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December 8, 2005
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December 8, 2005 |
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sports
Basketball coach at home on court New YSHS girls basketball coach Alex Autry had no connection to Yellow Springs before signing on to coach the girls team this winter. But milling around the gym last Thursday in a pair of sweats with a whistle around his neck, he seemed right at home responding to the familiar moniker, “coach.” He seemed to possess a second nature on the basketball court, joking with junior Carly Bailey as she practiced layups and firmly admonishing a passerby who was distracting the team from its practice. Autry, 45, has spent many years in the U.S. Air Force, from which he will retire in the spring as a chief master sergeant and superintendent of the aerospace medical squadron at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. During his 27 years in the military, Autry and his wife and three daughters moved around the country and abroad to Turkey and Okinawa, but Autry always made time to coach, he said. “I enjoy helping kids to be successful for their future,” he said. “Basketball teaches social and competitive skills as well as sportsmanship, and it teaches kids how to deal with wins and losses and helps them understand that you have to work hard to achieve.” Autry began coaching intramurals and varsity teams on the bases where he was located, and he gained experience coaching both men’s and women’s teams as well as his daughters’ co-ed youth teams, he said. Branching out in the sports world, Autry also spent time officiating at the collegiate level. While located at a base in North Carolina, he refereed for Division III schools in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. He also officiated for the International Basketball Association while he was stationed in South Dakota and abroad. Autry has enjoyed his time as a coach, he said, and he is particularly grateful that just three years into his assignment in Fairborn he was offered the opportunity to work with youth in Yellow Springs. Autry has spent a little over one month with the YSHS girls team since practice began at the end of October. He likes the positive attitudes of his players, and he sees a good deal of talent for a young team with seven freshmen and just one senior, he said. “As a team they have quickness, and a lot of the players have that basketball instinct, that’s something I can’t teach,” he said. “I have some kids who are already there, and others who are catching on quick. I’d say watch out next year.” Though Autry doesn’t retire until the spring, he has saved up enough leave to spend the next three months redirecting his career to a field that he hopes involves working with kids, he said. He is considering getting a teaching certificate, so that he can continue to play a positive role in the lives of young people. And he plans to stay in this area for a while because he promised his daughters that he wouldn’t move again, he said. This season, Autry hopes to help the Yellow Springs team improve on its weaknesses, teach his players about sportsmanship, try to win as much as they can and above all, have fun, he said. He said he will coach his team to be the best they can be within the limitations of their talents. “To me, youth ball is about building the kids for later on,” he said. “I’m trying to prepare the girls for the future just like the teachers here are, but I also want them to have fun. If they’re not having fun, then I’m not doing what I feel I’m supposed to do.” Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com Bulldog sports roundup Girls basketball goes 2–1 Against the Belmont Bison, the aggressive defense of Ashante Robinson got her into trouble with two quick fouls called four minutes into the game. The Bison connected on three of their first six trips down the floor and managed to hold the Lady ’Dogs at bay in the first half. In the second half Tenia Scarver and Megan Burrick blocked the Bison guards to cause several turnovers from which they scored 4 points a piece. By the end of the third quarter the Bison lead had diminished to 3. The final quarter was fought down low in the paint with Carly Bailey and Ryder Comstock coming up with key rebounds to keep the Lady Bulldogs in the game. With 37 seconds left, the Bulldogs’ Alisha Walker scored on an outside jumper to put YSHS to within 1 at 56–55. The Bisons stalled the ball and made Bulldogs foul to get another opportunity to win the game. However, Belmont was able to connect on the free throws down the stretch and win. Burrick made 9 of 13 free-throws and scored a team-leading 24 points. “I’m extremely proud of the effort that was displayed by the girls,” coach Alex Autry said. “This is exactly the intensity we must play each night to stay competitive.” Against Fayetteville, the Lady Bulldogs ended the first quarter up 16–3 and dominated the rest of the game. Burrick was the high scorer with 18 points, while Tenia Scarver had 15, and Bailey and Walker each had 6. Against Jefferson, the Lady Bulldogs started out in front and had a safe 38–12 lead by the end of the first half. The Lady Bulldogs traded their usual finesse for aggression and adjusted to a more physical game than they are used to, Autry said. Burrick was the game high scorer with 17 points, followed by Tenia Scarver and Robinson, each with 12. The McKinney School eighth-grade girls basketball team lost to Middletown Christian, 21–14, in their season opener on Dec. 3. Boys basketball wins opener The Bulldogs took the lead in the first quarter and held onto it, going into the half leading 34–25 and ending the third quarter up 44–31. Though in the fourth quarter Emmanuel outscored the Bulldogs, 28–17, the Bulldogs kept the score tight and managed to make two quick buckets in the last four seconds win their first game. Senior Brad Benning-Clark scored 25 points, and senior T.J. Rice had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Issa Walker scored 11 and led the team with 10 rebounds. Senior Jerrico Stubblefield gave Emmanuel’s point guard fits and led a defense that forced 22 turnovers. Coach Brad Newsome said the Bulldogs’ man-to-man defense didn’t convert as many turnovers to baskets as the team had hoped. But they have a whole season to develop their strength as a tough defensive team, he said. The McKinney School eighth-grade boys basketball team defeated Middletown Christian, 59–33, in the season opener on Dec. 2. Also on Saturday, the seventh-grade boys team started the year off with a 39–15 win over Middletown Christian. Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com Alumni hoops tourney The annual Yellow Springs High School alumni basketball tournament will be held Friday, Dec. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 31, in the high school gym. Teams, organized by graduating year, will be published in the News next week. Participants can sign up to play on Dec. 30. The cost to play is $10 per player. Admission to the tournament is $3 per day. Proceeds benefit the Yellow Springs basketball program. For more information, call Carl Schumacher at 532-3474 or Jeff Mohlman at 416-0139. |
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