Last Monday, Jan. 18, the Texas Girls Coaches Association released their weekly poll, and the Guthrie Lady Jaguars were ranked number four in 1A in the state.
The next night, Tuesday, Jan. 19, however, the Spur Spurettes made the 40-minute trek through 6666’s country and defeated the Lady Jags 43–31. That dozen-point difference made the Spurettes undefeated in district play, and they now sit atop 5-1A and are well positioned to earn a playoff spot.
But going to the playoffs is nothing new to this Spurettes team. The Spur girls have made the playoffs the last three years. However, in the past two years they’ve been overshadowed by “Cinderella” teams. Two years ago, it was Patton Springs, and last year, it was Guthrie. Patton Springs girls’ basketball had never won district, and Guthrie hadn’t been in the playoffs in seven years. All the while the Spurettes continued to make it to postseason.
The Texas Spur caught up with Spurettes head basketball coach David Castellon to see how the girls’ squad is faring with this year’s undefeated district success.
THE TEXAS SPUR: What does it mean to this team to be undefeated at this point and be #1 in district?
DAVID CASTELLON: The girls are excited. They work their tails off and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They know that being undefeated right now means nothing though. There is still a half of district to play against some tough teams. They aren’t satisfied and are going to continue to work hard regardless of their record.
And what does it mean to be unranked and defeat a Guthrie team that was ranked as high as #4 in some polls?
Guthrie is a great team that is very well coached. They are deserving of whatever rank they have. They play so hard and physical. Every time we play them we know it’s going to be a knock-down, drag-out fight. Rankings are awesome, but we don’t spend much time talking about them. It’s always nice to be recognized, but we just want to show up and do the work.
What’s different about this year from previous teams?
This is a very gritty team. This year has just been chaotic with the COVID situation. One thing I do know is that even though we were out of school at March—these girls continued to work hard throughout the spring and summer in preparation for the year. When we couldn’t hold workouts in April and May, these girls were working out on their own. When we were able to finally hold workouts in the summer, these girls were at every single workout. They have bought in to wanting to work harder than the next person and I love it. That will go much further than a sport. If you WANT to work hard, great things will always come your way.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.
