04-15-2012, 08:00 AM
Sarah Van Hornâs first season as a girlsâ basketball coach in Kentucky couldnât have gone much better.
Hired at Paul Dunbar High School last summer, Van Horn took over a program that had finished 12-13 in 2010-11 and quickly turned it around. The Lady Bulldogs won the 11th Region title for just the second time in program history, reached the Sweet 16 semifinals and finished with a 30-7 record.
Now the 25-year-old Van Horn has been named The Courier-Journalâs Girlsâ Basketball Coach of the Year.
âMy fiance and I came (to Kentucky) to start a life together, and it was a great honor just to get the coaching position at Dunbar,â Van Horn said. âTo do what we did was unbelievable. I couldnât have imagined any of this.â
Van Horn received 20 votes from the 89 coaches around the state who participated. Boone Countyâs Nell Fookes was second with 10 votes. Stacy Pendleton, who led Manual to the state championship, was third with eight.
Paul Dunbarâs Mike Sowers won the award in 2008 but left the school after the 2009-10 season to take the job at Shelby County. Amy Tilley coached the Lady Bulldogs during the 2010-11 season before Van Horn took the job last summer.
Van Horn and her fiancé, Sy Bridenbaugh, moved to Lexington from West Virginia so he could pursue a Masters degree at the University of Kentucky.
âI was hired in April or May for a math position, and it was probably a month later when I found out the coaching position was open,â Van Horn said. âWe still hadnât even moved (to Kentucky), and I applied and interviewed for that as well. I just felt like it was a good fit.â
The Lady Bulldogs featured one of the stateâs highest-scoring offenses, averaging 65.3 points per game, and were led by juniors Jordin Fender (12.3 ppg), Kierra Muhammad (10.2) and Lakeena Parks (9.7) and senior Morgan McEldowney (11.0 ppg).
Paul Dunbar beat Madison Central 75-60 in the 11th Region final and then knocked off Boone County and Butler in the Sweet 16 before falling to Manual 84-59 in the semifinals.
Hired at Paul Dunbar High School last summer, Van Horn took over a program that had finished 12-13 in 2010-11 and quickly turned it around. The Lady Bulldogs won the 11th Region title for just the second time in program history, reached the Sweet 16 semifinals and finished with a 30-7 record.
Now the 25-year-old Van Horn has been named The Courier-Journalâs Girlsâ Basketball Coach of the Year.
âMy fiance and I came (to Kentucky) to start a life together, and it was a great honor just to get the coaching position at Dunbar,â Van Horn said. âTo do what we did was unbelievable. I couldnât have imagined any of this.â
Van Horn received 20 votes from the 89 coaches around the state who participated. Boone Countyâs Nell Fookes was second with 10 votes. Stacy Pendleton, who led Manual to the state championship, was third with eight.
Paul Dunbarâs Mike Sowers won the award in 2008 but left the school after the 2009-10 season to take the job at Shelby County. Amy Tilley coached the Lady Bulldogs during the 2010-11 season before Van Horn took the job last summer.
Van Horn and her fiancé, Sy Bridenbaugh, moved to Lexington from West Virginia so he could pursue a Masters degree at the University of Kentucky.
âI was hired in April or May for a math position, and it was probably a month later when I found out the coaching position was open,â Van Horn said. âWe still hadnât even moved (to Kentucky), and I applied and interviewed for that as well. I just felt like it was a good fit.â
The Lady Bulldogs featured one of the stateâs highest-scoring offenses, averaging 65.3 points per game, and were led by juniors Jordin Fender (12.3 ppg), Kierra Muhammad (10.2) and Lakeena Parks (9.7) and senior Morgan McEldowney (11.0 ppg).
Paul Dunbar beat Madison Central 75-60 in the 11th Region final and then knocked off Boone County and Butler in the Sweet 16 before falling to Manual 84-59 in the semifinals.