Morgan Hall of Fame to induct Christy Ferguson on May 3
By David Elwell
For the Enquirer
It happened 42 years ago, but the memory is still fresh on the mind of Kent Tucker.
In 1983, Tucker was coaching Falkville’s fifth grade boys team in the Morgan County Tournament at Cotaco. One of his players had the ball and was being tripled-teamed by the defense.
Somehow that player dribbled through the traffic to score a key basket that helped the Blue Devils claim the championship trophy.
The player was Christy Ferguson. She was the only girl on the Falkville team.
“I’ll never forget the crowd’s reaction in that little gym. They went crazy. No one there had probably ever seen a girl do that in a basketball game,” Tucker said. “This was something new and exciting. It showed what girls basketball could be like.”
Remember this was 1983. It was one season before Hartselle set the Morgan County standard for girls basketball with state championships in 1984 and 1985. It was just five years after the Alabama High School Athletic Association held its first girls state championships in 1978.
It was the first big splash on the sports scene for the girl they called “Little.” Two years later, Ferguson was a starter on the Falkville girls varsity team. In six seasons, she scored 2,552 points and was a two-time All-State selection.
In 1987, Ferguson starred on Falkville’s slow-pitch softball state championship team. She would be a part of five state championship softball teams at Hartselle. She was head coach in 2014 and 2018 and an assistant coach in 2000, 2002 and 2003.
Ferguson is being inducted into the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame on May 3. The banquet will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront. Tickets are still available at $50 each.
“God blessed me with some talent and parents who were willing to sacrifice for me to make it happen,” Ferguson said. “Accolades are great, but it all boils down to winning. Some people don’t understand that.”
The daughter of Johnny and Helen Ferguson grew up competing at home in everything against her younger brother, Shannon. She started playing softball in the first grade and basketball in the third grade. Fifth grade was her first opportunity to play school basketball.
“They passed out a sign-up sheet for anybody who wanted to play basketball. Nothing was said about a girls team, and I signed up because I wanted to play basketball,” Ferguson said. “Dad carried me to the first practice and it was all boys. ‘He said, Where are the girls?’ I said there are no girls. He said, ‘you can’t play on a boys team.’ I said, ‘Yes I can.’”
“Yes I can” pretty much explains Ferguson’s drive to success as an athlete and then coach.
“The bottom line with Christy has always been about winning,” said Neil Estes, who coached the Falkville girls basketball team in Ferguson’s last two years. “She hates losing more than she enjoyed winning. That’s the sign of a great competitor, and that’s Christy Ferguson.”
Ferguson loved basketball and idolized Larry Bird. She was constantly searching for ways to improve her game. When she needed to develop her left-handed dribbling skills, Ferguson practiced in the dark in her family’s basement.
“Her determination to succeed was off the charts all the time,” said Tucker, who coached her on the varsity through her sophomore season. “Playing against the boys helped develop her game.
“Her defense drove our opponents nuts. Back then teams would bring the ball down and set up to run a play. Christy wouldn’t let them set up. She was a pest always trying to steal the ball. She would take the ball and score an easy layup. Everyone knew what she was going to do, but they couldn’t stop her.”
Ferguson teamed up with Christy Chaney to give the Blue Devils a dangerous scoring duo. Ferguson played point guard and could score from the outside. Chaney played inside and was almost impossible to stop. Sometimes it would be Chaney grabbing a rebound and quickly passing down court to a speedy Ferguson in stride for a layup.
The Morgan County Tournament made history in January of 1986 when the boys and girls tournaments were combined into one. For eight previous years the girls played in a separate tournament. The Falkville girls made the 1986 tournament even more special.
“The tournament was at Brewer, and we drew Austin with the winner getting to play Brewer in the next round,” Ferguson said. “I didn’t know what to think about the draw, but Christy Chaney said ‘We got this.’ I thought OK, if you say so.”
Falkville, the smallest school in the county, beat Austin, the largest school in the county, 64-47, in the first round and then home team Brewer, 56-55, in the semifinals to advance to the final against two-time defending state champion Hartselle. The championship game went Hartselle’s way, 52-44, but Falkville’s giant killers earned a lot of respect. Falkville’s Chaney was named the tournament MVP.
“When you are from Falkville, you go into every game in the county tournament feeling feel like an underdog. I liked being the underdog,” Ferguson said.
In her six years on the Falkville varsity, Ferguson would go 1-8 vs. Brewer. While the rivalry may appear to be one-sided, it did lead to some memorable games. In 1988, Falkville lost big at Brewer. Ferguson scored nine points with seven coming on free throws.
“I played so bad that my dad walked out in the second quarter,” Ferguson said. “Disappointing my parents, especially my dad, just tore me up.
“After the game, he told me my career was over and that I didn’t need to play any more. He told Mom to wash my uniform that night so I could turn it in the next day.”
The next day, Ferguson’s dad gave her another chance. She responded in the next game with a career-high 52 points vs. West Morgan in a 64-63 overtime victory. Ferguson hit 14 field goals, including two 3s, and hit 18 of 30 free throws.
Falkville trailed by 12 after three quarters and by seven with one minute left in regulation. Ferguson scored 18 of Falkville’s 19 points in the fourth quarter. She scored all seven points in overtime. It was the start of a six game streak where she averaged 40 points a game. She ended the season averaging 33 points a game.
“I felt like I had redeemed myself. Dad said it was about time I did something,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson never played on a varsity team that won the county tournament or advanced to the state tournament. She did leave her mark in the record book with 2,552 career points, two all-state selections, five All-Morgan County selections and Decatur Daily player of the year honors.
“I would have traded it all for a basketball state championship,” Ferguson said.
At the close of her high school career in 1990, Ferguson’s 2,552 points ranked No. 3 on the all-time state list. Now it’s 40th. She’s third all-time in Morgan County behind West Morgan’s Hayden Hamby (4,485) and Decatur’s Yolanda Watkins (2,801).
Ferguson did get to celebrate a Class 1A-2A slow-pitch softball state championship in 1987. Tucker was the coach. Chaney was the state tournament MVP after hitting .467. The Blue Devils outscored their opponents 33-13 in four games.
“Christy Chaney was our shortstop, but she had hurt her throwing arm right before state,” Tucker said. “Christy Ferguson was a freshman and played left field. So they swapped positions for the state tournament. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a freshman, but Christy played great in the field and hit the ball, too.”
Ferguson played basketball at Calhoun Community College and then transferred to Wallace-Hanceville to get a taste of the growing sport of fast-pitch softball.
After getting her degree from Athens State, Ferguson moved into coaching, which included 22 years at Hartselle. Under her watch, the junior high girls basketball program was a strong feeder for the successful varsity program.
“We always had a championship mindset drilled into every kid at Hartselle,” Ferguson said. “They come in knowing the expectations and they want you to coach them up. They are willing to run through the wall for you.”
Ferguson got to be a softball state champion again in 2000, 2002 and 2003 as an assistant coach and in 2014 and 2018 as a head coach. The 2014 championship came in dramatic fashion on a two-out, two-run walk-off home run by Hannah Jenkins for a one-run victory.
“It was a special year with a special group of girls, and I am glad to have been a part of her coaching career at that moment,” said Hartselle’s Sarah Ellen Anders. “It was a moment we will never forget. Together, we brought the program back to the top.”
Hartselle coach Christy Ferguson hugs her players after the Tigers beat Gardendale in the 2018 Class 6A state softball championships at Lagoon Park in Montgomery. File photo
Hartselle players celebrate their 5A State Championship after defeating Moody on a two run, walk off home run by Hartselle’s Hannah Jenkins. Coach Christy Ferguson congratulates Jenkins as she rounds third and heads home. File photo.
In 2018, Hartselle won another softball state championship and did it again in dramatic fashion. The Tigers beat Saraland 6-5 in eight innings after trailing 5-3 through six innings. Tournament MVP Kylie Winton drove in Hannah Grace Beavis with the winning run for the walk-off victory.
“Coach Ferg (Coach Christy Ferguson) is always talking about making memories,” Winton said after the win. “I’ll never forget this.”
For Ferguson, it was another memory in an amazing career as an athlete and coach on the basketball floor and on the softball field.
