During Cyndie Troutman Morelock’s time at Hampton High School, the Lady Bulldogs’ basketball program saw some firsts.

On June 27, Morelock, who competed for the Lady Bulldogs from 1996 to 2000, will be inducted into the Carter County Sports Hall of Fame along with 15 other standout Carter County athletes.

“It came as a surprise to me,” Morelock said about when she was notified of her induction. “It is definitely an honor.”

In 1998, during Morelock’s sophomore season at Hampton, the Lady Bulldogs, under the leadership of coach Doug Phillips, made it to the state tournament for the first time in the program’s history. The following season the Lady Dogs almost made it again but fell to the North Greene Lady Huskies in the TSSAA Sectionals.

However, Hampton made its way to Murfreesboro once again in 2000, during Morelock’s senior season.

According Morelock, the Lady Bulldogs team she played with for 4 years was a special group of girls.

“We just had a lot of intensity and drive,” she said.

At Hampton, Morelock was a force to be reckoned with. Playing as guard, Morelock was a three-time All-Watauga Valley Conference honoree, a three-time All Carter/Johnson County team Most Valuable Player, and a three-time Region 1-A tournament MVP. During her junior season, Morelock surpassed the 1000-point mark and went on to tally 1,749 career points.

Morelock’s career in basketball did not stop at the high school level. After graduating in 2000, she went on to compete for Walter’s State Community College, where she left her mark. The 5-8 baller still remains on the Lady Senator’s top-25 lists for single season steals, snatching 62 steals during the 2000-01 season. She tallied 110 career steals during her two season with the Lady Senators.

It was during her time at Walter’s State that she played under someone who she considers one of the most influential people of her basketball career. Coach Dave Kragel, who has coached at Walter’s State for 38 seasons, still leads the Lady Senators, and during her two-year hitch at Walter’s State, Morelock said Kragel really pushed her to compete at a higher level.

“He is just one of those coaches that is just there for the players,” she said. He pushes you to get better. He has a great knowledge of the game, and brings a lot of intensity that passes off to the players.”

After gracing the court at Walter’s State, Morelock made a big move to Costal Carolina University, where she competed for the Lady Chanticleers, becoming the first and only Lady Bulldog to have ever played at the NCAA Division 1 level.

“Since childhood, it had always been my No. 1 goal to play at that level,” she said. “And to be the first to do that from Hampton was a big deal to me.”

At Costal Carolina, under the leadership of former ETSU coach Alan LeForce, Morelock, who was 5-8 and always had played as a guard had to transition into a post player, where she competed among giants.

However, her size was a not an issue. Her senior year she started every game and averaged 10.4 and 4.8 rebounds per game. She also shot a team-best 48 percent from the field.

With a height disadvantage, Morelock said she had to play with different mindset than most post players.

“I had to work for all of my points,” she said. “Drawing fouls and hitting foul shots was my game.”

Today, Morelock lives in Hawkins County, where she teaches fifth-and-sixth-grade math at Church Hill Intermediate School.

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