Massive turnaround gets Howard, Gahr to Division 5AA final
CERRITOS ❯❯ When Alfred Howard accepted the challenge of being the new head coach for Gahr's girls basketball team, he instantly knew his team had the potential to be great despite its 4-24 record last season.
However, he says, it wasn't until the Gladiators were blown out by Cypress 70-13 in a tournament game on Nov. 29 that the players became serious about this season.
Howard said after that stark loss, his players raised their level of commitment and put in the necessary hard work to be great.
The team's turnaround began Dec. 12 and it has won 20 of its last 21 games, and now Gahr (25-6) is heading into the CIF-Southern Section
Division 5AA championship game. The Gladiators will play No. 1-seeded St. Margaret's (26-6) at Edison High School on Saturday at 6 p.m.
“It's mixed emotion,” Howard said in regard to the team's excitement level heading into the final. “It's half excitement, it's half nerves. We know we have a tall task ahead of us.”
On Saturday, Gahr pulled off a 39-38 comeback win at home against Marina in the semifinals. Howard was extremely proud that even when his team was down seven points with 6:04 left in the game, it never stopped believing it would prevail.
“Against Marina, we never thought we were out of it,” Howard said.
Despite the expected anxiety before the biggest game of the season, he wants the team's fast-paced style and positive mindset to anchor it through any adversity.
“Where these girls have come from is actually miraculous to have the season that they've had with the senior class and for them to turn it around ... I'm definitely proud of them,” Howard said. “But they knew my expectation coming into the summer. When I took over the team, I saw they had the ability, they just needed to tweak a few things to be able to get to this level.
“So now that we're there, they know my expectations, they know the expectations they have for themselves. We have to go out there and execute . ... Like I always tell the girls, they've been playing basketball since they were 7, 8, 9 or 10 years old. It's a basketball game, just go out there and have fun. Let's compete and things will take care of themselves.”