Last year was a lost season for Highland guard Alyssa Heeman. But if the start of the new campaign is an indication, it could be a huge find for her and her Hawk teammates.

Heeman, a 5-foot-4 guard who most often will be the smallest player on the court for either team, missed about two-thirds of last season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. She suffered the injury near the end of summer, had surgery and returned to action in mid-January.

Her return was certainly welcomed, but did not produce the outcome  she or coach Miner Webster had hoped.

"It was hard for her," Webster said. "She got back in the middle of the season. She still wasn't right."

She seemed to be right last week. Highland went 6-0 and won its annual tournament with Heeman taking the lead. Heeman was named the tournament's most valuable player. She averaged 10 points a game and scored 20 in the championship game, a career high. All of it felt good after the trials of the season before.

"I never felt like I was 100 percent, I know I wasn't," Heeman said. "I was never able to get in condition like I needed to be. And I'd still have glitches with my knee. I wasn't comfortable."

Now she is back to doing things she was more able to do her freshman and sophomore seasons -- handling the ball and providing outside scoring. In her latest game Tuesday night against Mountain Pointe at home, Heeman was more the playmaker. She handed out seven assists, most to hot-shooting Jordan Hagen (23 points), as the Hawks improved to 7-0 with a 68-39 win over the Pride.

What Heeman hoped to contribute last year in her limited role was outside shooting. Even that part of her game was off last year when she returned to action. Heeman shot 47 percent from 2-point range and 35 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore and averaged 6.5 points. Last year she slumped to 28 and 25 percent, respectively, and just 3.1 points per game.

This season with another nine months behind her, Heeman is more physically prepared for competition. Noting that, Webster opened up competition for a new point guard early on in summer due to the graduation of three-year-plus starter Jenay Locke. Webster auditioned Heeman, Hagen and sophomores Kathleen Cabrera and Olivia Lucero for Locke's spot.

"It didn't take me long to figure out the job belonged to Alyssa," Webster said. "She's handled it better than I thought, even against players we faced last week who have an advantage in quickness over her."

"I've been used to being a point guard so switching to that wasn't that hard," Heeman said. "It had been a some time since I played it, but with me feeling so much better and in condition it's been an east transition from shooting guard."

Heeman is averaging just over nine points a game thus far. Webster knows scoring will come from several different players as it usually does for the Hawks. He's relieved Heeman is healthy and able to fill a key void from last year's team.

"Alyssa is very capable and done a nice job so far," Webster said. "Sometimes she'll force things that aren't there, but she has the skill. Plus she's healthy enough to get the job done with the demand of the position. What was good about last week was with her and the team we got a little better every game. As a coach that's what you want to see."