How the North Myrtle Beach basketball team rallied around a teammate during tragedy

Coaches tend to emphasize the importance of “family” to their players.

Apparently, the North Myrtle Beach girls basketball team has bought all the way in and truly become their sister’s keeper.

Winners in 13 of their first 14 games this season, the Chiefs met a challenge this week tougher than any opponent they will face this season.

While at church to bring in a new year, the home of North Myrtle Beach freshman basketball player Daveona Hatchell was engulfed by fire. A faulty wire in the basement is being blamed for the blaze, which claimed the home and all things belonging to the family of six, according to North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue.

Among the first to learn of the tragedy was North Myrtle Beach girls basketball coach Brooke Smith, who just happened to pick up her phone at an hour she is typically sound asleep.

“It’s terrible, one of the worst things you can imagine for anyone,” she said. “Oddly, Daveona was going to stay the night and keep her brother while their mother went to church. I’m thankful they did go, because the likelihood of them being asleep and possibly dying in the fire truly would have been heartbreaking.”

Smith considers Hatchell an important piece to her team’s success as the Chiefs freshman is able to play all five positions on the floor. “She’s special … she can do a little of everything for us,” the first-year coach said, considering the youngster’s unselfishness as her best attribute.

With Hatchell and her family needing an assist in the worst way, her teammates took it upon themselves to help begin the healing process.

Without being asked by coaches, players dug in their own pockets to ensure the family had clothes, toiletries, blankets and other necessities.

“(Players) did this by themselves, coaches didn’t make them do anything,” Smith said. “We got to practice and saw they had bought a couple hundred dollars of items to help out. It truly brought me to tears … you really see how much they love each other.”

Members of the school’s Teen Angels program have provided the family assistance in recent days. Coaches have also created a GoFundMe page for the entire community to get in on the effort.

“The family has already found another home they would like to rent, but as you know they are starting from scratch because they lost everything,” Smith said. “We want to be able to provide them two months of rent so they don’t have to worry about those things.”

Coaches are also requesting gift cards for the family rather than food and meals, due to the lack of plates, pots and pans. “They don’t have the utensils and supplies to make food, so unfortunately a lot of those things don’t really help at the moment,” Smith said.

Despite the circumstances, the North Myrtle Beach girls basketball coach said her young contributor is slowly getting back her normal demeanor.

“The first day, even though I told her not to come to practice (Hatchell) came anyway,” Smith said. “You could tell right after that she just wasn’t quite herself. But with each passing day, you can see her smile coming back.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2018 at 6:00 PM with the headline "How the North Myrtle Beach basketball team rallied around a teammate during tragedy."