Page 35 - Priorities #70

The Fast Break to State
How does a girls’ basketball team go from a JV team to playing in the State Championship in just four years? “Coach Buck Matthews has taken the program from the JV level, to the top of the lower division in the West Bay Athletic League, to the middle of the very competitive WBAL upper division,” said Athletic Director Mark Stogner. “Priory is now a well respected basketball program in the section and state, in just a few short years.”
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Coach Buck built the girls’ basketball program year by year with the overall goal of making it to the State Championship. One of the tougher and riskier strategies was to schedule a tough preseason schedule. “Having a tough preseason schedule prepares you for league and playoffs. It also taught us how to play with a sense of urgency and that we couldn’t take a game off,” Coach Buck explained. “I had complete faith in my team that they would persevere.” The team played against large powerhouse schools like Archbishop Mitty, Aragon, Marin Catholic, and Menlo-Atherton, and felt honored that these well-established programs wanted to play them and they wanted to earn the respect from the area that they belonged. One thing that Coach Buck didn’t account for during the preseason was injuries. Several players suffered injuries that would sideline them for weeks at a time. They never got to play with a full healthy roster until
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