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Saturday, December 1, 2007
Grill
Central Indiana, IN
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Photo(s) By: Shawn Barney
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HSSTM recently sat down with experienced Center Grove girls basketball coach Joe Lentz to discuss dramatic wins, heartbreaking losses and how to build a team to peak in the state tournament.
HSSTM: Last year, you coached Center Grove to a 19-7 record and won a regional championship. Yet going into the postseason, perhaps due to a 3-4 finish in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (MIC), your team seemed to be overlooked. Did you use that as motivation heading into sectionals?
Lentz: I always feel like when you’re playing in the MIC, most people on the outside aren’t fully aware that you can compete, no matter what you’re record, with some of the best teams in the state. Every season’s full of ups and downs. We used that as motivation, as well as the previous season’s sectional loss against Franklin Central. I told the girls when the regular season was over, ‘We’ve got seven games left to play,’ and I was talking about going to Conseco Fieldhouse for state finals. A team needs to believe it’s capable of playing with anyone – and we were.
HSSTM: How did you get the girls to respond to the point where you upset No. 1 and previously unbeaten Hamilton Southeastern in regionals?
Lentz: Number one, we believed we could play with anybody. And we believed that we had to play a certain way. Part of the season is finding out the best way your team can and should play. We didn’t have a lot of board strength, we had some quickness and could stick people defensively and sometimes we had trouble scoring. So, part of our strategy was to create chaos. With HSE, they’re a disciplined team so if you can create chaos, it means you’re playing your style and it creates more confidence.
HSSTM: And that regional win over HSE, now-graduated standout Hilary Bowling hits a free-throw with one second left after air-balling the first attempt. How do you deal with such intense games personally? Are you more excited and nervous for the players or just because of the situation?
Lentz: I certainly handle it differently than I did when I was a rookie coach, and part of that comes from experience. But it also depends on the situation and the team. Against HSE, as soon as that foul was called, I turned to my assistants and said, ‘We’ve won it. She can’t possibly miss both of them.’ I’ve told players jokes before to get their minds off of it, and I started to do that with (Hilary), but she said, ‘Don’t interrupt me, I’m praying.’ I was really confident, even after she air-balled the first one – that comes from just knowing her and believing she’d take care of business.
HSSTM: On the flip-side of that, as a coach, what do you tell your players after a tough loss, such as the heartbreaking 71-69 loss to eventual Class 4A runner-up Columbus East on Shelby Ross’ last-second shot? How do you cut through the pain of being so close and falling short and turning it into a positive and building on it?
Lentz: The first thing we did was, we didn’t say anything. They were too upset to listen. Sometimes, you need to give them some time and space and get their emotions out. So we decided to talk about it on the bus. From there, I just told them how proud I was of them, of how close they were and thanked the seniors for their career and what they accomplished. For the underclassmen, I tried to tell them how important the experience was and to use the game to refocus for next year.
HSSTM: Are there other things that you try teach your players throughout the season, beyond offense and defense, which build toward postseason play? It seems your teams are always mentally prepared for the state tournament, no matter what their regular season was like.
Lentz: Leadership, confidence, experience. One of the things every team needs is a leader – someone who can talk to their peers and say, in a way that won’t tick them off, ‘C’mon, we can do it better than this.’ It means more coming from them. So you let that progress as the season does and wait for somebody to step up in that role. And you always have to emphasize that tournament time is a new season, and in most cases, especially with sectionals, we’ve played a lot of the teams and have something to build on. You also build confidence that way, which is very important.
HSSTM: Let’s shift gears for a moment. You’ve had some truly fantastic teams entering your 14th season at Center Grove, winning eight sectional championships, four regionals, a semi-state and a state title, as well as winning nearly 77 percent of your games (232-70). Not to toot your own horn, but how have you been able to maintain that success over the years?
Lentz: We’ve got great kids, a very supportive community and the key people in our feeder system have always been supportive. And, we’ve worked hard. I’ve had some great assistant coaches, which you need. It’s important to have a good camaraderie with your assistant coaches and to pick assistant coaches who are good at things that you’re not good at.
HSSTM: And coaching one of the last one-class state champions, in 1995-96, has to be something you’re proud of. That team went 25-2 with all five starters, including Liz Stansberry and Jenny Martin, going on to play Division-I college hoops. Is that your favorite team or does a different squad come to mind?
Lentz: I don’t know if I can pick a favorite. That team was special. All got along really well, were mature for their age and we’ve stayed in contact with them since they left. But it’s like picking your kids; each team is unique and different. But that team was special.
HSSTM: Looking ahead to this coming season, what excites you the most about this group? Is the potential there for another successful season? Are their some underclassmen that you think will build on last season and be ready to step up?
Lentz: We’re going to be different, which is one of the things that excite me. It’s a new challenge. We’ll be bigger, but not as quick, so we won’t run as much and our defensive style will change. We’ll pound it inside to Kristen Gliesmann. Melody Doss is a freshman who fit-in well with us this summer. And I like the intangibles and versatility of Jordan Price. I like our depth and leadership this season, so it should be fun.
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