To some basketball programs, the fact that 11 wins have been recorded in a season would not be that big of a deal.
However, when you are trying to build a program — and build it the right way — then milestones like the one accomplished by the Apalachee High School Lady Wildcats Saturday night are nothing to brush away.
The 11th victory of the 2010-2011 season signified a record. It is the record for the most wins in a season by a girls basketball team at AHS. The record is all but sure to continue to be broken a few more times before all is said and done as several more regular season contests remain along with the region tournament.
Helping lead the way is coach Michael Parks. He’s not someone who would be confused for Bobby Knight on the sideline. His calm and cool demeanor have helped his team become successful piece by piece, step by step, win by win.
“We like the progress we’ve made,” Parks told me Sunday night as we talked basketball as is our custom. “We are just looking to get better and to take even bigger steps.”
In the end, Parks wants the program to achieve even more than setting records for number of victories. The old record of 10 wins, set a season ago, has been pushed aside now.
It would have been easy for this season to completely fall apart for AHS. A few weeks ago the team lost a heartbreaker to region and county rival Winder-Barrow by two points after seeing a large first half lead get away.
Rather than have a hangover from the loss, something all too common in sports, the Lady Wildcats returned to the court in their next outing and earned a win.
When AHS and WBHS met in a rematch Saturday night it was a different story this time around. The Lady Cats cruised to a 62-39 win led by a 28-point, 13-rebound performance by Saboyce Shelton. Kiarra Sanford (14 points) and Lacresha Mayweather (12) points also helped in the win.
In addition to being the team’s 11th overall win, it was win number three in region play. Had it not been for the rally by WBHS in the first meeting, AHS would have entered play this week at 4-1 in region.
“We’ve accomplished a great deal this season,” Parks said. “However, we don’t need to be satisfied with where we are or what we’ve done. We have to look and see how we can move into the upper tier of the region. That would be a huge step for us.”
With a young team this season, the future looks bright for Parks and the team. Perhaps it won’t be too far down the road when this program becomes a visitor at the state tournament.
It all begins with a simple step. That step is now leading to success for the AHS Lady Wildcats.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
