Lady Miners receive motivation from 1986 sectional championship team
Sometimes people take good athletes and teams for granted.
When programs get on a roll, churn out some quality players and teams, fans get the idea it will last forever.
But it doesn't always work out that way.
When the Linton-Stockton High School girls basketball team walked off the floor of the Hatchet House in Washington following a 61-45 setback to North Central in the 1986 regional, no one could have guessed it would be 24 years before the Lady Miners would seriously contend for another sectional title.
Unfortunately, it's the truth.
This year's team, under the direction of Brad McKinney, has a legitimate chance to end the streak. His Lady Miners took the first step Tuesday with a 43-39, come-from-behind victory over host South Knox in the Class 2A sectional.
And the 1986 team may have played a part in the victory.
Nick Karazsia, the current Linton-Stockton superintendent, was the coach of the 1986 team. While doing some spring cleaning, he found a net from the 1986 sectional championship team.
That sparked an idea.
"When I found that, I thought it might be a good inspirational thing for this year's girls to see that," Karazsia explained.
"I thought it would be even more special for the girls to get it, and if I could get some words of wisdom from the girls who played on the 1986 team, that would be even more special. So I contacted a bunch of them, and they were able to send me some things."
They sent e-mails and cards, and Karazsia and his wife Nancy put together a poster and presented it to the team Monday night, along with the net.
"I sat there and watched them while Nick was talking, and I think they were ready to go out and play when he was finished," McKinney recalled.
"After Nick left, one of the seniors read the letters and cards outloud. You could tell by watching them, they appreciated getting the support ... that they could step up and win this and know everybody was behind them."
The poster, which includes a 1986 team photo, was in the locker room Tuesday night at South Knox.
"To see those girls in the photo, it kind of ties it all back together ... it really has been a long time. They took the poster board in our locker room and the net and hung it up," McKinney said.
Karazsia and McKinney agree that the 1986 and 2010 teams have a lot in common.
The 1986 team had an outstanding scorer and playmaker in guard Julina (Stamm) Ellett, who averaged 25.3 points and game and finished as the school's (boys and girls) all-time leading scorer with 1,664 points.
The 2010 team has an inside force in Stephanie Fougerousse, who averages 22.8 points a game. She had 23 rebounds against South Knox.
Kelly McKim averaged 13.9 points for Linton in 1986, and Julie Snider added 7.3 per game.
This year, Olivia Robison chips in 8.3 points per contest, and Savannah Mason scores 6.8 a game.
"They are similar in the fact that they play as a team," Karazsia said of the two teams. "They have certain players they want to go to, and so did we. But good coaches and opposing teams know what teams have, and they attack those. You have to have role players who can get the job done."
One player from the 1986 team, Sandra (Woodruff) Koch, pointed that out in her message to this year's team.
"She wasn't a starter, but a role player. She said she knew one of her main jobs was to guard one of the top 40 girls in the state (Stamm) in practice and help her prepare for the games," Karazsia said. "Even though she wasn't a starter, she saw her role as getting the team ready to play. Those types of kids aren't there for themselves, they're there for the team."
The Lady Miners (15-7) will face North Knox in the second semifinal game Friday at South Knox. The first game pits Eastern Greene vs. Bloomfield at 6 p.m.
"Everybody expects us to go down there and win it," McKinney said. "This is a tough sectional, North Knox is playing well ... Eastern and Bloomfield will flat out guard you. That game could be a blood bath."
If the Lady Miners come out on top in Saturday's title game, the message they've been wearing on their T-shirts will come true: "24 and no more."
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