SHERIDAN — Near the end of the season, the Sheridan Lady Yellowjackets lost two of three games at the Heber Springs Holiday Classic, including a 20-point loss to Star City High School.
Once home, Sheridan head coach Jamison Ingram held a team meeting and asked them, “How do you define success?”
Players wrote their answers on the board, and Ingram said they used that meeting to inspire a turnaround.
“I felt like we could perform so much better that what we did there,” Ingram said. “I was determined to fix that. … Ultimately, we walked out of the meeting knowing that in order to achieve success, we had to finish satisfied, that we had to give absolutely everything we could.”
Sheridan finished the season 23-7 and as runner-up for the state championship. According to Ingram, it is only the second time Sheridan has made it to the state championship in girls basketball. The last time was in 1981.
Following this year’s performance, Ingram is the Tri-Lakes Edition Basketball Coach of the Year.
“I felt like it all just came together, what we have been trying to do since I got here,” said Ingram, who is in her third season at Sheridan.
“Sheridan is rich in history. When coach [Rick] Treadway was here, we always had a good team and a good program,” Ingram said.
“And really, we are just trying to rebuild to that,” she said. “I feel like it was a lot of buying into the hard work, and the hard work paying off.
“Just the little things.”
Ingram was born and raised in Sheridan, having graduated in 1993.
“This was like coming home for me,” she said. “When a position like this comes open, having gone to school here and being part of the program, it was a no-brainer for me.”
Before Sheridan, Ingram coached at Heber Springs as the junior high coach and as an assistant at the senior high for seven years. Before that, she was the head coach at Quitman High School.
Ingram said Sheridan won 19 games last season and 16 in her first year as head coach.
“We talked a lot about the little things and how little things lead to the big things, so for this team, this particular year, it was the little things,” Ingram said. “They started to do the little things, and they paid off in a very big way.
“It was very neat and very exciting to be a part of that.”
Ingram credited her two seniors, Colby Norman and Madison Raney, for the team’s success. Raney was a three-year starter and averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds per game.
Norman was a two-year all-conference starter and averaged 12 points a game with five rebounds and six assists.
“They are a product of what we are trying to do,” Ingram said. “They were incredible leaders for our team this year. They were sophomores when I came here, and they did do many things right for us.
“They led in different ways, and our younger players played very hard for those two as well.”
Ingram described Norman, a multisport athlete, as the heartbeat of the team.
“She is a natural born leader, and she is a competitor in everything she does,” Ingram said. “She just pushed and pushed and really did a good job of making the girl next to her bring that same kind of intensity.”
Ingram said Raney, who is listed at 6-2, led more by her presence.
“She just naturally gave us confidence,” Ingram said. “Having her around us and on our team, she gets people’s attention, and I think our kids fed off that.
“She was more of our silent leader.”
Ingram said that outside of the two seniors, “we really had a lot of different weapons.
“We have a sophomore, Diamond Morris, who just grew and grew as a player. Her game just continued to progress throughout the season.”
The coach said sophomore Savannah Howard, who played in the two spot for the Lady Yellowjackets, was a very steady player.
“She is a very even-keeled kid and doesn’t show a lot of emotions,” Ingram said. “Game in and game out, she handles the ball for us and has the ability to get to the bucket.
“I think she also took the pressure off Colby and helped her. Howard’s presence helped Colby get to the bucket and do some of the things she was able to do.”
According to Ingram, junior Sarah Moore was a very well-rounded player, and as the season went on, she became “what I would call a sharp shooter.”
“She was able to knock down some big outside time shots for us during the state tournament,” Ingram said. “They were huge and a big part of our success.”
Ingram said one of the turning points of the season was the second game against Watson Chapel.
After losing to the Lady Wildcats 46-23 on Jan. 10, the Lady Yellowjackets responded by a competition with Chapel in a 50-45 double-overtime loss.
“After the way our kids competed that night and what we were doing on the court that night, it solidified that we deserve the record we had,” Ingram said.
Chapel had wins over Little Rock Parkview and Pulaski Academy and eventually won the 5A state championship.
“We had our chance to beat them, and it was a dramatic turnaround from the first game,” Ingram said.
Losing seniors Norman and Raney to graduation will hurt, but Ingram said she feels good about whom Sheridan has returning.
“Getting a taste of having a season like that, it sets the bar for us,” she said.
“The bigger picture is just to pick up where we left off and learn from your mistakes and your success, and to press upon your kids to continue the tradition.”
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.