NYSPHSAA GIRLS' BASKETBALL: LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: GIANA HUGHEY TO PLAY IN STATE FINAL FOUR FOR HORSEHEADS JUST AS HER MOM DID (March 19, 2026)

BY BRIAN FEES
Southern Tier Sports Report
When Giana Hughey walks into the Horseheads middle school gym she looks on the wall and sees a state finals banner that reads 2001-2002. 


“I think it’s super cool to be able to be one of the few teams (at Horseheads) to go to the Final Four,” Giana said. 

That banner is something that Giana always takes a look at when she’s in the gym.

“I do look up there and see 2001-2002 and think about 2026 being up there,” she said.

And, for Hollie there is nothing she would rather see than her daughter’s team have a banner on that wall. 

“It’s remarkable,” Hollie said. “If anyone’s banner is going to hang above mine, I’d like it to be their’s. I would love for you to put a banner above mine (Hollie said to Giana). It would be awesome.”

Hollie had a career that few in Horseheads history have matched. She finished as the school’s second all-time leading scorer, with 1,237 points. She helped lead the team to two final fours, including the state final. She was MVP of the state championship game, despite the team losing by three points. 

After high school Hollie went to play Division I basketball at Buffalo, where she tied for the conference lead in steals and assists as a freshman. 

Those two trips to final fours in high school are stories that Giana heard a lot as a kid. Now, she gets to make memories that will lead to her own stories one day. 

“It had to be a million stories,” she said. “I think it’s super cool that she’s my mom and now I’m making it to where she made it.”

Ever since she was little Hollie knew that her daughter could do something special in basketball.

“She’s been playing since she was four and she’s been playing with Sammie (Bonnell) since they were about 7 or 8,” Hollie said. “She’s always loved the sport. She’s very athletic and plays three different ones (sports), but she’s always gone back to basketball year round and I definitely think this team has a chance to win it.”

It was earlier this season when both mother and daughter started to realize that this team might be capable of doing some of the same things that Hollie’s teams did. 

“Probably the beginning of the year when I realized how good our team was,” Giana said of when she started to think they could make a final four. 

“Honestly, at the beginning of the year they were really young, but by the middle of the year they started gelling really well together and the guards are just growing so much,” Hollie said. “Their defense is spectacular. I think midway through the year I thought we could really go far this season.”

When Giana was younger her mother used to coach her, but as she’s gotten older she’s gotten other coaching and is really pushing herself more. 

“I have always tried to coach her in the beginning,” Hollie said. “The older she gets she kind of steps out on her own. I’ve always been a defensive focused player and she’s very good at defense. But, obviously, her height is taking her to be more of a forward. She gets that from the Hughey side of her family more than the Cook side. We are focusing more on forward aspect, but she does more of it on her own anymore. In the beginning, when she was younger, I coached her and she loved it. But, now she is focused on her own and does it on her own.”

While Hollie played guard in college, she was a forward in high school so Giana still always learns from her mom. 

“”It is sort of different,” Giana said of her position on the court. “But, she was more of a forward when she played.”

“High school level I was more of a forward,” Hollie adds. “It wasn’t until college I played guard. I am 5-10.”

Along with her mom Giana also has her brother, Maddox Hughey, to learn from. Maddox played for SUNY Poly this year, averaging over eight minutes a game as a freshman with an 11-point game on the season. At 6-foot, 6-inches and over 200 pounds he can help Giana prepare for what she sees in high school games.

“It helps when everyone is 6-6 all of a sudden and he’s obviously super tall and competitive as well,” Giana said.

The two do play one-on-one.

“Yeah, I always beat him,” Giana said with a smile.

The Horseheads sophomore knows that playing against her brother only helps to prepare her for the type of things she’ll face in big high school games.

“It just prepares me a lot,” she said. “It’s really hard to box him out and really hard to post him up, so it helps in that aspect.”

Having a mom who was an all-state player, and a brother who was honorable mention all-state just gives Giana plenty of people to talk to about her games.

“I am always asking them questions and they are always telling me what I need to fix and what I need to do differently,” Gianna said. 

And, all those stories growing up about her mom’s career just made Giana want to achieve some of the same things.

“It made me want to win states and to get there and just to go far,” Giana said. “I thought it would be super cool to do it (win states), especially with people I grew up with like Sam.”

For Hollie it’s fun to watch her daughter play, but it can also be nerve-wracking. 

“It’s definitely hard to watch her sometimes,” she said. “Because I know what she is capable of and sometimes she gets in her head too much and doesn’t always do what she can on the court. But, it is fun to watcher her play.

“Definitely nervous to watch her play. Way more than just an average team. If I watched varsity play last year when she was on JV it wasn’t nerve-wracking at all. It was exciting to watch them play, but when she’s on the court much more nervous as a mother.”

Going to states is something that Giana knows will be special.

“I am super excited, it’s our first time going there in a while and I have never been there,,” Giana said. “I think it’s going to be cool.”

It’s an atmosphere that Hollie was in before, and she knows will be fun for this year’s team.

“I am looking forward to it,” Hollie said. “I hope she can actually pull out the W not like me, but that’s okay. I think it will definitely be an exciting atmosphere. I don’t think they have ever played in that kind of atmosphere yet. The arena is one thing, but this is a whole different thing, with all the teams surrounding you in such a smaller gym. It’s going to be fun for her.”

This banners up on the wall will already be adding 2026 to the regional champion section, and Giana hopes to put more numbers on those banners. 

“I want it so much,” Giana said. “I think it’s super cool to be able to put more numbers up on the posters every year.”

For Hollie every time she walks in the Horseheads gym she thinks back to those final four teams. Some things never change, but she does hope the banners on the wall do.

“I loved playing in this gym,” she said. “Every time I walk in this gym it feels like yesterday. Nothing changes, but it would be nice for a banner to change. It is awesome to watch her play in this gym.”
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PHOTO BY BRIAN FEES

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