Farmington Lady Cardinals basketball coach Brad Johnson uses many words to describe Reese Shirey, but he seems to always come back to one and that's winner.
There's one specific moment that Johnson recalls in her freshman year that stood out.
With her team trailing, Shirey nailed a key three-pointer late in the regional tournament and the Lady Cardinals went on to win the game. But that's only a part of the story, which showed the amount of trust her teammates had in her even then.
Trailing by three, Johnson called a timeout and was looking to set up a play for either his daughter, Trinity, or Carson Dillard, who were both upperclassmen and had made their share of big shots already in their career. But Trinity had a quick word with her Dad during the timeout.
"Trinity told me 'Dad, they're chasing me off the (three-point) line and switching that stagger screen and they're overplaying Carson,'" Johnson said. "They're going to jump those screens, but I think we can get Reese open."
He decided then to run the same play, but it would be for Shirey to take the shot.
"When we broke that huddle Carson and Trinity kinda slapped Reese on the backside and said 'we're gonna get you open, hit the shot,'" Johnson said. "That kid buried that shot with under a minute a go in a monster game in the regional tournament. We went on and win it. I'll just never forget that moment, because I thought that shows you how much respect and confidence these upperclassmen had for her."
Johnson said Shirey's teammates may have seen something early on that even he didn't at the time.
"I knew she was special," he said. "That speaks volumes how much respect they had for her even then. That just told me everything I needed to know."
Shirey puts an incredible amount of time into basketball, but she wants to see results.
"I have high expectations because all of the work that we put in day in and day out," Shirey said. "I expect very high results."
And she's delivered those results, too.
Johnson said she's only lost a total of five games in 86 varsity games. The Lady Cardinals are defending 4A state champions.
And scoring is just only one aspect of the game that Shirey brings to the table to help her team.
In addition to her outstanding shooting touch, Shirey can push the ball in transition and deliver the ball to a teammate for the finish.
"She might score 25 ... but she might score six points and have 12 or 13 assists, seven or eight rebounds and five or six steals," Johnson said. "Those are all things that she's done. She's looking at what can I do to impact winning."
The Northeastern (Okla.) State signee is a do-it-all guard. She averaged 7.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.7 steals a year ago. Shirey also shot 49 percent from two-point range and 35 percent from 3-point range.
But Johnson said she brings intangibles to her team as well.
"She is a phenomenal vocal leader every single day," Johnson said. "Some of it is just maturation. She knows there's nobody that's played more minutes on that floor for us than her. But just the ownership of getting people in the right spots being that vocal catalyst that lifts the team when we need energy. She's going to be that kid that sparks it with both her voice and her actions."
Shirey said having two parents are both coaches wasn't always easy, but they contributed to her growth in the game. Her mother, Amber, was a standout guard at the University of Arkansas and later served on the Razorbacks women's basketball coaching staff. She's now serving as women's basketball director of basketball operations. Her father, Jason, is also a successful high school softball coach.
"Sometimes it's very frustrating," Shirey said. "You get all their thoughts. But looking back I can see how much it really helped me grow and improve my game -- not just my game but me as a person. They did so much and now I'm realizing it."