Always Playing: Tia Hemiller, Watertown

by Kolbe Nelson
December 26, 2011 10:56 PM


It doesn't matter what the sport is, Tia Hemiller just loves to play.

"I think for her," Watertown Girls Basketball Coach Pat McClemans says, "She wants to be going hard at something all the time and competing."

The senior has earned all-state honors in volleyball and has been running track since she was in eighth grade, but the sport she seems to excel the most in, is basketball.

"She's a four year starter," McClemans says, "And probably the thing that Tia does well or does the best is that she competes and plays hard all the time and is an outstanding athlete."

That competitive athleticism does a lot to open the floor for her teammates.

"She makes us better because, like anybody that has an outstanding player, she's the opposing team's focus." McClemans says, "And so it opens things up for some other kids."

Hemiller will try to keep doing that next year when she heads to USD, and she can't wait for the new challenges that will come with the college game.

"I'm pretty excited to go to USD," Hemiller says, "I know it's gonna be way different and a lot more time consuming, but I'm ready for the next level."

And Watertown knows just what kind of a treat the Coyotes are getting in an athlete like her.

"Having a player like that," McClemans says, "That's involved in as many things athletically and has strived to be the best she could is certainly a compliment to her."

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