The grandfather of Hillcrest’s Da’Jha Johnson let her into his gym when she was only 3 years old.
Ronald Jones ran the gym for the Hazel Crest Park District. Johnson, his granddaughter, was always a welcomed guest, even if she was the youngest in the place playing against boys.
“I would be in there with the boys and I would practice with them,” Johnson said. “They were older, and it taught me to be aggressive.”
Jones, who still attends her games, provided the spark. But Johnson took it from there.
The junior point guard is enjoying a stellar career for the Hawks, which includes scoring her 1,000th career point last season. She added 18 points and seven steals to her totals Thursday night in a 62-21 win over Eisenhower in a South Suburban Conference crossover game.
A loud senior night crowd in Country Club Hills also saw senior guard Tia Rice recording 12 points on four 3-pointers for Hillcrest (10-10, 5-0 SCC Red). Myla Drayton scored 11 points off the bench, while Davia Cobb had nine rebounds and senior forward Arriyanna Amison hauled down eight.
Eisenhower (1-12, 0-4 SCC Blue) opened the game promisingly with a 3-pointer by Gabrielle Williams, who finished with seven points. Hillcrest, however, scored the next 26 to take control.
The 5-foot-7 Johnson, meanwhile, is not only a top basketball player. The Chicago Bears organization named Johnson, a quarterback, honorable mention on its all-state flag football team this fall in the first season the Illinois High School Association sanctioned the sport.
In basketball, she has show a variety of offensive skill and defensive prowess, something that Hillcrest has been used to seeing from her since day one.
“I first saw her in the summer league before her freshman year,” Rice said of Johnson. “And her skills were amazing. She’s still amazing. I think she’s the best player on our team.
“She’s always lifting us up even when she is down. That’s a good quality to have, especially if she wants to go to college to play basketball. Any school she goes to will be happy to have her.”
Johnson, who also plays for the high-profile Example Academy AAU team, said she has been getting looks from several colleges but did not want to elaborate.
She has a good connection with Rice on the basketball court as well as on the football field. Rice was one of her receivers in the fall.
Hillcrest coach Ed Schodrof remembered watching Johnson play in seventh grade at Jesse White Learning Academy in Hazel Crest, and he was impressed back then.
“In eighth grade, they didn’t have a team because there were not enough girls to make a team,” Schodrof said. “So, she went and played travel and did what she had to do to play that year.”
Schodrof pointed out that he had no problem bringing Johnson up to varsity level as a freshman, and he said she has been getting better each season.
“She moves the ball around and shares the ball,” Schodrof said of Johnson. “She’s happy to see her friends score. Other teams throw box-and-ones at her, and she faces double teams, full-court pressure and makeshift defenses.
“She’s getting stronger. As a younger kid, it was hard for her and she got beat up a little bit. As the years go on, she’s getting to be OK with that.”
Even though she’s a junior, Johnson was happy to experience the senior night festivities, which included a DJ, a good crowd and a festive atmosphere.
“People don’t show up to female games,” she said. “I like it when people show up and hype us up as much as the boys get hype.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
