The Lady Blackhawks are creating a new culture and breaking through a glass ceiling, said head coach Heath Neal.
Neal, first year head coach of the Lady Blackhawks, spent the past three years as assistant coach with Trent Loyd with the boys' varsity team.
"This is my first year with girls. Boys and girls obviously are very different by human nature. What I've noticed so far is that girls are pleasers by nature, they want to do things right, exactly to the T," Neal said. "I don't think I'll ever switch back, I enjoy it so much."
All of the senior Lady 'Hawks have grown up playing basketball together from youth league up ... they play multiple sports and are a very tight knit group of seniors. They have very different personalities but blend very well together.
"We are creating a culture, changing the culture and changing the whole image of who we are and what we're about. We're making it a team environment.
"First and foremost, I'm good friends with (former coaches) Larry (Walker) and Heather (Wade) and I'm not saying they didn't do a good job," Neal said. "I'm a different person and the way I coach is different so when I took over, I wanted to change the culture.
Neal said both winning and losing is contagious and he wants to build a winning team from the ground up. He said they come to practice early, they work hard and they help with youth basketball.
"I'm a person who is very positive. I believe I coach through relationships. I can demand a lot out of our ladies," he said. "I'm positive and I'm teaching at the same time. I can be very precise and intense when I need to be but because they know I care about them and am trying to make them better, they respond well.
"They don't intentionally want to mess up. They want to do good. That's one of the first things that has to be recognized."
"We've got girls who are program girls, for a long time... now even thought this is a new program, experience is definitely our strongest, four of the five returning starters are coming back. And, we have a very good sophomore, Hollyn Davis. She will play a big role for us.
"Secondly, depth. We're as deep as anybody in the conference. At any moment, I can play 10 girls.
"I've got 16 outstanding women who come to practice every day who understand their role whether it's first person off the bench, starter, or only plays JV, each of them understands the mission, the goal and we want to make this thing a fun one," Neal continued. "I feel like we've got some great building blocks and I know just from the work we've put in and the amount of hours we've spent together, they believe in the coaching staff and themselves.
"Our outcome, whether good or bad, is going to be good. It's not based on our record!"
"Our girls are excited to show the community what we've done, our improvements. Our motto is Break Through -- we've had a glass ceiling we've never been able to crack it. We hope to get into regional tournament and then state."
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Editor's note: This is the second in a three-part series about Blackhawk basketball coaches.
Sports on 02/08/2017