Haltom High School - Buffalo Yearbook (Haltom City, TX)

Page 173 text:

,ocrificing summer fun paid off Western banquet ends winning season While the wind howled trough the hollow wooden ructure, rain tapped on the lin tin roof. Inside, the aroma of iarred firewood and misty noke filled the air. Guests who 'ere stunned by the unexpected iilled weather huddled around ie huge crackling fire. As last iinute arrivals shuffled in, they 'ere immediately absorbed 'ithin the rustic western at- mosphere of the end of the zason basketball banquet. Back i January long before the girls ad a chance to sit back and ick up their heels, they were eep in contention for the istrict title. The inexperienced team with nly two senior starters pumped zeights and struggled through itense fundamental drills, zhich led up to their district pener against the Lamar Vik- ings. After knocking off the Vik- ings and seven other opponents, the girls lunge for a first place ti- tle came to an abrupt halt following their 52-37 loss to the Arlington Colts. The girls im- proved their previous year record of five wins and seven losses by closing out this season with an eight win and four loss record. The eight win record destined them to a second place tie with the Vikings. The secret in such a turn around for the girls may have been found in Coach Don Der- ryberry's determination to seek out the weaknesses of each op- ponent and adjust his plays ac- cordingly. Defensively the zone proved to be most effective. Of- fensively the baseline presented a good percentage shot of 80 percent with the inside games of Susan McMurtray, Kathy Ander- ! 4 tml! ,la ,,.,,,.,.,,,,,.... .... son, Joanna Hooker, and Debbie Barnes. Giving the girls an extra boost of incentive, the team began a grading system. Before every practice and after a game, the girls huddled up while Coach Derryberry called out their scores. The grading gave them an opportunity to visually see where they had improved with every game. Concentration was put mainly on change. The team and coach set out to make the girls' basket- ball program a competitive contender. Having never been a winner in girls' basketball, the feeling of being on top is hard to catch. The kids realized what they were capable of. They also saw how and what it will take next year to be a winner, Coach Derryberry explainedl . . VV 'i-, - g Ei-chiandi 5 Artis-gsm ' Burleson - Selrching for a gap in the Bowie Volunteers' defense, Don Der- ryberry sets up a new offense. Humble coach accepts honor Don Derryberry, with a western drawl like someone out of a John Wayne movie, approached his second year as head girls' basketball coach. He led his team to a second place finish and was honored by his peers with the Coach of the Year Award. I tried to make my players the very best person and player they could be. All the glory relates back to the players. Without good players coaches receive no glory, he explained. I Dribbling past an Arlington defender, senior Debbie Bames, 4944, led in district offensive re- bounds with a total of 48. VARSITY BASKETBALL

Page 172 text:

Boll p E .... X g f---M, .and im X r X ,. E x X dlnn-.---an I W 5 w 13 A, A .,1' IIA. ,Q - Q 9 f 1 . . , if Q in A ii 'is is 1- - , ' N ,emi f ra N i, W, , m,,' ,wife 1-, l - A 1. --.: xi , M i,A h I .. l . , 1 M y TF'5'?z? x R 1 f Lr... .Qu f . A ,nf Qi, K, ,... .. .fi5f,'.Q27W I I I K 1 ,. , ,- There's no stopping junior Joanna Hooker, 435, as she lays up a shot against a Burleson Elk defender. Hooker finished the season with a total of 170 points. VARSITY BASKETBALL An alert Kathy Anderson, W43, hits sophomore Susan McMurtray, 423, with a pass as she blocks out her Richland opponent. Anderson led the team in assists with 50, while McMurtray led in field goal percen- tage with 63 percent. First row: Mgr. Sharon Pelzel, Christy Angle, Carol Porter, Joy Fisher, Mgr. Deedee Griggers, Second row: Don Derryberry, Tam- mi Shelton, Kathy Anderson, Deb- bie Barnes, Susan McMurtray, Joan- na Hooker, Micki Adams.

Page 174 text:

Barely enough ro plo y Post players kept scoreboard alive Under the clam mild manner exterior of the girls, JV basket- ball team lay the ever lurking Mighty Force of Seven, destined to withstand all odds in order to reach their distant goals. No, their goals were not to leap tall buildings in a single bound, nor to become more powerful than a locomotive. They were merely to end district competition with two strong wins. The Mighty Force of Seven was the nickname that the team picked up after the number of players dwindled to seven. Coach Aundrea Cambell capitalized on the teamls small size. I tried to stress unity and playing together. They learned to depend on one another, she explained. Coach Cambell, who was ex- periencing her first year as a Boll E I Using a time out to plan new strategy, Coach Aundrea Cambell details the play to juniors Debbie Blaney, 325, Melinda Richardson, 352, and Traci Kloberdanz, 424. high school basketball coach, had no intentions of dismanteling her disciplined style of coaching. However, with so few players she had no choice but to do just that. With such a small team I could not afford to bare down on them. I was very relaxed com- pared to my other years of coaching, Cambell said. Even though the girls picked up only two wins throughout the season, they were allowed the sweet taste of revenge. After ex- periencing a stifling loss of 16 points to the Burleson Elks, they held nothing back in a successful effort to defeat the Elks by 18 points. They were a small team whose background was not up to par, but all our fundamental work paid off by beating Burleson, Coach Cambell declaredl Making her move, junior Debl Blaney, 925, takes the baseli against an Arlington opponei Traci Kloberdanz moves in for 1 bound position. X1-me n .iff rl 1' 1 Q -se... JUNIOR VARSITY BASKETBALL l