beating Van Buren two years ago for the first time in seven seasons. This season, the Lady Airedales defeated Greenwood for the first time in almost 10 years.

"I beat them in my ninth-grade year (Alma junior team) twice, but that was without Kylah (Pearcy), who was on the varsity,” Hughes said. “I knew it was time for us to beat them."

To represent your school colors from birth is an amazing feat.

"It truly is an honor," Hughes said. "I try not to look past it all and just enjoy the moment. I like having parents who graduated here, so I can know people like Coach (Eddie) Corder, who coached my dad.”

Maintaining a balancing act is something Hughes figured out two years ago.

"I focus on one thing at a time," she said. "I never try to look too far ahead. I did struggle at first, my sophomore year, but it became a routine, so now I'm used to it."

The Lady Airedales are on the cusp of another milestone, too. If they were to win their final three games, they would strengthen their playoff possibilities.

Alma hasn’t been to the postseason since the 2019-20 season.

"I really think we have a huge opportunity to do so," Hughes said. "We have to go to Van Buren and Siloam, and it's going to be a challenge, but I know we can do it."

The Lady Airedales have four conference victories for the first time in five years.

This season’s team includes a handful of players Hughes hardly knew before the start of the season. In fact, Alma has just two players older than 16 on the team - Hughes, the team’s lone senior, and junior Brooklynn Holt.

"It's amazing, especially having such younger girls on the team," she said. "Me, being the only senior, have to be like a mom to them. They follow my lead. Having somebody look up to me, that also means I almost have to be perfect, so they can follow my lead."

This season's group of freshmen were in sixth grade when Breella was entering high school. "Before this season, I had never really had a relationship with them, but this year I've gotten to know them really well, and they're all my best friends," she said.