Harrell finds hoops

I had a very nice interview with former El Dorado standout Ashley Harrell last week. Harrell signed with Southern Mississippi out of high school, played a year there, earning All-Conference and Defensive Player of the Year honors before transferring.
Harrell made her way to Weatherford JC and now she's at Oklahoma Baptist University, an NAIA school in Shawnee, Okla.
I hadn't talked to her in awhile and, without question, she's matured a lot over the past few years.
Ashley has the unusual knowledge of playing the game of basketball at pretty much every level. She started out in the Boys & Girls Club, played for a small local AAU team (Roses), went to a bigger state-wide AAU team (Mavericks). She played at Class AA Harmony Grove before going to Class 6A El Dorado.
She went Division I to Junior College to NAIA.
Through all those stops, playing levels and coaches, Harrell said they all impacted her life.
“I think I would take it all the way back to playing AAU ball. From my daddy to everybody I’ve played for, I have to give my props and respect for the person I’ve become because of them if it was good or bad," she said.
“From Coach Harris saying not to bounce passes from my daddy saying ‘you need to take over’ from Coach Ammons saying to shoot the ball to Coach Slatton. Every coach I’ve played for has uplifted me in some way. It might have been in a negative way but when I think about it now, I know they weren’t doing nothing but trying to help me. I have much respect and gratitude for all the coaches I’ve come across.”
Her Oklahoma Baptist team this season is ranked among the nation's best. Despite all the teams, Harrell still boasts, “I’ve never been on a losing team, ever - ever, ever, ever.”
Ashley said she experienced burn out at El Dorado and it really set in as a freshman at Southern Miss. She said she'd actually given up the game and was planning on quitting after getting her degree at Weatherford. Oklahoma Baptist asked her to come for a visit and to try out. It was there where she re-discovered her passion for hoops.
I asked her if she had any advice to kids on how to avoid burn out.
“My advice wouldn’t be toward the kids. It would be toward the parents not to push," she said. "If your child wants to play basketball, let them play. But, if they get burned out, let ‘em stop. Don’t push them to do things they don’t want to do. I understand a little push, ‘let’s go out there and work on a shot’ or something like that. But, don’t pressure them and don’t try to live your dream through your child. Let them find themselves and let them find their own way.
"Like me, at one time I didn’t think I wanted to play basketball. But, a year or so later, me and basketball found each other again. If it’s meant for that person, they’ll find their way back to each other.”

I like moxy

Despite losing to Monticello Thursday night in the championship game of the Southeast Junior District Tournament, El Dorado girls basketball coach Henry Harrell was in a good mood. The Lady Wildcats showed some grit and some toughness, battling back in the fourth quarter against a team that had mercy ruled them earlier.
Monticello has a good 9th grade team, finishing 17-1 with the lone loss to Star City. El Dorado's 9th grade team is good but never seems to beat good opponents.
As usual with every Lady Wildcats' team, the missing ingredient seems to be intangibles like hunger, competitiveness and moxy.
I guess that's why Harrell was smiling as he talked about the loss on Thursday. The Lady Wildcats aren't as good as Monticello. Not as big. Not as talented. Not as deep.
None of that seemed to matter in the fourth quarter as El Dorado fought, scratched and clawed and had two shots to tie the game or take the lead in the final minute.
After the game, Harrell acknowledged, that was indeed the very best his team could've played.
Charlotte Bradley looks like a future superstar, scoring 18 points, including some of the highlight film variety. But, Bradley did not score in the final quarter, didn't take a shot in the final three minutes.
Same ol' Lady Wildcats, you say?
I don't know. She passed the ball way too much down the stretch for my liking but she was tired and she's very young.
I must admit, I was disappointed when El Dorado had to have two technical free throws down the stretch and Bradley did not step to the line to shoot 'em. Harrell's smile turned into a grin after the game when he explained why Meredith Rice was the shooter.
"She said, 'Let me shoot 'em. I'll make 'em.'"
Rice, who had a horrible night at the line in the semifinals, drained both free throws to cut the lead to two in the final minute. It was Rice who took both shot attempts to tie the game.
The kid wanted the ball. She was the only player on the floor not looking to pass the ball to somebody else down the stretch.
Dadgum, I like that. Idiots would call her selfish. I'd call her confident, competitive. I'd say she has moxy.
Some athletes wait for somebody else to make a play. That's fine but when you have an entire team that's looking to pass, you can't win. Somebody has to want the ball. Somebody has to raise her hand in the huddle with the game on the line and say, "Coach, let me shoot it. I'll make it."
Ideally, you'd like that person to be your best player. But, there's no rule that says it has to be.
When it's time to win a game, I'm giving the ball to the player who wants it.
I think Coach Harrell was smiling last night because his girls played their butts off. His best player was a superstar for three quarters, almost singlehandedly keeping her team in the game. And, when the game was on the line, he didn't have to beg somebody to step up.
A little moxy in a kid makes me smile, too.

It's just a down year

Strong coach Gerrald Koonce took a little offense at my last post. Former Union standout Mary Beth Gilmore commented while watching the Dual State final that girls basketball in Union County is not as good as it used to be.
I have to admit, I agree with her.
Obviously, I'm blessed with a bit more tact than Mrs. Gilmore-Sims. But, I just don't think girls teams in this area are as good as they were last year, much less five years ago.
Let's look at them:
Smackover might be the best small school in the area. The Lady Bucks lost both Sarah Poff and Nickole Frazier, leaving a huge hole in the middle and perhaps in the heart as well.
Parkers Chapel might have better chemistry this year but clearly has lesser talent than a year ago.
Strong lost Anastacia Dismuke and, from what I've seen, no one has stepped up as a consistent go-to girl for the Lady Bulldogs.
Norphlet lost Tenesha Lewis and has gone from a three-girl team, to a two-girl team.
I'm not even going to comment on Junction City.
I'm not saying the basketball is necessarily bad. But, there isn't a complete team, either. Every club has a glaring flaw.
Smackover and Norphlet are both donuts - nothing in the middle. Parkers Chapel has suspect ball handling and Strong's perimeter shooting is a question mark every night.
Compare these teams to the Union team with Gilmore, Julie Smith, Haley Belin, etc., or Smith, Belin, Brittany Johnson, Brittani Nation, etc. Compare these teams to PC's squad of Kelly Ezell, Lauren Sideroff, Molly Murray, etc. Hell, compare these teams to the Marandalynn Parker-led Strong team of a couple years ago where Parker teamed with Dismuke, Breuna Dixon, etc.
This year, girls basketball is down in Union County. We have a bunch of decent-to-above average teams but I don't see a really good squad.
The thing is, it's that way across the state, apparently. Last year, I watched talented teams from Mineral Springs, Carlisle and Jessieville, each blessed with college-caliber talent.
Well, they all graduated and no one replaced them. It's simply a down year for girls basketball.
I feel sorry for Arkansas coach Tom Collen. He came to the state about five years too late. His predecessor let a whole roster of Division I talent leave the state. Now, he ain't got nothing in Arkansas to recruit.
So, it's not just a Union County thing. Girls basketball is down this year in comparison to the past few years, when it was absolutely top notch.
It'll be back in a couple of years, hopefully.

It's Mary Beth

I went down to Junction City last Saturday to look over the remnants of what used to be Dual State. Actually, it was the girls championship game but, you know what I mean.
It really is sad how that event has fallen.
Anyway, as the game was getting under way, a blonde woman bounced up from a few bleachers below me and jumped up to the top bleacher, sitting beside me. It startled me at first until I recognized her as Mary Beth Gilmore, a former Player of the Year at Union.
Gilmore (now Sims) graduated from high school six years ago. She signed a letter-of-intent to play basketball at SAU, red-shirted a year after ankle surgery then quit. She is now married and living in Homer. She's expecting her first child. I hope it's a boy because if it's a girl, she's gonna name her Harley.
I hadn't seen Mary Beth since her freshman year in college. She's changed a little bit. Yeah, she went and got herself a boob job - a double D boob job.
That's right, I talked about boobies with Mary Beth Gilmore. Her life is now complete. Mine is over.
We actually had a good, long conversation. She told me why she quit playing basketball. Turns out, she made a mistake choosing SAU over UA-Monticello. She said she tried to transfer but SAU refused to release her so she quit, telling Coach Biley what she thought of him in the process.
Mary Beth was never one to bite her tongue.
When she told her parents she quit, she said her father kicked her out of the house. Former Union coach Gary Don Smith took it even worse than her father did.
It was an eye-opening conversation, which initially began with basketball. She was outraged at the quality of play in our area.
"Girls basketball sucks in Union County," was the way she delicately put it.
Mary Beth was never known for her tact.
Perhaps something good came out of it, though. The poor basketball she saw inspired Gilmore to look into becoming a coach. She has her master's degree in business and said she could teach math. She thinks maybe a coach like her could inspire young girls to take basketball seriously.
I don't know if she could or not. It would be fun to watch her try. She's still one of the hardest workers I've ever covered.
Somehow, I think her blunt manner would rub some parents and referees the wrong way.
But, I learned years ago not to sell Mary Beth Gilmore short.
* * *
Parkers Chapel coach Mark Young and his Lady Trojans gave me a sympathy card on Friday. It was signed by each of the team members with a nice message from Coach Young.
He said he hoped it made me feel good and it did.
I have a little box where I keep special cards or letters I've received over the years. When I'm feeling depressed or under-appreciated, I open the box and read the letters. This card will definitely go in that box.
Thanks Lady Trojans.