There may be a difference between a team exhibiting nerves and one that has subdued confidence, but Jonesboro Coach Jodi Christenberry said she believes her Lady Hurricane will display both Thursday night when they face Russellville for the Class 6A girls state title.
"The nerves will definitely be there, I assure you that," Christenberry said. "It'll be hard for them not to be. You may see a couple of passes thrown four or five rows in the stands.
"But at the same time, this bunch is always loose. They're excited about the history they've already made for this program, but they've taken the mindset that they've got unfinished business to attend to."
According to Christenberry, the support her team has gotten has been "tremendous" and understandably so. Thursday's game will mark the Lady Hurricane's first appearance in a state championship game. Prior to this season, Jonesboro's boys team had reached the title game four years in a row and was the one representing the program during state finals week.
The Lady Hurricane (19-12) punched their ticket to the title game by knocking off El Dorado 61-46 in the semifinals last Saturday. The team also advanced to the semifinals a year ago before losing to eventual champion Greenwood.
While she said her team isn't necessarily into moral victories, Christenberry admitted the 55-45 loss to the Lady Bulldogs in last year's semifinal gave her team new-found confidence and showed it had what it took to compete against top teams.
"Getting as far as we got last year, that was huge for this group," Christenberry said. "They saw what they could do and that they could get to the state tournament and win some games. So they came back a lot more mature than they were.
"And as a coach, you love to see that in your team. They put in work and knew exactly what they needed to do to get to this point."
Jonesboro might not have been a trendy pick to reach the final after a tumultuous start this season. After starting 10-4, the Lady Hurricane lost their first six games in January, including five against 7A/6A-East opponents. During that stretch, Jonesboro was held to 33 points or less four times and never scored more than 47. Those losses, however, might have been a blessing in disguise.
"Four of those games were against true 7A schools," Christenberry said. "In the past, I hated playing those teams because you may have gotten your head caved in. But at the same time, it got you prepared for tournament play, and that's the thing about being in the 7A/6A-East.
"Those games against the bigger schools got us ready to make a run."
Christenberry said she is hoping her team can complete that run against a coach who is no stranger to state title games. Russellville is the fourth school Coach Sherry White has taken to the state finals. She led Hot Springs to the 1990 Class 3A championship before guiding Harrison to four Class 4A crowns between 2000-2004. White also took Fort Smith Southside to a runner-up finish in the 2013 Class 7A championship game.
"This never gets old for me, but it's never the same," White said of reaching her seventh final. "We've got a good group of girls, and they're pretty pumped up. But we know Jonesboro is going to be a tough challenge for us.
"They're extremely talented and athletic. But I feel like the girls will be focused and ready."
Senior guard Alyssa Owens and senior forward Shameka Ealy have been the catalysts all season for the Lady Cylclones (22-6), and Christenberry said she doesn't expect that the change.
"Those two are going to give us problems," she said. "Owens is a very smart, very heady point guard that sees the floor well. And Ealy is going to be tough to handle inside. So we know we'll have our work cut out for us."
Russellville also may have its hands full trying to slow down Jonesboro senior guard Starr Taylor, who has committed to play at Arkansas State. She had a game-high 24 points in the Lady Hurricane's semifinal victory over El Dorado.
"She's the glue to our team," Christenberry said of Taylor. "She's gotten better and better as the year has progressed, and like the rest of the girls, she wants that ring. They've wanted it for three years now, but they know Russellville isn't going to just hand it to us.
"So they're looking at this opportunity as a business trip, and they'll be focused on the task at hand to try to make more history for this program."
Sports on 03/08/2016