Aquinas’ Khadee Hession is the Broward 7A-5A Girls Basketball Player of the Year
It probably felt like a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the St. Thomas Aquinas girls basketball team at times this past season.
The Raiders had moments of dominance and moments where doubt could have crept in.
But senior guard Khadee Hession remained the steadying force through it all.
Playing whichever role was required, Hession steered Aquinas back to Lakeland and to another state championship, its fourth in a row.
Hession, a Georgetown signee, averaged 18.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.5 steals per game along the way as the Raiders joined historic company, joining Dillard, South Broward and American Heritage as the only Broward County schools to win four consecutive state titles.
After such an incredible season, Hession earns Miami Herald Broward County girls basketball 7A-5A Player of the Year honors.
“That’s a crazy achievement,” Hession said. “The players before, this wouldn’t have been possible without them. They set the tone and we just had to keep it going.”
There were rough patches for Aquinas right from the start.
The Raiders lost two of their first three games including one against rival Blanche Ely. Aquinas later dropped an even more painful one against Ely in the finals of the BCAA Big 8 tournament when it was blown out 56-24.
The defeat served as a turning point for the Raiders, who would win seven of their final eight games including six in a row.
Hession was one of the biggest catalysts in that stretch run including a 55-47 payback win over the Tigers in the Region 4-6A final. Hession finished with 29 points in that game and sealed the outcome with four clutch free throws in the closing seconds.
“Khadee has had one of the best seasons ever,” Aquinas coach Oliver Berens said after the Raiders’ comfortable 70-35 win over Valrico Bloomingdale last month in the Class 6A state title game. “She took on a different role last year. She was more of our point guard this year, but she’s averaging (almost) 19 points a game and being as efficient as possible with shooting and still having all those assists. But the biggest way she stepped up was being the leader of this team. There’s nobody that works as hard as Khadee does.”
Hession will now join a Georgetown program coming off a 23-12 season, hoping to take what she learned from her experiences playing for one of the state’s top programs.
“Coming into this year my averages were lower than last year and I played into the
role because I felt the team needed me,” Hession said. “Last year, being the point guard, I felt like passing and my assists needed to get better, I knew I had to step up.
“Whatever the team needed I was willing to do. I don’t feel any pressure.”
