Alright, let me walk you through exactly how we pulled off winning that 2025 State B girls basketball championship. This didn’t happen overnight – we started planning way back in January 2024 after getting knocked out early in sectionals the year before.
First, We Brutally Honest About Our Weaknesses
Called a team meeting right after Christmas break. Made every player write down three things we sucked at on index cards – no names attached. Turned out everybody knew our conditioning was garbage and we panicked under full-court presses. So first thing I did was hire a strength coach who worked with college athletes. We started waking up at 5:30 AM every Tuesday/Thursday for hill sprints. Sounds crazy, but by season opener, my guards could play full-speed for all four quarters without subbing out.
The Secret Weapon: Film Sessions In My Garage
Bought a cheap projector off eBay and turned my garage into a film room. Every Sunday night, we’d order pizza and break down two things: 1) Our last game, pausing every time somebody messed up defensive rotation. 2) Scouting footage of upcoming opponents. Key trick? Made players call out their own mistakes before I could. Embarrassing at first, but soon they started spotting patterns themselves – like how Riverdale High always set backdoor screens when their point guard dribbled left.
Regular Season Adjustments That Mattered
Started experimenting during low-stakes games:
- Ran our third-string point guard as starter for three games straight. Not because she was better – but to force other players to communicate more without relying on our star ball-handler.
- Stopped calling timeouts when opponents went on runs. Forced them to problem-solve mid-game instead of waiting for me to bail them out.
- Created “pressure minutes” drills: Up by 2 with one minute left in practice, make them defend 5-on-4 situations with tired legs.
Playoff Gut Checks
Almost blew it in regionals against Westfield. Their 6’3″ center was destroying us. During halftime, switched to a junk defense we’d only practiced twice: Put our quickest guard fronting the post while two wings played deny on the wings. Looked ugly as hell but held her to 4 points in second half. Won by three after missing two free throws with 10 seconds left – but our scramble defense prevented their final shot.
State Tournament Week Mindset Stuff
Cut all practice time in half during finals week. Instead:
- Had seniors share one embarrassing failure from freshman year over team breakfast
- Printed out tweets from rival schools trashing us and taped them to lockers
- Made them wear suits to school on game days – sounds corny but they walked differently
Championship Game Execution
Down 4 with 90 seconds left against Oakwood. Called our “spider” set – four-out formation isolating our best driver. She drew two defenders and kicked to weak corner. Bailey nailed the three-pointer. On their next possession, we trapped the inbound pass – exactly like we’d drilled since October – and got the steal. Final play was basic pick-and-roll, but worked because Oakwood was so tired from our tempo. Ball hit net at buzzer. Stormed the court, cried, the whole deal.
Biggest lesson? Conditioning wins close games, film study prevents surprises, and letting teenagers solve problems builds tougher teams than any pep talk. Still finding confetti in my gym bag.