RYAN BLEICKER, JAYTON JAYBIRDS
What are your hopes for your team this year in district play? I really hope that we continue to grow on offense during district. Our shooting percentage numbers have been going up steadily and I really hope we are able to keep trending our offensive numbers in a positive direction as the season continues.
Which teams/players will be the most challenging? When you look at our district as whole it may be the toughest district in our region. Everyone in our district has really good athletes and are well coached. Spur and Paducah are two of the best schools in region 2. Patton and Guthrie have really good guards who can score with anyone, and Motley County is very athletic with a good inside out game.
What will be key to your success? The key to our success will be based on our defense. We put a lot of emphasis on our defense and the kids do a really good job of playing hard and defending people. That is key to every team we have in our program.
What are you most proud of this year, so far? So far this year the thing I have been most proud of is how we have played against our schedule. It has been a really tough schedule and we’ve played a lot of games in a short amount of time and have responded very well. We have played several different types of teams and have adapted to each style very well.
What’s been the biggest surprise this year, so far? The biggest surprise this year for me is the development of our kids. We have been able to play 18 kids in varsity games this year. It has been nice to get different kids experience playing at the Varsity level.
JASON BLANKENSHIP, LADY JAYS
What are your hopes for your team this year in district play? Our hope is to compete for a playoff spot.
Which teams/players will be the most challenging? Our district is always tough, so I feel like every night we will have to be ready to compete hard.
What will be key to your success? Our key to success will be working together in all aspects of the game and staying focused on our game plan.
What are you most proud of this year, so far? Our girls have been very resilient through times of adversity and as a result, we have matured and grown as a team.
What’s been the biggest surprise this year, so far? I think it’s the competitiveness within our district around the area. In general our district graduated a lot of great players last year, but teams have done a good job of having this year's groups ready to play at that same high level.
ERIC JOHNSON,
PATTON SPRINGS RANGERS
What are your hopes for your team this year in district play? Playoffs.
Which teams/players will be the most challenging? We have one of the best districts, with some very good coaches. We will treat them all the same for that reason. We will study them, prepare for them, and
play every team like it’s a game we need to get into the playoffs.
What will be key to your success? What will be key to your success? We have to GO HARD. (Grit Outwork Hustle Accountability Relentless and Dedication) That’s the key to our success.
What are you most proud of this year, so far? Boys fighting through adversity.
What’s been the biggest surprise this year, so far? Every young man I have works hard. I believe in everything they do. They might surprise other people or themselves, but they don’t surprise me because I know they are great. The question at hand is, will they work hard enough for it to show.
SHAUNDALE SCHAFFNER, LADY RANGERS
What are your hopes for your team this year in district play? Continuing last year’s legacy, making history competing in the playoffs, hopefully undefeated once again. I would love nothing more than to know Coach Wright is wearing the biggest smile ever right now.
Which teams/players will be the most challenging? This is one of the toughest districts in class 1A, and West Texas ball is a league of its own. Honestly, it’s a crapshoot of an outcome and can go any way at any given time. I’ve watched Guthrie grow and prepare over these last few seasons and this is definitely their year to shine. I think they are the team that I’ve personally been most focused on preparing to play. Each one of our schools have an excellent coaching staff and know what it takes to be prepared. Coach Shipman over at Guthrie is a great example of what building a program with heart and consistency looks like and I’ve known what to expect from them coming into this season. They’ll be tough, but like I said, every game in our district is a game to study, plan and prepare for. This district will be interesting to keep up with.
What will be key to your success? Team unity, trust, discipline, guts and heart. We highly emphasize unity and being a small team. I’ve been working with these kids this year to help them
RUSSELL CONRAD, SPUR BULLDOGS
What are your hopes for your team this year in district play? Our goal in district play is to win a district championship.
Which teams/players will be the most challenging? Jayton and Paducah are the front runners of our district as both are ranked in the top 25 by the TABC. Each team in our district presents challenges for us, and we will prepare for each team with the same focus and intensity.
What will be key to your success? Keys to our success will be attention to detail, playing at our tempo, and taking care of the basketball.
What are you most proud of this year, so far? I am most proud of how our older kids are helping and mentoring our younger kids in practices.
What's been the biggest surprise this year, so far? We haven’t had any real surprises so far this year, but I am impressed with how well our bench has been playing recently.
DAVID CASTELLON, SPURETTES
What are your hopes for your team this year in district play? Everyone hopes should be to compete for a district championship. That is our goal. It will be tough, but if we can come together as one. We can accomplish any goal we set our mind to.
Which teams/players will be the most challenging? Every team in our district is going to be tough. I can’t choose just one. It is going to be a dog fight every night. We need to be mentally tough enough to handle it.
What will be key to your success? Defense. If we can play great team defense, we will give ourselves an opportunity to win games. Leadership is another key to our success. We need some girls to step up and play the leadership role.
What are you most proud of this year, so far? We have come a long way since the beginning of the season. We lost A LOT from last year. We have had to have some young girls step up and play a lot of minutes for us. That will be beneficial for us down the road. We had a tough and grueling pre-season schedule. It should make us better for all of the close district games we will have.
What's been the biggest surprise this year, so far? Our selflessness. Almost to a fault. We sometimes want to share the ball too much and don’t shoot wide open shots or layups. Our girls work their tails off, and I couldn't be more proud to be their coach. realize their talents that they kept hidden beneath what they believed was our weaknesses. We’ve focused on becoming a defensive program rather than just an outside shooting team, and that has made the biggest difference. Defense and teamwork will be our biggest assets.
What are you most proud of this year, so far? Our overall growth, together. We lost our head coach that we’ve spent the last four seasons with early this season and it took a heavy toll on us all. We graduated four seniors last year and moved up six freshmen, so we have essentially started over with a younger, less experienced class and the girls started over with me as their new head coach. Although I’ve been with the girls as their assistant coach for four seasons prior, we all had to cope with the loss of Coach Wright and adjust to me as the new head coach. I was pretty nervous at first without him by my side, but I believe he’s been here with us, smiling away. He was so excited to watch them play this season, and we talked almost every week, planning to have him with us at most of our games, as our biggest fan and one of my greatest mentors. It’s been tough without him. Words can’t describe how wonderful it’s been watching this team grow and learning to trust each other as a whole. I love these girls more than they’ll ever know...
What's been the biggest surprise this year, so far?
Honestly, there’s not many that believed we would produce as well as we have this season after graduating four of our five starters last year, coming off a Cinderella story season. I knew what we had because the junior high have been mine for the last four years and I have been preparing them for high school to come up and play on a different level. It wasn’t a surprise to me what we’ve been able to do, but I think it surprised quite a few others, as well as some of the girls...lol. We aren’t a deep team and we have struggled some along the with injuries and what not, but we have played a tough schedule this season and they have developed into a beautiful team, full of hustle and heart. They never give up and that’s what I love most.
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