Belgreen's Dill signs at Northwest-Shoals
By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
BELGREEN – In her ongoing search for perimeter shooting, Northwest-Shoals women's basketball coach Kristy Ward has once again tapped the resources of Franklin County.
One week after signing Phil Campbell guard Tanna Benford (the all-time leading scorer in county history), Ward reeled in another local sharpshooter in Belgreen senior Kala Dill.
Dill signed with the Patriots on Wednesday.
"We were always one of the top scoring teams in the nation, but we've had a little bit of a drop-off the past two years," Ward said. "One of our goals was to bring in some natural shooters, and I think Kala fits that bill."
Filling it up from the perimeter hasn't always been one of Dill's specialties.
"When I was in fifth and sixth grade [in Belmont, Mississippi], I couldn't even get the ball to the rim," said Dill, who scored a season-high 29 points against Cherokee in December and popped for 26 in the county tournament against Phil Campbell. "I was so small. But I worked on my shot a lot with my junior high coach in eighth and ninth grade, and it started to improve."
Shooting wasn't the only aspect of Dill's game that impressed Ward at a recent try-out involving current Northwest-Shoals players.
"A lot of high school kids would have been a little tentative in that situation, but Kala was not intimidated," Ward said. "When she had the ball in her hands, she ran the team. It took me a while to figure out if she was left-handed or right-handed, because she looked so smooth with both. I was amazed with her performance."
Dill, who played her junior and senior seasons at Belgreen after transferring from Belmont, said she experienced a few butterflies before the try-out began.
"I was a little nervous, and I kind of fumbled around for the first couple of minutes," she said. "But the other girls there were really nice and encouraging, and I started to feel more comfortable.
"Tanna was there, too, and that helped. At least I knew somebody."
Belgreen coach Shauna Humphries said Dill is just as valuable for her intangibles as for her multitude of skills on the court.
"Kala is a hard worker and a great team leader," Humphries said. "She always did everything we asked of her and more. We're definitely going to miss her around here, but we're very proud of her for making it to the next level."
Ward said she anticipates using Dill primarily at point guard.
"That's what I'm looking to do," she said. "We don't like to recruit players for specific positions, because they may get here and play better at another position. But with her ball-handling skills, I think Kala will do well for us at the point. She's also going to help us a lot with her shooting."
Humphries said that Dill's three-point shooting ability is a product of hours of refinement.
"Kala spent a lot of time working on her shot, fine-tuning it and making a couple of adjustments," Humphries said. "She really became an outstanding three-point shooter."
Dill still considers ball-handling to be her strongest suit.
"I may not be the fastest runner or the best athlete, but I've worked hard to improve my ball-handling," she said. "I think that's what I'm best at, so I hope that's what impressed Coach Ward the most."
