Grubb And Grubb Lend
Experience To Lady Foxes
by Don Hill
(Reprinted McLeansboro Times-Leader February 5, 1987)
FATHER AND DAUGHTER - Senior Kerri Grubb and her coach-father Willie Grubb have been a big part of the Lady Foxes success this season. |
The McLeansboro Foxes have a phenomenon happening in their midst this season which may have a familiar ring to it. But it is the Lady Foxes who are the recipients of this occurrence.
Four years ago, the Foxes boys basketball team made a trip to Champaign with a father-and-son combination in David Lee and his son Daron.
This time around, it is a father-and-daughter combination in the form of Coach Willie Grubb and his daughter Kerri. The Grubb family are two of the reasons the Lady Foxes are ranked 11th in the state by the Associated Press Class A poll and are hoping to help the lady Foxes in their first quest to Champaign.
The Lady Foxes are scheduled to go into regional action as they host the Class A regional beginning Monday.
Grubb has been at the helm for the Lady Foxes for six seasons now and has seen his daughter and the rest of this squad develop into the cohesive unit which sports a 16-2 record thus far this season.
Kerri Grubb, the senior center, for this season's squad, is the second leading scorer on this squad with an 11.9 points per game average. Grubb is also the leading rebounder on this squad with almost nine boards per contest.
But it has been a long road to this point in time for both members of the family and the players which make up this year’s squad.
But Willie Grubb does not feel that he favors his daughter when it comes to the welfare of the Lady Foxes.
"If you ask the other kids, they’ll probably tell you that I’m harder on her than I am on any of them." Grubb said. "But she’s used to it. I use her as an example for the others. When I get after her for something, they know they should listen too."
And it appears that the Lady Foxes have been doing plenty of listening this season as they only dropped two games and both of them came to AA clubs early in the season.
The Lady Foxes dropped their first games of the season to Harrisburg and Massac County druing a early 3-2 record. But since that time, the Lady Foxes have run off 13 in a row and are currently involved in the final stages of their best regular season ever.
"I really think that these seniors should be proud," Grubb continued. "They’re the ones who turned this program around. They made it a winning program."
"I always try to get at least two good players and one adequate one from our junior high program and we have a good one," Grubb said. "When they have the success at the junior high level, it carreries on.
"A good example of that is when I first came here, Grubb added. "We had some talent, but were never able to beat the good teams like Eldorado. That was because they didn't think they could beat them.
"These kids have beat them on the junior high level and know they can so when they get into high school, they are not intimidated by them and it shows.”
But Grubb also feels that he has some exceptional talent to help him out this season.
"I have two or three girls on this team that could average 20 to 25 points a game for some other clubs," Grubb said. "It makes you happy when you know you have players like that and they are content to pass the ball.
"They’ve always been that way," Grubb added. "It also helps them to know that know that they are all good players. If we go out there and they shut someone off, we know we can get 20 from someone else.
Grubb has had some of these girls on his varsity club since they were in their freshman seasons.
"Lori (Kirsch) and Sharon (Bowman) have been seeing action on the varsity team since they were in their freshman year." Grubb said. "Kerri started on the varsity beginning her sophomore year."
Grubb feels the experience his club possesses is one of the main reasons that they have been able to achieve some of their accomplishemnts.
But Grubb is also always looking for a way for his teams to improve.
"You feel that way," Grubb said said. "You come into this season and you say "can these kids improve". They are stronger than they were last season. They are quicker and they are better passers."
Balance is also a key to this squad as no less than eight players see regular varsity action.
"We have real good balance," Grubb said, "Tina (Thomas) has been a part of this team for three years now and is going to he one of the top players next year."
"Denise (Bowers) gets the job done for us at the point guard too."
With the combination of senior leadership and the talent Grubb has to work with, the team of Grubb and Grubb may have their names displayed on the marquis at Assembly Hall before this season is over with.
Reprinted by permission from McLeansboro Times-Leader - June 17, 1999 by Ryan Nelson
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