Bullard Brag
Lady Panthers shape up over the years
Bobby Woodruff

The varsity girls gather around Coach Greg `Gay for a little encouragement during a recent game.

During my years as a high school principal, I have been blessed to witness some outstanding High School girls' basketball teams. Longview High School won 65 games and lost only one in two years. Amarillo High was a perfect 34 and 0.

The Bullard girls' basketball team is on the way within this or next year of being the best team that ever represented Bullard High School.

As of this writing, the Lady Panthers are 22 and 4 with 0 losses in district competition.

This team is comprised of a group of seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen who all contribute to the success of winning basketball games.

Coach Greg Gay and his assistants Nanci Dixon and Tammy Rooney are outstanding and experienced coaches who have had a great deal of success.

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with Coach Greg Gay and listen to him share his thoughts about the Bullard girls' basketball program.

Gay said:

The program has improved through numbers over the past few years. This year there are 41 girls in the program.

This is the third winning season.

Last year, the team faced with injuries that really hurt down the stretch.

This year, my expectations were to win enough games to get into the playoffs. I told the girls last spring that they would win district this year.

All they needed were five girls who believed that they could win.

This year the Lady Panthers got off to a great start by winning two tournaments.

In the past they were just playing for a trophy; this year they were playing to win. Knowing that to continue to improve, I scheduled a tough eight days of basketball.

After winning the Lindale Tournament, the Lady Panthers played in the Fairfield tournament.

They were able to beat Fairfield for the championship this defeat came against the Number 4 team in the state.

Starting against Athens in the first district game, the girls were focused and ready to play.

The team played as good as they could possibly play in beating Athens.

The next game at Van was on the day we had the tragedy at school and it was hard on the girls.

They played poorly but still found a way to win.

They know that if they expect to be a playoff team they have to step up and win the tough games.

The Lady Panthers defeated Chapel Hill next and then on Tuesday night had a great win against Brownsboro at their place.

It was a very exciting game and the girls fought hard and were able to make the right play to win the game with only a few seconds to play.

As far as players go, there are five seniors that started as freshmen.

These young ladies have not only grown up physically as basketball players, but they have matured mentally as well.

Bullard is fortunate. They are all fine young ladies. Any time you can have senior leadership on the team it makes a big difference.

The biggest difference this year has been that the seniors have stepped up and taken the role of leaders on the team.

In the past, by the time the girls were seniors some of them had dropped out of the program.

This year we have two juniors, Calli Miller and Danielle Heithoff.

Calli is a great volleyball player and her basketball skills have improved greatly. She has become better at understanding the game.

Calli is a very quick athlete and has really stepped up her game and become a force -- both on offense and defense.

Danielle moved into the program this year and is a really bright spot.

She can run up and down the floor and knows how to position her self to score and rebound.

Danielle has given the team the presence inside to where she will score 15 or more points most games.

Our sophomores, including Kayla Welling and Ashley Ricci, have come a long way.

Both of them played junior varsity last year. They have done a good job this year.

Kayla is a 6-foot-1 player who shows great promise for the future and will continue to represent the Welling family quite well.

She can rebound and play defense well.

Ashley has come in to games and played great defense and has continued to improve each game. She has a good future with the Lady Panthers. As I watch the game films, I can see that she is learning and working hard to be a better player.

There are two freshmen -- Christina Hatten and Ally Covalt.

It is always a challenge for a coach to play freshmen on the varsity team.

I believed these two young ladies were ready and both of them have done a really good job. They are an important part of the future for Bullard basketball.

The school and community are so proud of our senior girls this year.

Sarah Welling has returned with a purpose this year.

Last year she had eight games taken away from her due to injuries, and she is very motivated this year.

The senior girls have never made the playoffs and they know that this is their last shot.

It was hard for Sarah to sit in the stands last year with her injuries and see her team mates come so close.

Sarah is one who plays great defense and always seems to come up with the big rebound when the team needs it.

Sometimes the girls don't realize how good they really are, but as they progress in wins, they are beginning to have faith that when they play hard, they can be as good as anyone.

Mallory Red is a player that if you just look at her on the floor -- and you are not really knowledgeable about the game -- you will not understand how much she does for the team.

Mallory doesn't score much, but she is possibly the best defender on the team. She is going to rebound.

She will get on the floor for loose balls and will battle you to help her team be a winner.

Mallory is ready to do all the little things that some players will not do.

Having Hillary Philpott back this year has made a big difference for our team. Hillary plays great defense.

She is quick with good arm action and we usually put her on the other teams point guard to slow them down.

She is very fast and can get up and down the floor. Many times she is able to take the ball away from the offense and get Bullard started with a fast break down the floor.

Clarissa Kendrick has worked as hard as anybody on the team and has been part of this program along with the other senior girls.

She had a couple of setbacks this year with a car wreck that messed up her back. It was hard to miss several games, but Clarissa is one of those ladies who have done every thing that I asked her to do and she has never complained.

She brings a very positive attitude to our team.

Another example of true teamwork and how we get along this year can be attributed to Elisa Lee.

Last year, Elisa was an all district post player, but when we had a real need for a point guard, Elisa stepped up and has done a great job.

She is not scoring as much this year, but she is bringing the ball up the court and setting up other team members to score.

Elisa has been able to make this move through her hard work.

People have driven by her house and seen her outside working on her.

She has sacrificed herself to better help the team. She has never complained. And to have a successful winning team you must have players like Elisa who are willing to put the team first.

Also, Elisa is the shutdown defender Bullard puts on the other team's best player.

I feel that at this point in the season, the Lady Panthers are right on schedule to win district.

We know that we will continue to have some tough games because now all the other schools will be out to knock us out of the win column.

Since Bullard has broken into the top 20 teams in the state, our job will be to continue to play at our best.

We are very thankful for fan support this year.

Our parents and fans have been there for us the entire season and we encourage more students and others to continue to be there for us.

We are excited about this time in our lives and look forward to playing more basketball and preparing ourselves for the state playoffs.