South Pointe basketball coaches determined to unlock potential within their teams
With 28 seconds left in the girls’ game on Friday night, South Pointe head coach Stephanie Butler-Graham called a timeout.
The crowd in the York Comprehensive High School gym rustled in confusion. The Stallions (14-1, 2-1 region) ended up defeating region foe York, 52-9, and didn’t allow a point in the fourth quarter. Their starters didn’t play for most of the second half, after their game-sealing run early in the third quarter.
And yet, after a few errant shots and disorganized offense, with 28 seconds left in a game already in hand, the whistle blew. The Stallions gathered around their head coach. And listened.
“I just wanted them to get an opportunity to be successful,” Butler-Graham told The Herald after the game.
She’s done this before, explaining that because she expects her team to play to the last whistle, her team should expect her to coach through then.
“I tried to work a play to get the right people the ball in their hands. That was it,” Butler-Graham said.
Butler-Graham, who led her team to the state title game last season, is the coach of a team that — outside of a single two-point loss, in a game where South Pointe was up 15 — has largely been unbeatable. The Stallions have mowed through almost all of its competition this season: defeating 3A powerhouse Keenan at the Battle at the Rock, and Dorman, the only team able to knock off top-ranked Clover this season.
On Friday night, especially, the Stallions looked as good as they have all year, using a balanced attack to improve in region play: Randi Neal led the team in scoring with 17 points and added four rebounds. Jamia Blake had eight points and five assists. Najah Lane had eight points, and Joyiah White had eight rebounds.
And yet their coach is still searching for ways to unlock more potential she sees hidden in her team.
“I don’t want us to peak too soon,” she said. “I’m hoping that we’ll be running a little more smoothly in the next couple weeks.”
BOYS: ‘A dangerous team’
A few hours later, all South Pointe boys’ basketball head coach Melvin Watson could do was shrug his shoulders and smile.
His team left the York court triumphant, too, after recovering after being down 14-4 and staving off a final Cougar push at the end of the game.
He had a lot to be positive about Friday night: He saw his young team win against a sharpshooting York team. He bore witness to one of senior forward Jerijah Burris’ best performances of the season, which featured a slew of dunks (two on fast breaks and one off a drop step) and second-chance points to add up to 18 points.
But he still smiled and shrugged when he was asked what he makes of his obviously gifted, young South Pointe team (7-6, 1-2 region) — a group with more underclassmen than seniors and a resume filled with impressive wins against teams like Northwestern and Rock Hill.
“All year, it’s just been us getting on a nice roll where we’re playing pretty good, and then we just hit a little wall because they’re young,” Watson said. “They don’t know how to play through that …
“I think we’re a dangerous team. I think nobody really wants to play us in the playoffs — if we’re able to get there.”
On Friday night, both South Pointe basketball teams proved (again) how good they are.
And afterward, their coaches, in different ways, each hinted how good they could be.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 10:26 PM.
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