[Stardust]

March 7, 2012
The journey begins...
GHS girls open state tournament Wednesday

By SCOTT WILSON
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW — The past 48 hours have been pretty crazy for Justin Stinson. After watching his Glasgow Lady Scotties

knock off arch rival Monroe County in the Region 4 championship game Sunday, Stinson’s life has included numerous media requests, paperwork, game film and fans wanting to congratulate him. Stinson’s phone has been ringing almost non-stop.

But through all of the craziness, Stinson’s focus, his main goal, his purpose, has been to prepare his

team for its first trip to the Kentucky Sweet 16 Girls State Basketball Championship.

Glasgow opens the tournament on Wednesday against Region 6 winner Louisville Butler at E.A.

Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. Tipoff is set for

noon.

“It has been just a whirlwind of things since wining the region on Sunday. There has been a lot of excitement all around. The school is full of energy. The community is full of energy,” Stinson said.

“Everyone wants to slap you on the back and tell you what a great job you did. It is an exciting time

for our kids to be part of.”

There is no doubt Stinson and the Lady Scotties are excited about being able to participate in the

tournament. But don’t be fooled. Stinson said Glasgow plans on being at the tournament for a long time.

“Our work is not finished. We’re not going into the state tournament just being satisfied to be there,”

Stinson said. “We feel like when we’re playing our game, we can compete with anyone in the state. We know Louisville Butler is a good team, just like every team in the state tournament, but we’re going up there with every intention of winning the tournament.”

The Lady Scotties’ first round opponent will be a tough obstacle to overcome.

The Butler Bearettes will go into Wednesday’s game with a 23-9 overall record, including victories

in their last five games and 10 of their last 11 outings.

Butler’s big guns in the lineup include guards Danielle Lawrence and MacKenzie Martinez. The

Bearettes’ inside game will be oriented around Alexis Stallard and Aareon Smith.

“I haven’t seen Butler live, but since Sunday I have picked up some film and I have watched them

on film,” Stinson explained. “The first thing you notice when you watch them is how balanced they are.

They’re a lot like us. They have multiple kids that can score, five of which average between seven and 13 points per game. That’s a mirror image of us.

“They’re really good athletically and they have a premium on defensive rebounding, just like we do.

I think they’re a very similar team to us as far as personnel.”

Stinson said when you get to the state tournament there isn’t a lot of fancy coaching techniques. Now

is not the time, he said, to make a lot of changes to offensive and defensive strategies.

“In a short turnaround like this, you try to focus primarily on what you do. You are not going to try

and be gimmicky or change very much,” said Stinson. “You want to just try and continue to do what you do and do it very well.”

And the coach said sometimes, winning ballgames at a high level like the state tournament, involves

more than just X’s and O’s.

“Handling the mental aspect of the game is a big factor in the state tournament. You have to

deal with the pressure of being there and you have to deal with the pressure of playing in a bigger environment,” said Stinson.

“We have to handle that. I thought our kids did a great job of that in the regional final and I expect them to handle it just as well in the state tournament.”

http://glasgowdailytimes.com/