SPORTS
STORM CENTER COLUMN: Winning stays with McKinley
Bob McKinley grew up playing basketball here in Bowie back in the 1950s, and he was part of that tradition-rich decade of success.
McKinley said his coach Bobby Brashear helped him develop his love of basketball, and that has translated into a long fruitful career as the athletic director and head women’s hoop coach at Weatherford College.
This summer, McKinley will be inducted into the National Junior College Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. He will be feted at a banquet on July 24 in Niceville, Fla.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be selected after 38 years here at Weatherford College,” McKinley said in a telephone interview with me on Wednesday afternoon.
McKinley will be joined in the Hall by fellow inductees Ricky Gene Ford from Northeast Mississippi and Denny Jerome from former NJCAA member Waldorf (Iowa).
Bob’s record speaks for itself.
McKinley has amassed more than 870 victories and entered the 2014-15 campaign as the winningest active coach in the entire NJCAA. He’s third on the all-time wins list.
While a schoolboy at Bowie, he helped the Jackrabbits make state as a junior before falling to Buna. That team featured the likes of James Thompson, Jerry Cantwell, Tommy Powers and Orville Welch.
Brashear’s Bowie teams had a “culture of winning,” and that precedent has followed McKinley wherever he’s been as a coach.
“Coach Brashear did a lot of things other coaches weren’t doing (at the time),” McKinley said.
Bowie was known for its stifling press defense, and that’s one of the cornerstones of how Weatherford College has played since McKinley arrived on campus in 1977.
What else did McKinley learn from Brashear?
“Discipline,” he said. “It’s very important to let the players know how you feel about them and believe in them. Then you can get just about anything out of them.”
Once he graduated from Bowie, McKinley played for three seasons at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where he met his wife, Delores. He served as Horned Frogs’ team captain. Read more of this column in the weekend News.
Weatherford College head women’s basketball coach and athletic director Bob McKinley, a Bowie native. (Courtesy photo from Weatherford College)
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
Saint Jo hosted its own volleyball tournament Sept. 10-12.
In its first match, the Lady Panthers bested Sam Rayburn in a b est-of-three match 2-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-14.) In the opener, senior Tatum Morman staked the Lady Panthers to a 4-0 lead with help from Kamron Skidmore and Olivia Johnson kills. The Lady Rebels would come back and tie the game at seven.
Savannah Hill’s kill broke serve and allowed Abby Carter to string together seven points. An ace and a Hill kill helped keep the drive alive. Hill later rolled off six points in a row, helped by two aces, to go up 23-10. Sam Rayburn broke serve but Saint Jo finished the game with a single Morman point.
Sam Rayburn came right out of the gate firing in the second game leading 4-0. A single Carter point, thrown down by a Hill block, and Hill’s four-point skein put the Lady Panthers up 8-6. Sam Rayburn tied the game at eight.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Forestburg’s volleyball team gave visiting Chico a solid test Sept. 8, but the Lady Dragons rebounded from a third-set loss to pull out the 3-1 win (25-23, 25-19, 25-27, 25-19).
The Lady Longhorns got out to a quick start with aces from freshmen Madi Wadsworth and Lacie Shotwell staking the squad to a 4-1 lead in game one. Wadsworth later broke a 4-all tie with a kill.
Addy Conway rolled off four straight points, helped by a Wadsworth kill to give Forestburg an 11-9 lead. Chico took a 16-14 lead but a Brenna Briles ace and Jocelyn Rich’s two points forced Chico into a timeout down 17-19.
The respite worked as it would be Forestburg’s last lead of game one, the Lady ‘Horns not having another serving point.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
After splitting the first two games with Vernon Northside, Bowie’s volleyball team turned things out and wound with a 3-1 match win (25-17, 15-25, 25-17, 25-17).
Molly Enlow used two aces amidst a four-point string to give the Lady Rabbits a 5-1 lead in game one. Senior KP Rutherford’s pair of points extended the lead to 8-3.
Northside cut the deficit to 10-11 before Rutherford’s kill broke serve.
Bella Culwell’s point, aided by an Ellie Mowery kill, put Bowie up 13-10. Northside tied the game at 13 before Rutherford came through with another pair for a 17-14 lead. Lillie Maddox also had a deuce for a 20-15 lead and force a Lady INdian timeout.
Northside broke serve but a Sophie Maddox block and Lillie Maddox three-point string gave the squad game point at 24-16. The squads exchanged side outs to end the game.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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