Lady Pioneers set for another competitive district
Warren County’s seniors - Harmoni Kennerly, Aubrey Oleksik, Addi Steakley, Katie Bechtel and Chloe Wanamaker - join Kyle Turnham at media day Tuesday held at Helen’s on the Go.
There won't be many easy nights in District 6-4A this winter - Just ask the five coaches who gathered for District Media Day Tuesday, where the conversation ranged from state championship appearances and returning All-State talent to rebuilding programs and the challenges of competing in one of Tennessee's toughest districts.
Cookeville is coming off a state runner-up finish, Lincoln County has made multiple trips to Murfreesboro in recent years and Coffee County is welcoming back one of the state's premier players. In Warren County, coach Kyle Turnham has the Lady Pioneers coming off a winning season - something rarely accomplished locally over past decades - and Shelbyville has turned to a familiar face to restore one of Tennessee's most storied girls basketball programs.
The credentials are impressive, but the coaches know past success won't make winning any easier this season.
"This is a district that is relentless," said Warren County coach Kyle Turnham. "It's fantastic coaching, fantastic players, fantastic cultures, and fantastic communities."
Cookeville coach Jamie Gillies knows what it takes to navigate the district and make a postseason run. Her Lady Cavaliers have reached the state tournament four times in five years, finally breaking through to the championship game last season.
"I feel like a big piece of our program being so strong is we're player-led," Gillies said. "I've got kids who love the game, who hate drama."
Coffee County coach Joe Pat Cope knows the competition just as well. He pointed directly to Cookeville's championship appearance and Lincoln County's postseason success when discussing the difficulty of the district.
"(I't’s) Just a very good district," Cope said.
Lincoln County coach Chad Tipps didn't hesitate when the competition was described as kind of tough during media day.
"I’ll correct one thing - You say ‘kind of tough.’ It's tough," Tipps said.
Still, Tipps wouldn't have it any other way.
"If it's not hard, it's not fun," Tipps said. "The games you remember are not the games you played against the bad teams."
Shelbyville's new coach, Chad Spencer, echoed those sentiments after spending years watching many of the district's teams while coaching at Moore County.
"This is a great district. It's a great district," Spencer said.
The coaches also understand that the competition doesn't get easier once district play ends. Bradley Central, Cleveland and Walker Valley provide formidable obstacles in the region, making the road to Murfreesboro especially demanding.
For Warren County, the challenge is clear. The Lady Pioneers have made strides under Turnham, but taking another step means finding a way to compete consistently against programs accustomed to winning in February and March.
Addi Steakley could be a big boost in the lineup as a multi-year starter returning to coach Kyle Turnham’s lineup - Brent Carden photo
Lady Pioneers looking to take next step under Turnham
Kyle Turnham didn't arrive at Warren County expecting an overnight transformation. Entering his third season, the Lady Pioneer coach believes the foundation has been established. Now it's time to build on it.
"From Day 1, we've been very focused on changing the culture at Warren County and changing the trajectory at Warren County, and I think that's one of the things that we certainly have accomplished," Turnham said.
The numbers support that progress. Warren County finished 14-12 last season, which Turnham noted was only the program's fourth winning season in 26 years.
"Year 1 was a tough one in the sense that we were trying to change the culture and really and truly you sort of find out who's in and who's out," Turnham said. "And then Year 2 is, I thought, the year that we made a significant change."
The Lady Pioneers return four starters and seven players with varsity experience. Five seniors - Katie Bechtel, Addi Steakley, Harmoni Kennerly, Aubrey Oleksik and Chloe Wanamaker - give Warren County an experienced leadership group, though Wanamaker is still dealing with a knee injury she suffered in the spring in flag football and Bechtel is making a transition over to WCHS during her last season.
Turnham believes that leadership has developed naturally as the program has grown.
"This group has taken the leadership by the horns and has done a fantastic job of leading, of modeling, of communicating with our younger players," Turnham said.
The Lady Pioneers went 11-5 during summer competition, but Turnham knows regular-season improvement must eventually translate into postseason success.
"How you evaluate your program, it really goes back to how you do in the district and how you do in the postseason," Turnham said.
One significant adjustment will be moving forward without Trinity Reynolds, who graduated after playing a major role in last year's success. She was the team’s leading scorer last season, but Turnham believes a team full of kids who can move into multiple roles may be the answer as teams won’t have a target to key on in the scouting report.
"We try to be versatile within our roles and have players that can play rather than positions that can play," Turnham said.
Bechtel, who previously played at Boyd Christian, is among the players adjusting to new responsibilities and expectations.
"It's been different than what I'm used to playing with," Bechtel said. "But I played AAU, and it's kept me kind of still in the same competition, going from Kentucky to Ohio playing."
Beyond the basketball, Turnham believes the relationships within the program are among its greatest strengths.
"The girls love each other. They know they've got a head coach that loves them," Turnham said. "Because I'm tough on them, because I'm demanding doesn't mean that I don't love them, because I do."
Cookeville reloading after historic state championship appearance
The Cookeville Lady Cavaliers came agonizingly close to bringing home a gold ball last season. Now Jamie Gillies faces the challenge of replacing much of the experience that helped her program reach the state championship game.
"We lost four seniors, so replacing a big portion of our team and our scoring," Gillies said. "It'll be a bit of a rebuilding year for us."
Three of those seniors had started for three seasons and are continuing their basketball careers in college. Cookeville returns just one senior, with a roster featuring numerous juniors, promising sophomores and a large freshman class.
Gillies also believes injuries played a significant role in last year's championship pursuit.
"I feel like if we could have not had so many injuries, we would have maybe brought a gold ball back," Gillies said. "But we did bring a silver ball back."
The Lady Cavaliers have reached the state tournament four times in five seasons, building expectations that won't disappear simply because the roster looks different.
"We're strong. I still feel like our culture is good," Gillies said. "We just have a completely different look than what we were last year."
Gillies expects some inconsistency while her younger players develop, but she's more concerned about where Cookeville finishes than how it starts.
"I've always said I don't really care if we lose in November as long as we can make the adjustments that we need to do so we're winning in February, March."
Ferrell's return has Coffee County thinking big
Joe Pat Cope isn't hiding his excitement about the return of Jules Ferrell. The three-time All-State standout is back at Coffee County after spending last season at Middle Tennessee Christian School, where she played for her mother and helped lead her team to the state tournament.
"To have her back and back with Jaydee and girls she's played with her entire life, it's 10-12 extra wins for us," Cope said.
Cope believes Ferrell is capable of changing the outlook for any team.
"I think you could put a player like Jules on any team in this room and it gives them a shot at the state," Cope said. "She's just that special of a player."
Ferrell is equally excited about returning to Manchester.
"It was a great opportunity where I went, and I feel like it was a lot of personal growth, for sure, but I'm really glad to be back," Ferrell said.
Coffee County also features seniors Jaydee Nogodula, Lilly Matherne and Kaysen Morgan. Cope praised Morgan's dedication after she worked her way into the starting lineup and shot 52 percent from 3-point range last season.
"It's so rare to get a kid like that," Cope said, describing Morgan's willingness to put up hundreds of additional shots after practices and camps.
After injuries disrupted last season, Cope believes the Lady Raiders have the personnel to climb back toward the top of District 6-4A.
Youth movement underway at Lincoln County
Chad Tipps isn't pretending Lincoln County won't experience growing pains this season.
The Lady Falcons have 11 sophomores, four freshmen and one senior, a recent transfer from Illinois. It's a dramatically different roster for a program accustomed to postseason success.
"We know there's going to be some challenges and some growing pains, I'm sure, as we go," Tipps said.
The young Lady Falcons have spent considerable time in the gym since last season ended, including small-group workouts designed to accelerate their development.
Tipps believes the players' familiarity with one another will help, but establishing leadership and finding the team's identity will take time.
"Every team has its own personality, and a young team sometimes takes maybe a little bit longer to establish their own personality, their own voice," Tipps said.
The coach isn't interested in excuses.
"The only way you can close the gap on anybody is just working your tail off and not getting defeated by the process," Tipps said.
Lincoln County is also preparing for a classification change, with Tipps saying the program will move to Class 3A next season.
For now, the Lady Falcons have one more opportunity to compete against their familiar district rivals.
"The same things that win basketball games for old teams win it for young teams," Tipps said. "You've got to be able to guard, you've got to be able to not give up offensive rebounds an you've got to be able to handle basketball, make shots."
Spencer hoping to revive Shelbyville tradition
Chad Spencer knows what championship basketball looks like at Shelbyville.
The new Golden Eaglettes coach spent 10 years working under legendary coach Rick Insell before eventually building a successful program at Moore County. Now he's returned to Shelbyville with hopes of reconnecting the program with its celebrated past.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself," Spencer said. "Nobody's going to put more on it than I'm going to put on myself."
Shelbyville returns just one senior from last season, and Spencer has spent the summer introducing his system and expectations. The Golden Eaglettes played approximately 22 games in 10 days during summer camps.
Spencer recalled one of Insell's favorite sayings.
"Success is built on inconvenience," Spencer said.
The coach believes his players are responding, particularly in the weight room and through conditioning.
"I set high expectations, but I don't want to have unrealistic goals that could hurt their confidence," Spencer said.
Spencer also wants today's players to understand the program's history. After discovering some didn't recognize former Shelbyville standouts he began planning a special event to reconnect generations of Golden Eaglettes.
The community is responding.
"We have people that want to come and watch practice, you know, like the old days," Spencer said.
Girls Coaches Poll
Coffee County
Cookeville
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Lincoln County
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