Mike Buck, the head girls basketball coach at Stone Memorial High School, stopped practice last week and called his players together on the court.
He and assistant Matt Troino didn’t like the way practice was moving, the lack of energy. So, they brought the players together and tried to remind them of what lays ahead of them – a rigorous second half of the season.
Stone Memorial hosts York Institute on Jan. 7 before beginning the district portion of its schedule, which includes games against state powerhouses White County, Upperman, Livingston Academy and DeKalb County.
“Heading into the second half of the season with a 6-9 record is a little under where I thought we could be,” said Buck. “With the schedule we’ve played, we probably could have been 10-5 or at least 9-6.
“We had a few games that we thought we should have won that kind of got away from us, but I am not terribly upset.”
Buck said he feels like his squad is doing a lot of things well and has turned the corner in several different areas.
He thought his team played with a deeper competitive spirit that is a lot more consistent than in past seasons.
Buck also highlighted the return of injured senior star Kortney Headrick.
Stone’s schedule is annually filled with the top teams in the state. Buck arranges for his team to test itself every time it steps on the floor.
In the first half of the season, the Lady Panthers’ wins included victories over Lenoir City, Maryville, Knott County Central and Hardin Valley.
“So far, we’ve gotten some good offensive production from different people,” Buck said.
“Adison [Howard] started the season scoring at a high clip. She was supported by Ashley [Whittenburg], who had a little run.
“Kortney has returned so we’ve had a little bit of an inside presence from her. Ella [Jane May] and Serena [Baldwin] have scored the ball recently. I like that we have options we can go to. That makes us difficult to guard.”
And those options allow Stone to play with a big lineup or a small and quick lineup. SMHS has players that can take opponents off the dribble or play inside out.
Buck said he’s still a little concerned about Stone needing to get better with defensive rebounding out of a zone.
He said most of his players have been around and understand what playing in Stone’s district – with the likes of Upperman, White County, Livingston Academy and DeKalb County – means.
“Most of the girls know what the district will be like. It will be a total battle every night,” Buck said. “The younger players will learn soon enough.”
“The players need to know what it takes to be great is focus. You can hear competitive players. Great teams want to practice hard. I have always believed you can practice to be cool or you can practice to be great. We want to practice to be great.”
Stone hosts York on Jan. 7 before visiting Upperman Jan. 10. The girls’ games each night are set to begin at 6 p.m.