Martin-Methodist junior and Good Hope graduate Nina Mills (20) defends an inbound pass during a game earlier this season. Mills took her ACL during her sophomore year but has been a key cog for her team this year, averaging 9.3 points a game and helping the Red Hawks to a school-best 23-5 record.

Nina Mills has savored each and every moment of a healthy and happy season on the basketball court this winter.

After all, it’s been a long time coming.

Since graduating from Good Hope in 2012, Mills hasn’t exactly had the easiest of roads since enrolling at Martin-Methodist University.

Freshman year? Tough, hard and “no fun at all.”

Sophomore campaign? A devastating tear to her left ACL shortly before her team’s conference tournament.

Mills never thought about quitting, though. Not for a second.

Instead, the junior guard poured her heart and soul into getting back to the player she knew she could be.

With the Red Hawks sitting at 23-5 this season — the most wins in team history — and Mills averaging close to 10 points per game, it’d be quite fair to say she accomplished her mission.

“This has been the best year and one of my favorites,” Mills said. “I am thankful and blessed. Our team is doing really well, my teammates are all great and I’m sad that the season is almost over.”

Mills is first on the squads in minutes played (696), assists (82) and steals (43) and second in free-throw percentage (75) and points per game (9.3). She’s been a strong reason for Martin-Methodist’s success in the Southern States Athletic Conference.

First-year coach Kyle Bent didn’t know much about Mills when he took over the program, but it didn’t take that long to realize why she’d been recruited by the previous staff.

“She’s extremely hardworking and just a good kid,” he said. “She has a great knowledge of the game. I only have to tell her to do things one time and they’re done. She’s one of those kids you love coaching.”

While some might be surprised at Mills’ recovery and production, she’s been down the road before, suffering a right ACL tear during her junior season with Good Hope.

A year later, however, she was leading the Raiders back to the Final Four in Birmingham.

“There are lots of similarities with those two injury seasons,” Mills said. “This year’s been a lot like that one at Good Hope. I’m really close with a great team, I have a great coach and we’re winning basketball games.”

Added Bent, “She’s a calming influence for us out there.”

Mills doesn’t let present-day success forget her roots, though. She keeps in close contact with former teammate and Faulkner player Kayla Tillman on a regular basis, stating the two “exchange text messages about schools and what not” when they aren’t meeting on the floor — where Tillman’s squad holds a 1-0 edge this season.

Her older sister, Mary Hartline (formerly Mary Lauren Mills), recently took Fairview’s varsity girls to the Northwest Regional Tournament for the first time since 1997 en route to a 15-win campaign.

“She makes me so proud,” Mills said. “She puts in so much work during the season and beyond. She’s asking me stuff and putting a lot into the girls. It’s awesome to see.”

While Mills enjoys the college atmosphere, there’s one thing she misses when looking into the crowd — family.

Although her mother makes it to most games, the rest of the Mills clan doesn’t get to watch many matchups in person.

“You don’t realize how special it is to have them there,” Mills said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the fun of high school. Coach (Michael) Oldarce and a gym packed with fans. It was awesome.”

Tillman, meanwhile, averages 10.5 points and is second on her squad in scoring for Faulkner this season.

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Softball

Cara Goodwin entered her freshman season with UAB’s softball program riding high from a prestigious prep career at Good Hope.

However, 2014 was anything but a warm welcome for the strong pitcher, as Goodwin tossed only 10 1/3 innings — due to two senior hurlers — and finished the year with a very un-Goodwin-like 6.10 earned run average.

Confidence buster? No way.

The Blazer sophomore has been the go-to ace for coach Marla Townsend so far in 2015, sporting a much-improved ERA — it shrunk from 3.55 after Tuesday’s extra-inning win over Mississippi State — with 27 strikeouts in 26 1/3 frames en route to an early 3-0 start on the season.

“Last year just made me more hungry for success,” Goodwin said. “I just worked harder, because I knew I could be on that field with the best of the best. I want to take us to the World Series. That’s my only goal now.”

Added Townsend: “When she first arrived, Cara did everything we asked her to do and had a great work ethic. She came back in nice shape, and I’d say her athletic ability has improved greatly. She’s worked on her pitching, and we’re relying on her to be ready and keep our opponents on their toes for the rest of the season.”

Physical tools have never been an issue for Goodwin. However, she said the “mental game” really took her by surprise during her early stages with the school.

“They talk a lot about that,” she said. “I was shocked by it. The longer I am here, though, the more I’m learning how to grasp all the aspects of the game. Putting the ball on the edge of the plate, changing my speeds, those type of things. Mentally, it’s a challenge.”

Goodwin isn’t the only former Raider flexing her softball muscles, either.

Alannah Henke (2014 grad) and Darcie Wilson (2013) are each out with Southern Union and Oklahoma Panhandle State, respectively. Henke boasts a .303 average with a home run and five RBIs so far in 2015, while Wilson — who transferred from Martin-Methodist — is hoping to shine in her Aggie colors this spring.