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Tesia Garrett-Hammett is thriving in his first year at LaGrange Academy. The senior is thriving on and off the court as she nears the end of her high school journey. 

“I’m trying to enjoy my last year in high school,” Garrett-Hammett said. “I don’t want stress to overcome me in my last year. Everything has been going well so far (laughs).”

It was not always a seamless acclimation for Garrett-Hammett, who was a bit nervous at first starting over at a new school during her last year in high school. 

“I was nervous and a little upset about leaving my other school during my senior year,” Garrett-Hammett said. “It’s worked out well, but now I’m stressed about senior stuff like applying for colleges and trying to get scholarships.”

On the court, she was joining a team of players who had gelled together over the years and had recently added Jazmin Thornton to put them over the top. Garrett-Hammett arrived at the school in August and was not able to get the summer work in with the rest of the team, which meant it took her some time to adjust.

“It was difficult at first because I had a bunch of opinions,” Garrett-Hammett said. “Now, I feel like everything is getting into place. It was hard at first because it was so different from what we ran at my previous school.”

One of the players that took her under her wing was fellow senior Kayla McBride. The two players are the only two seniors on the team and have formed a natural bond. 

“Kayla is a really good leader and a nice person, and she made me feel very comfortable on the team,” Garrett-Hammett said. “I think she’s a great fit as the captain of our team.”

Now, she is one of the key starters on a team ranked no. 1 and chasing a state championship. Her 16 points were instrumental in getting a road win over no. 3 Crisp Academy as she hit some pivotal free throws in crunch time.

“I felt like the game gave me a chance to show how I can keep fighting even when it gets hard,” Garrett-Hammett said. “I never gave up.”

Basketball comes naturally to her as she grew up in a true basketball family.

“I started playing when I was in fourth grade, and I was super young and didn’t take it as seriously, but by eighth grade I knew that this is what I wanted to do,” Garrett-Hammett said.

“My sisters, Tazsa and Fannasy Garrett-Hammett, are star players. [Fannasy] is involved with coaching rec now, and Tazsa plays overseas in Romania so we are definitely a basketball family.”

Garrett-Hammett hopes to continue the family legacy at the next level but knows basketball will be coming to an end for her. Whether it is after high school or after college, her time on the court will end. This is why Garrett-Hammett is so focused on the next step of her academic journey. She envisions herself becoming a psychiatrist after college.

“I want to have a life outside of basketball,” Garrett-Hammett said.

As she nears the end of high school, the feelings of a bittersweet goodbye have set, in but she still has unfinished business with the Warriors on the court. 

“We want to be elite,” Garrett-Hammett said. “We want to work together to bring home the championship. We want to be state champs.”