Joe's Take: It's been a pleasure, Syd

<figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/05/Webster-County-State-Tournament-3-scaled.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-285734" width="419" height="419" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Landon Persinger</figcaption></figure>   I will never forget Webster County Highlander girls' basketball legend [player_tooltip player_id='153421' first='Sydney' last='Baird'] during the rest of my wvprepgirlshoops.com basketball journey.   No matter where I end up on my hardcourt road.   The month simply will never come when I can fail to recall her game. Whenever the time rolls around for me to evaluate kids in a white gym with the mats on the wall, I will always look see shining reminders of one of Baird's outstanding basketball and people qualities playing out in front of me. It probably won't take me long to find them, either. Common traits will hit me square in the face as soon as I see them.     Baird really left so many great pieces on the court during her Highlander years, and there's just so many positive traits among the pile that still make an impact on this reporter.   In other words, there's no way I am getting her game out of my head, especially when you've watched and talked to her as much as this reporter. And, when I see the examples, well, they will just keep coming and coming and coming after the first one.   The next time I get on youtube to scout someone, she will pop up in my head. Small pieces will come back to me, but they will get bigger and bigger as I take in the live performances in April.   For example, as I sit in my steel chair watching [player_tooltip player_id='342214' first='Sofia' last='Wassick'] inside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on court “Number” for the AAU WPA Bruins in Pittsburgh on April 14, I will catch a glimpse of Syd. Not a physical glimpse. But, a characteristic. Wassick always appreciates playing in the big venue. Her energy rises, she goes on the attack, and she makes the big plays when she needs to make them, anyone thinking about Sydney, yet?   That will lead into the next time I see [player_tooltip player_id='379495' first='Finley' last='Lohan']. You see, there's never been a time where I have seen Baird panicked on the basketball court. Maybe once or maybe it was a trick of the light, but there's never been a moment where I have seen doubt. The hope and the fire are always there. They will be there for Lohan, as well.   One day after a I see Lohan and however many other players, I will see another Baird trait stand out in another local kid.   I will sit down and see Baird in [player_tooltip player_id='384095' first='Kynna' last='Britton']'s displays of love and passion for the game. You see, the Sissonville native will play every minute with the same fire and love for that game that Sydney displayed every year at Webster County High School. Britton will take the time to smile, be genuine, and make sure her teammates and herself are competing but still having fun, just like Syd.   Yet, those are just some of the immediate AAU implications. The sightings will reach through the rest of the summer, and then all the way into next school year. Every game with feature something whether it be new or old.   Whenever I think of Webster County, I will always wonder what Sydney did that night, even if she's already graduated. I will likely slip up and ask head coach Sharon Baird for the stats.   Heck, I will get excited the next time I am watching a kid score their 2000th point. I will immediately flash back to the night I watched someone else score their 2000th points. Yes, it was Baird and yes I will always flash back to the night I watched the girl with the pony tail fling herself in the history books.     Oh, the night she joined the “Club of One,” will play and play in my brain. I will remember the ponytail. I will remember that regular pre-game warm-up. I will flash back through every moment of that game. The beginning, the middle and of course the end.   But I will recall the play first.   You know the play, right? The one where she became a legend. I will remember the score being I will recall how she took one step in bounds and barely touched bodies with Calhoun County's on the inbounds play, before she popped out on the right three-point line and let her hope fly. I will remember it leaving her hand, the ball going through the hoop, and Webster losing their minds in the moment.   The hugs will return. The balloons highlighting her achievement will appear. Even the feeling I had when I watched the shot go in, that feeling still comes back as I write this.   There's really no escaping Baird, and just when I think I have escaped, she drags me back in. How about her attitude for a kid from a small town?   When I meet that next small-town kid, who couldn't be in a more unfortunate coverage area than Sydney, and doesn't complain about his/her lack of exposure, yeah, Sydney's memory will come roaring back in seconds.   Oh, and if someone ever brings up Meg Bulger and her coverage of the state tournament, well, Sydney will be there too. I will always remember that same night when, after the Highlanders lost to eventual Cameron team,” Bulger went up to Baird and offered her words of comfort and encouragement. She said she had never seen a better high school performance, according to Baird. All Bugler had watched Baird do was score 40 points and be nearly perfect as the Highlanders threatened the state champion Dragons in a very unexpected finish.   Finally, the next time I think about how neat it is to meet the girls and be just a small part of their lives, I will always remember the night way back on Nov. 24, 2022 when I picked up the phone and dialed myself right into her wild world.   Before I hit call, the only thing I knew about Sydney was she had just exploded onto the high school scene, thanks to a shooting performance topping 50% from the field on the year. After I hung up, I knew this was a kid who meant business, who loved the game, who didn't let the pressures of her position get the best of her, and who would make big things happen.   She sure did just all of that.   She even got this reporter snagged on the ride from that first phone call to the BACF girls basketball game inside PSHS Memorial Fieldhouse on Thursday night.   Thanks for the great ride, No. 23 - It's certainly been one I will remember - again, and again, and again.   Contact Joe Albright at <a href="mailto:josephpalbright@gmail.com">josephpalbright@gmail.com</a>.