June Dampier is being modest when she said she “did what she could do” with the West Lowndes High School girls basketball team.
As coach of the Lady Panthers from 2000-03, Dampier admits things always didn’t go smoothly as she tried to establish her style of play and implement the rules players would have to follow to commit to her program. The goal was simple: Win a state championship.
For a school that had never won a title in girls basketball, talk like that wasn’t ordinary. But Dampier made sure the Lady Panthers understood they could accomplish anything if they believed — and did plenty of running to make sure they were in the best shape possible.
The results proved Dampier was right.
On Saturday, March 13, 2004, the West Lowndes High girls defeated McAdams 75-64 to win the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A state title. The championship was the program’s first. On Friday, Dampier and members of that team reunited for a ceremony at halftime of the Columbus Christian-West Lowndes boys basketball game in the West Lowndes annual Thanksgiving Basketball tournament and were recognized for going 31-4 and winning the crown.
“I always told them, ‘Don’t look at that name or the number behind, look at number in front,’ ” said Dampier, who traveled from Atlanta, where she lives now, to be part of the festivities. “You have to work as a team. They have to buy into the team concept. When they bought into the team concept, that is when we won.”
Dampier said the players ran plenty of suicides on the journey to become a state champion. Unfortunately, family obligations forced her to step aside as the team’s head coach for the 2003-04 season. Donald Bryant stepped in as head coach and received help from assistant coaches Jeff Smith and Jesse Smith. In the program the players received Friday, Dampier was listed as an assistant coach.
“I love it,” Dampier said. “I would take a challenge like that any day because I know where those kids came from. … They didn’t have a lot, but they had heart. Heart put them right there. To see them as grown women who have families, I love that.”
Ebony Evans, who had 14 points in the state title game, said times with Dampier were “haaaaaaaard.” She laughed when asked how many vowels to use to spell that word (“About 20,” she said.) to convey what it was like to play basketball for Dampier. Despite all the suicides and ups and downs, Evans said the work paid off.
“It made us humble and want it even more,” Evans said. “When we hit the court, we were ready. All of that hard work and running and sweating and cussing each other out, we were just like one big happy family.”
Shalonda Rogers said the 2003-04 team knew what it wanted, which made it easier to buy into Dampier’s dream. She said the players were emotional when they saw Dampier return to watch the state tournament. Dampier asked the players why they were crying because she told them, “You know how to win.” Rogers said it was satisfying to put all of their training and experience to work in 2004 to win the state championship.
“We didn’t think it was going to be that hard after she left,” Rogers said. She said the players talked with Dampier on the phone and watched videotapes to make sure they did what they had to do to complete the journey. “The best memory I have of that day is down to the last two minutes all I heard was, ‘Defense, defense. We got it. We got it.’ I was looking up the clock and hoping that the time would run out.”
Jeff Smith, who has been active in Amateur Athletic Union basketball for years in the area, said Friday was as good a time as any to recognize the team’s accomplishments. He pointed to a picture of the team that recently had been put up on the far wall. He said there is another picture of the team outside of the school’s gym.
“(Winning a state title) is hard to accomplish,” said Smith, who represents District Four on the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors. “Ten years later, we are still trying to get another one, so I ask you again, ‘Why not.’ ”
The program the players received included stories about their journey to the state title game. West Lowndes beat East Oktibbeha for a third time to reach the state title game. Senior Heather Benson led the starters with 16 points. Rogers had 14, while Chasity Hines had 13 and Ashaki Moody added 12 to help West Lowndes beat McAdams.
Jeff Smith agreed with the players that Dampier was instrumental in helping lay the foundation for the title. In 2003, West Lowndes lost to Myrtle in the Class 1A state championship game.
“Not only did they have to buy in and respect her, she had to buy in and respect them,” Smith said. “Sometimes that element is missing. … When you can meet people in the middle of the road and they can accept what you are bringing and they understand you care a lot about them and you want them to be successful, then they will buy in. That is the key. Kids will give you everything they have got, but they have to know what you are trying to get them to buy is going to benefit them.”
Smith said West Lowndes was able to realize its goal in 2004 because the players put the work in. He said there are so many talented individuals who believe they can win on their talent alone. Smith said the 2003-04 team built on the accomplishments of the 2002-03 team and worked even harder and did all of the extra stuff to take the next step.
“They didn’t want to be the group that failed,” Smith said. “They worked out in the summer when they could have been in bed. They worked all summer when they could have been on vacation. When they could have gone home and used homework as an excuse, they went to the gym, and they still did their homework. If you want to be successful, you have to put the work in, and they did it.”
The benefits students and teams can reap through hard work is a universal message Smith was proud to help convey. Even though it took time for the team to be recognized, Smith hopes the ceremony helps show current students and athletes at the school what they can accomplish if they commit to being a champion.
“No one is going to give it to you,” Smith said. “The other team wants the same thing you want, and they may want it badder. If you want to be successful and to be ‘the’ team, you have to do what it takes to be ‘the’ team. It is not just in basketball. It is in everything you do.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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