Mike Buck is a long-time veteran coach. Before he took over the Stone Memorial girls basketball team, he had great success with other hoop programs around the state. He’s been a winner every where he’s been.
However, Buck has also been through the tough times with a program, the times when the wins are few and far between. When that happens, coaches and players have to stay focused on the big picture and fight their way through to the other side.
Buck did just that with the Stone Memorial Lady Panthers last year. After failing to win more than eight games in any of the previous four years, SMHS rolled over opponents last season and finished the year at 27-4.
“I had a good feeling about this team,” said Buck. “We knew that Ashley [Whittenburg} would be the most experienced player we had, but we also knew Ella Jane [May] would be back after a good freshman year, and Lauren Clark would come into the season with a year of varsity action.
“If you look at it that way, we returned some good talent. Plus, if you couple that with the mental makeup, the skill and the toughness of the kids we had coming in, and their ability to jump right in and do some things, we were confident we were going to be a good team.”
The 2025-’26 Lady Panthers were a very good team and that’s why they were voted winners of the 2026 Crossville Chronicle Award for Co-Team of the Year at Stone Memorial.
“This group wanted to do things the right way and win,” Buck said. “When that’s the goal of competitive people, you can expect good things to happen.”
And good things did happen. The Stone girls won their first 12 games of the season, including wins over Jackson County, Bartlett, Pickett County, Heritage, York and Clarkrange.
SMHS lost two consecutive games at CAK and Lipscomb. However, the Lady Panthers came right back to win their next two contests to close out December with a 14-2 record.
“We had the best start in school history,” Buck said. “We set individual game scoring records three times. We were undefeated at home, while also winning the regular season and tournament district titles.
“We also beat four teams that, at the time we played them, were ranked No. 1 in the state in their classifications. Looking back, what this team accomplished was just super impressive.”
When the district portion of the schedule came around, Stone Memorial kept the pedal to the metal. The Lady Panthers knocked off Livingston Academy twice, split with White County, but swept Cumberland County and Upperman.
SMHS rolled through the district tournament with wins over Livingston Academy and Upperman. Stone knocked off Central Magnet in the first round of the region tournament before losing in the second round.
“I had a lot of people reach out to me after the season,” Buck said. “They talked about the resurgence of Stone basketball. I think that’s true. It is a pretty remarkable comeback. I think this gets us back to where I feel like this program should be – at the state level.”
Buck said one of the key moments in the season, in his mind, was the 75-70 road loss to Christian Academy of Knoxville. The Lady Panthers were playing most of the game without starters Lexi and Lauren Clark, and top reserve Bella Wyatt.
“CAK has been a top team for several years,” Buck said. “We were without the Clarks because they fouled out, and Bella was injured. So, without three of our better players, we were able to take them to overtime.
“I felt like even with the loss, it showed what we were capable of. We were able to go into that environment and play well, but come up short. We played well enough to win and, after that, I really felt like we bounced back. And I think we leaned on Ashley Wittenberg and the calming presence she gave us out there on the floor.”
Buck also said a major reason why the Lady Panthers were able to find success was because the players kept their egos in check. No one cared who scored. For them, it was just about winning.
“Nobody really cared about points,” said Buck. “Lauren Clark didn’t have to score points to contribute to the team. She did it through defense, rebounding, passing. They really believed the only stat that mattered was what was on the scoreboard. If you have people out there trying to chase stats, you’re not going to have a very good year.”
“If you can predict future results based on the past, then we have a chance this year to do something that’s never been done before. But, I also repeat to the girls a lot the quote that, ‘Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.’ These kids are working hard.”