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Jacksonville takes winning mentality into state semifinals

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Jacksonville girls basketball and its second-year coach might have seemed an odd fit at first, and Ryan Chambless admits girls’ sports meant venturing beyond his comfort zone.

But he knows winning, having amassed three state-title rings as a football and basketball player at Alexandria.

And the girls he would coach at Jacksonville? Many have won big in other sports, and they wanted to win in basketball.

Turns out, winning is a universal language.

“I just think that winning is a mentality, as much as it is anything else,” Chambless said. “You’ve just got to have that winning mentality.

“Once you get it, it’s hard to get rid of it.”

No. 5 Jacksonville has it, carrying a 29-4 record into the Golden Eagles’ Class 4A semifinal game against No. 7 Midfield (18-13). Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. in the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Complex.

Jacksonville advanced past the Northeast Regional for the first time since 1997 in girls’ basketball, but the school is no stranger to success in girls’ sports. The Golden Eagles won state championships in volleyball in 2007 and 2008 and were runners-up in 2009. The soccer team made the past three quarterfinals.

Scanning the current girls’ basketball roster, one sees lots of crossover. Four of the top five scorers — Lacey Buchanon (16.0 ppg), Sharon Osterbind (10.6), Angel Kidd (8.4) and Virginia Poe (7.3) — also play soccer. Senior reserves Nicole Penny and Katlin Buzan also play volleyball.

They bring that winning chemistry with them to basketball.

“That group of girls is extremely competitive,” Chambless said. “They don’t like to lose. They’ve just got that competitive edge.”

Match that with Chambless, who was part of state championship teams in football (1995 and 1997) and basketball (1997).

Buchanon said Chambless has talked to the team about his state championship experiences since this past summer, not that the team needed reminding.

“When he came to the school, we knew his history, the success he had when he was in high school,” Buchanon said.

“We knew his expectations were winning, and we’ve got a good mixture of players that have been on winning teams.

“Just to combine all of that together, it just brings a good attitude to the team.”

The match started to pay off in Chambless’ first season, as Jacksonville won 18 games.

This season, Jacksonville made its first Northeast Regional appearance since 2008 and second since winning it in 1997. The Golden Eagles wound up the survivor out of a bracket that included No. 2 Oneonta, No. 3 Anniston and Springville, which upset No. 9 DAR in the sub-regional.

Jacksonville beat Springville in the semifinals then Oneonta in the final.

The addition of Poe has helped. After taking a year off from basketball, she came out this season as a freshman and gave Jacksonville a 3-point shooting threat.

Chambless also lauds junior forward Kenyatta Ervin, who gives the Golden Eagles 8.1 points and 7.5 rebounds a game.

“She has really improved a lot from one year to the next,” Chambless said.

But as much as anything, Jacksonville’s successful turn in girls’ basketball owes to a good match of a coach and players who know something about winning, even if those lessons came in other sports or another school.

“I came through with a good group of guys, and I had a great coach, obviously,” Chambless said, referring to Larry Ginn. “I was fortunate to come through when I did.”

“I just really want the same for the players I coach, try to give them that same chance.”

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