WEST UNION — Up till getting the telephone get in touch with to request her presence, the Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis All-Star Classic was a comprehensive mystery for Doddridge County girls basketball coach Lisa Cheeseman.
“I was fully shocked to be truthful — I was not ready for that telephone get in touch with,” stated Cheeseman, who will make her coaching debut at the BACF occasion scheduled for a five:30 p.m. start out Friday at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center on the campus of Parkersburg South Higher College.
“That was the exact same day I was chosen as Coach of the Year for the Tiny Kanawha Conference. I was in awe that day. I’m extremely humbled and extremely grateful. I in fact believed (BACF occasion organizer) Bill Camp was calling me to assist. I didn’t understand he wanted me to be the head coach.”
In 4 seasons as the DCHS girls head coach, Cheeseman has compiled a 67-34 record with two Class A state tournament appearances. The Bulldogs lost in the very first round final season then reached the semifinals this year just before losing to Tucker County.
Seniors Abby McDonough, Carrie Lloyd and Emily Gola had been a major cause for the Bulldogs’ results. Cheeseman began coaching this year’s senior class when they had been sixth graders.
“I watched them develop — they had been a single of the most purpose driven groups I have ever noticed,” McDonough stated. “They had been terrific leaders. Just about every year they pulled children along with them by way of the believed approach. All the children purchased in and had been prepared to sacrifice day in and day out.
“The children had been the ones who did the perform more than the years, and it paid off.”
Of the 11 members on the West Virginia girls roster, Cheeseman gets a single extra chance to connect with McDonough.
“Abby is a single of these uncommon children — it is been a joy to be a portion of her journey,” Cheeseman stated. “It may be a tiny emotional watching her play a single final time in a Doddridge County uniform.”
The chance to have some of the very best seniors from across the Mid-Ohio Valley is a pleasant alter from obtaining to gameplan against them. Representing the LKC are Webster County’s Sydney Baird, the Roane County tandem of Maddie Hall and Faith Mason, St. Marys’ Zoe Davis and Parkersburg Catholic’s Deborah Hardbarger.
“Having Sydney Baird on our group, I’m just stoked — to have her as a weapon is pretty awesome,” Cheeseman stated. “Faith Mason averaged close to 21 points per game. She had phenomenal numbers for a major guard. I really feel she is a substantial threat inside and out. Maddie Hall is a terrific ballhandler and a quite swift defender. Zoe Davis did harm against us, so I know she can play inside and out as properly.
“I saw Deborah Hardbarger in the Class AA state championship game final year. She is the only a single I have marked down as a center.”
Rounding out the roster are Magnolia’s Lauren Gaiser, Robert C. Byrd’s Avery Childers, Parkersburg South’s Carrie Rhodes and Parkersburg High’s Sierra Mason and Brilynn Florence.
“Oh my gosh, we are going to be stacked,” Cheeseman stated. “It’s a talented group and I’m excited to see all of them collectively.”
“Avery from Robert C. Byrd averaged 17 points a game — she is phenomenal. She genuinely gets off the ground when she shoots a jump shot. She is a terrific athlete. Avery, Abby and Sydney played collectively in some style. With Brilynn, I’ll take somebody who tends to make 66 three-pointers.”
Joining Cheeseman as portion of her coaching employees is Jondrea Nicholson, who is listed as an assistant coach at DCHS but deemed extra of a co-coach for the Bulldogs.
“Jondrea was an assistant coach just before I got right here — I enjoy her to death and the children respond properly to her,” Cheeseman stated. “She is just a particular individual and holds children accountable. It is a hard enjoy. I am a tiny soft-spoken and she is a tiny bit loud. She can scare some people today.
“She has higher expectations, and I couldn’t do this with no her.”
Because this is Cheeseman’s debut as a head coach for any all-star format, she has contacted many of her peers in the profession who have prior practical experience and picked their brain on what to count on. Parkersburg South girls basketball coach Ed Davis has agreed to join the DCHS employees for Friday’s occasion.
“I got to know Ed when he was coaching at Wood County Christian,” Cheeseman stated.
Speak to Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com
Today’s breaking news and extra in your inbox