NW4A pundits counted chickens way too soon

NW4A pundits counted chickens way too soon

By Marty Queen | The McDowell News

Published: February 12, 2009

Brian Franklin leaned back across the upper-level bleachers in Freedom High's rapidly emptying gym and stretched out his lanky frame.
Earlier in the evening, Franklin's gutsy McDowell Lady Titans had edged an excellent Patriots team 64-62 to capture their third consecutive Northwestern 4A Conference championship and their sixth in the last seven seasons.
Now, as the reality of the victory started to hit him, the second-year head coach reflected on the epic journey the 2008-09 season has been for the Lady Titans.
"Before the season started, you'd have been hard-pressed to find somebody who would have said we'd win the conference championship over Freedom," he said.
Indeed, there were those who wrote the Lady Titans off before the first bounce of the ball in November.
After all, McDowell had lost 61 percent of its scoring and nearly half its rebounding from the previous year. The Lady Titans returned only two starters, juniors Autumn Ward and Xandi Gellman, who played supporting roles as sophomores to senior stars Kurie Washington, Ebonique Hamilton and Kelsea Greene. The rest of McDowell's roster was as short on varsity experience as any in recent memory.
And then there was the competition.
Freedom returned all five starters, an effective cast of reserves and the favorite to win the league's Player of The Year award, senior guard Ali Ford, who was poised to break the conference's all-time scoring record early her senior year.
As if the Patriots weren't enough, there were dangerous, much-improved clubs like South Caldwell and A.C. Reynolds lurking in the shadows.
The prognosticators predicted — some of them with barely restrained glee — that this season would mark the demise of the Lady Titans.
"Lost way too much to compete this year," wrote one poster on an Internet message board after picking the Lady Titans to finish fourth in the conference.
There was just one little problem with all those prophecies of doom; the jerseys still say, "Lady Titans."
The few folks remaining who didn't understand what those words mean before the season started certainly get the drift now.

http://www2.mcdowellnews.com/content/2009/feb/12/nw4a-pundits-counted-chickens-way-too-soon/

 

Tony forgot to paste the other half of Marty Queen's editorial....

The few folks remaining who didn't understand what those words mean before the season started certainly get the drift now.

Naturally, there were growing pains along the way, like a pair of lopsided non-conference losses to T.C. Roberson and a shocking upset defeat at East Burke.

Before the Lady Titans stubbed a toe against the Cavs on Jan. 9, an A.C. Reynolds fan on the same message board took the opportunity to dis the Lady Titans: "Great game from the best two teams in the conference," he wrote, referring to Reynolds' matchup with Freedom.

At least he was half right.

"Rematch will determine if Freedom wins conference championship or shares it," the post concluded.

But it didn't, although it may have ramifications on the race for second.
That's because the Lady Titans responded to the East Burke loss by winning nine in a row headed into tonight's season finale at A.C. Reynolds.
McDowell, so young and inexperienced in the beginning, grew up quickly, which is due in large part to the fact the players are remarkably intelligent, classy young ladies whose parents have done great jobs raising them.

The Lady Titans are also surprisingly intense competitors who play with a lot of emotion without showing a lot of emotion. They get that attribute from their coaches, Franklin and assistants Jennifer Brooks and Tiffany Stacey, all former McDowell stars who have been nothing short of splendid in piloting the team.

Franklin, by the way, is also a lot better than most at making preseason predictions. Back in November, the coach said this year's team would eventually be a great rebounding club, which it is. He said they had a chance to be superb on the defensive end, and sure enough, they are.
Franklin also said the Lady Titans would be a whole lot of fun to watch come February.

Bingo.

"I love those girls so much because of how hard they work," said Franklin in the afterglow of Tuesday's win. "They're going to get a lot of recognition now, and they deserve it."

They certainly do.

Thanks, Lady Titans, not for winning another championship, but for making those of us who have accompanied you on this journey realize we'd be just as proud of you if you had finished fourth.