Clay County junior Haylen Garrison has built her high-school career around versatility. Garrison is a three-sport athlete, competing in basketball, volleyball and softball, but it is on the hardwood where she is becoming one of the region’s most dangerous scorers and an emerging leader for the Lady Bulldogs.
Her basketball journey started long before she stepped onto the high-school stage. Garrison said she traces it back to sixth grade, when her junior-high team captured a state championship win over Pickett County. Garrison said that day sparked something that still drives her today.
Now a junior, Garrison said she considered herself one of the tone-setters inside Clay County’s gym, not just with her scoring, but with the way Garrison brings her team together.
“Off the floor, [my favorite part of preparing for a game] is getting my teammates together,” Garrison said. “Talking more not just all about basketball, just go out and everything outside of basketball too is what keeps us close.”
Garrison and her teammates have already tasted the big stage. As a freshman, she helped the Lady Bulldogs earn a trip to the TSSAA state tournament in Murfreesboro, an experience Garrison is determined to recreate.
“We’re all super close,” Garrison said. “Practices are fun, and we’re all just like a family over here.”
That tight culture has helped Clay County produce big wins early this season, with Garrison firing in scoring bursts whenever her team needs it. She’s already delivered multiple 20-point performances, including nights of six made three-pointers in back-to-back games and a 17-point, five-three-pointer effort in last year’s district semifinals. Garrison also earned second Team All-District honors as a sophomore.
Garrison has also carved out a permanent place in Clay County basketball history. Last season, Garrison set the school record with 10 made three-pointers in a win over Wartburg. But becoming a sharpshooter did not come easily.
“Before that, I wasn’t a very good three point shooter,” Garrison said. “But seventh grade is when I really started working on it. But it didn’t get really good until my freshman year.”
Garrison said she spends time with her teammates every day in the gym when not traveling or preparing to play in a game. Garrison said she also looks to put in time improving her defense this season, something she says has also come a long way.