Dissecting a champion

Paul Money
March 27, 2014
408

Dissecting a champion - A perspective from a coach, a girls basketball mastermind and a fan There were many factors and common denominators that went into what led the West Holmes Lady Knights to their fourth State championship. Sheer talent, spirited coaching, community and probably most of all teamwork and friendship were the main fixin's of this team. It is impossible to rank these things however, as each one of these were a gigantic ingredient in Coach Patterson's recipe of success. Let's begin with the first ingredient, the talent. What made this team earn their perfect record in the regular season, soar through the sectionals, destroy the districts, romp the regional tournament and secure the State title? One factor was the talent. "Where they are extremely dangerous is that you can not cut off one facet of their game," said Wooster girls basketball coach Mike Baus. "If you try to shut down one thing they open up another and the capitalize on it," he continued. Baus would know having coached against the Lady Knights in the Ohio Cardinal Conference over the past several seasons. The Lady Generals usually give West Holmes a heck of a game or two doing the regular season. Someone else that knows the Lady Knights program pretty well is Classic in the Country director, Tom Jenkins. Jenkins reminded us of a play during the State final game against Kettering Alter that confirmed Baus' assessment of the talent that made the Lady Knights lethal. "One of the examples of that is when Alter was doubling and triple-teaming Snyder (Laina) in the post and she dropped it off to Molnar for a three, Snyder was laughing at the Alter players. It was as though Snyder said you can triple-team me all day long we have more than that.," said the girls basketball wizard Jenkins. The second element, the coaching, was another advantage the team had this season. The Div. II Coach of the Year, Lisa Patterson, led her team in a way that was inspirational to all programs in the state. Ultimately her focus on the teams goals equaled sublime jubilation in the end when they were standing on the hardwood at Value City Arena with the hardware. "Coach Patterson and her staff teach their players how to play, but most importantly they trust them to play," said Jenkins. "There is no question that coach Patterson has taught those kids how to play and trusteed them to play. If you look at teams that have made long runs at State titles, that is the common denominator there," he said. "As coaches, everyone is trying to get the players on the same page all together, in the West Holmes situation they are not only on the same page with coach Patterson, they are in the same paragraph," Jenkins continued. West Holmes die-hard fan and teacher in the district Lisa Feikert also felt that Coach Patterson was one of the key parts to seasons success. "I think Coach Patterson deserves a lot of credit for creating a team atmosphere and ensuring that they all feel they have an important role on the team," said Feikert. Feikert went on to say how much the community means to this team and how much the support from local businesses breads success. Moving us to that third factor, community. "It makes me tremendously proud to be a part of this community when I watched those gyms fill up with WH fans. One day, as we were driving through town right before the state tournament, my 13-year-old daughter said that she thought her favorite thing about the girls making it to State was watching the whole community come together to support them and seeing all the signs in the business windows," she said. Community. That word means a whole lot, but it seems to be brought to a reality and have such a bigger meaning when it comes to West Holmes girls basketball. When the town is involved that deeply in the State tournament run it means that all those little Lady Knights that want to be a Laina Snyder or Paiten Strother some day. "Their entire program from third grade all the up has a mind set in their athlete to have a will to win along with the understanding that hard work pays off," said Baus "That mind set starts at an early age and continues on and obviously it is working for them," the Lady Generals coach said about the younger kids being doused with the programs standards. Finally, what the majority of fans, coaches and casual observers think is the most important part of the Lady Knights success. Their teamwork and friendship. Jenkins might have put it best. Okay, he did put it best. "Another big difference is these players genuinely like each other," said Jenkins. "Guy basketball players want to go into the gym and play with the best players. Girls basketball players want to go into the gym and play with their best friends. The key to success in girls basketball is get the key players together and then create the environment for them to become best friends." "This West Holmes team genuinely cared for each other and played for each other," Jenkins continued about the deep harmony amongst the Lady Knights. Everyone cared about them. Those fans that waited in line in the freezing cold outside Zanesville High school and then sweated bullets inside a packed house against Maysville. The businesses that sent off the team to Columbus and then welcomed them home when the Lady Knights were on fire trucks cruising through town. But most importantly, more important than talent, coaching and community, the players on the 2014 Lady Knights basketball team cared for each other. And usually that equals success any way you dissect it.

Dissecting a champion

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