Curtis Chiasson
March 20, 2015
1 down, 1 to go! Houma native wins Southland Freshman of the Year
March 25, 2015
As a senior at Vandebilt Catholic High School in the 2012-13 basketball season, Shakira Harding’s year ended with a nightmare – her team was never beaten on the court, but was instead pulled off the court and kicked out of the Class 4 A State Playoffs for something that didn’t involve 95 percent of the players or coaches on the team.
Last year, as a freshman in college with Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, it didn’t get much better. This time, yes, Harding’s team did get to compete for the title, but the final game of the season was a shoddy one for the Houma native, as Hutch fell to Trinity Valley 65-46 in the finals of the NJCAA Tournament.
Harding said she hopes the third time is the charm. Now a sophomore and with another dominant team playing behind her, the local woman said simply: It’s time to win a ring.
For the second-straight season, Harding is one of the top contributing players for Hutchinson – one of the most prestigious and dominant two-year colleges in America for women’s basketball.
At press-time, the Lady Dragons were a perfect 33-0 and were seeded No. 1 in the NJCAA Tournament – a few wins away from the dominance and redemption that both Hutchinson and Harding have been seeking for the past several years.
“So far, we are undefeated, and it feels really good to be where we are because everyone is gunning for us,” Harding said. “We get every team’s best game because everyone wants to take down No. 1. Every team wants to be the first team to beat the undefeated, so it keeps us on our toes.”
For Harding, a championship in 2014-15 would be the perfect icing on the cake of what’s been a season that’s had its share of adversity.
Harding said that she worked very hard in this past offseason in an effort to polish her game. Harding was a starter and contributor for the Lady Dragons as a freshman, serving as one of the team’s leaders.
Always a perfectionist, Harding said she set out to do more, touting that she dedicated herself to the gym to get better.
“Over the last summer, I worked on getting my shot off quicker and my midrange game to help my game adjust to the college pace,” Harding said. “That was also a way to get off more shots.”
But instead of firing out immediately as a sophomore, Harding’s journey was a bit delayed because of a knee injury that sidelined her for six weeks and eight total games.
She came back right around Christmas Break, but admittedly had a hard time finding a rhythm and staying on track.
“It was really rough coming back,” Harding said. “I was a lot more behind than I thought I would be so far as strength and abilities and especially conditioning.”
As Harding eased her way back into the lineup, she also faced a different challenge. For the first time in her 10-plus-year career, she wasn’t in Hutchinson’s starting lineup.
Harding said she never complained and didn’t feel dissed by the move – she understands that basketball is a team game.
But not being on the floor first and learning the rotation minutes for a reserve was all foreign territory.
“That was very different for me because as far as I can look back and remember, I’ve always been a starter on whatever team I’ve been on,” Harding said. “Coming in and finding my role off the bench was a challenge, as well.”
But through the struggle, Harding has thrived, and her eyes are firmly focused on the ring.
The Houma native said she’s now 100 percent healthy and is better than ever. Her recent play shows that to be the case.
In the Lady Dragons’ Semifinals win in the Region VI Tournament over Independence, the former Lady Terrier dominated.
Now back in the starting lineup, Harding scored 18 points, dished six assists and stole two passes in 31 minutes of action – all while shooting six-of-nine from the field.
The team fed off Harding’s big Semifinals game one day later and roared past Coffeyville in the Finals to punch a spot into the NJCAA Tournament and win the conference championship for the fifth-straight season.
While there, Harding will be able to showcase her talents and abilities to countless universities around the country who will be interested in securing her services in the next two seasons.
But while showing out and getting seen are the focus of many in the two-year ranks, it’s of no importance to Harding.
Yes, there is absolutely no doubt that the young former Lady Terrier plans to sign with a university this spring to finish her basketball career. She said that she’s gotten a few offers from programs and interest from many others who may pull the trigger in the upcoming weeks.
But for Harding, it’s not about the future – it’s all about the present. It’s about erasing the memories of how basketball season has ended in the past few years and finally finishing on top.
She said it’s also about leaving a legacy at Hutchinson and setting an example for the players who will maintain the program when she’s gone.
Those things, she said are her focus. The future can wait.
Right now, it’s all about the Lady Dragons and the chase for the ring.
“The season is nearly over, but it’s not all the way over yet,” Harding said. “My immediate concern isn’t where I’m going to be after this, but I’m concerned with who my team will be after this season – hopefully that’s national champions. The mistake many people make when they play on the junior college level is that they are so worried about getting their stats so they can get noticed that they forget about the team aspect of the game.
“As badly as I want to move onto a D1 program, I want almost as badly to leave a good legacy for Hutch.”
LOOKING BEYOND
While all of Harding’s talk is about the present, she does admit that a plan for the future does exist.
She gave a sneak peak at her future plans touting that her No. 1 focus is to better both her ability and prepare herself for major college basketball.
She said that will entail a position change and a shift from what folks in the Houma-Thibodaux area are used to seeing from Harding, who was a combination guard with the Lady Terriers.
“This summer, I’ll be working on trying to gear my game more toward a point guard style,” Harding said. “That’s definitely one of my weaknesses. I’m more of a shooting guard, so my mindset is to make plays for myself, so now I need to know how to also be able to make plays for my teammates.”
A true basketball student of the game, Harding then rattled off a few specific ways that she hopes to make those things a reality.
“So like playing better off of pick and roll, and driving and dishing or kicking,” Harding said. “Because of my size, at the next level, I’m going to have to be able to play more point guard.”
Harding also said she has plans to continue to polish her mid-range offensive game, as well so that she can continue to have a diverse array of weapons to punish opposing defenses.
“That’s really new for me,” Harding said of the mid-range game. “In high school, it was either get it all the way to the rim or shoot a 3. My pull has given me more versatility, but it’s still not as deadly as I’d like for it to be.”
Vandebilt Catholic graduate and Hutchinson sophomore Shakira Harding hoists a conference tournament trophy last week after helping her team win the title. Harding hopes to parlay that into a title in the NJCAA Tournament.
