Lady Warriors have room to grow after championship
West Side Christian coach Randall Miller said his basketball teams will start their off-season programs in another week or so. The Lady Warriors are still basking in the glow of the program’s second Heartland Christian Athletic Association 2A State Championship, which was won a little more than a week ago in Oklahoma.
The thought of being the last team standing might’ve seemed farfetched after the squad’s revamped roster lost seven of its first eight games.
“Back in the summer when we were looking at the roster, I thought we would be a contender but using the depth that we had and a different style of play, which is more full court pressure on makes and misses,” said Miller. “I felt we could create enough offense off our defense to be a contender. Then when we lost some of that depth, I knew we’d have to play a different way. I just didn’t know how long that would take for us to figure out, because we had prepped to play the other way all spring and summer.”
Adding to the Lady Warriors’ early-season woes was an injury in the second game to lone senior Grace McNabb. McNabb missed several games and the team’s record suffered.
“Even during that time, we were playing some solid defense,” Miller said. “We were just really struggling with our offensive roles because we had shifted a lot of people around. We had too many turnovers. We looked unsure of ourselves offensively at times. We didn’t look confident. I thought we would eventually get past that. When Grace came back, obviously, that helped. Defensively she does a lot of good things for us and offensively, she’s a willing shooter. She’s confident, always.”
West Side’s roster was young, including a pair of freshmen starters and a sophomore. Miller was asked if the youth helped keep his players from dropping their heads during the tough moments.
“When you’re young like that, you’re not feeling the pressure that you might as an older player,” he said. “But there was a stretch where I thought we got a little down. I think they were down because so many of the losses we were having were close losses. I told them, we
gave you a tough schedule and we're going to play the tough schedule. It'll make us better but we're going to have some growing pains while we're doing that.”
With a tough schedule that included a pair of games against Taylor, a participant in this week's Class 1A State Tournament, Miller said he was looking for “incremental improvements that weren't necessarily related to the scoreboard.
“Our main push for improvement was, let's go and compete for an entire game and not worry so much about what the scoreboard is saying at any certain moment. Make sure each possession we're competing. I do think that clicked at some point. We started competing real hard on every possession and things started turning.”
West Side went undefeated in its own Warrior Invitational before Christmas. It didn't take long for Miller to start looking ahead to bigger goals.
“Once we started seeing some of the improvement we were looking for, we thought it was wide open and there was probably five or six teams that could win it and we were one of them. We told them that. It's hard to say whether they believed it or not.”
The Lady Warriors would finish the season by winning 15 of their final 17 games, including the last eight in a row. One of those losses was to Arkansas Christian Academy, which would be West Side's opponent in the championship game.
“I'll be honest, I was really concerned after our semifinal game. They told me how nervous they were after that game. We didn't seem to do much right offensively at all. Now defensively, we locked them down. Offensively, we played timid and scared so I was pretty concerned going into the championship game. It looked like nerves were going to get us,” Miller said.
“But in the championship game, they played aggressively. They didn't look too hesitant. We told them, trust what you see and then aggressively go do what your eyes are telling you to do. I thought for the most part, we did that.”
West Side beat Arkansas Christian Academy 43-36 to claim the title.
As the team looks ahead to the off-season, Miller said the Lady Warriors haven't reached their ceiling, especially offensively. A lot can happen to a roster between now and the start of next season. West Side knows that all too well. Still, there's excitement for the program's future.
“We like at the end of the year to try to do a little exit interview with each player - kind of review the year from their standpoint, personally how it went. But, also hear what their goals are for themselves individually and then make a plan based on that. We'll slot the kids into the roles they'll have and tailor their off-season to the skills they need for that,” Miller said. “We've had a couple come already and say, ‘I really want to add this to my game,' which is exciting for us. Anytime they're seeking out improvements, you're going to get better results.
“Looking at next year, we're going to be a solid team. We'll have to replace some of the things Grace gave to us. Her defense was solid around the rim and just her leadership. We'll have to replace those things and that won't be easy. But we do have some kids that are eager to try it.”