The 2000 women’s basketball team was the first sports team in Mason High School history to win a state championship title. MBC Overtime goes back down memory lane to unveil the legacy left behind fourteen years ago.
Cullen Ecoffey | MBC Reporter
Shaun Mitchell | MBC Reporter
Expectations
The team’s success in years prior brought lofty expectations for the next season. According to the 2000 team’s guard Jere Issenmann Clark, the expectations had been set before she even stepped foot in Mason High School. At that time, the experienced players and team chemistry were all present — the only thing missing from the team’s resume was a state championship.
Goals
According to Trenz, “Everyone wants to win a state title.” With the end goal in mind, the team decided to take the rigorous process of getting to the state final at The Ohio State University’s Jerome Schottenstein Center game by game. They prepared for each opponent and each game with equal intensity.
Was the state championship always your goal?
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Schottenstein Center was much different from the arena at Mason, with over 18,000 seats for a raging crowd to gather and cheer on the Comets. With parents and relatives sitting in the stands among college scouts and coaches, the Comets had a lot of pressure to conquer the opposition and claim the elusive state championship — an atmosphere much different than the usual hometown crowd in the middle school arena.
Tunnel
Game day was a blur. According to these alumni, they didn’t get a chance to find their friends and family in the crowd or take in the overall scale of the game. They just had to focus on getting mentally prepared for the biggest game of their high school careers.
What was the game-day feeling like?
Nerves
Winning
According to Clark, their 2000 team had put in the work — all of the time spent on the court, staying after practice, spending the weekends at tournaments, making sacrifices for the game — it seemed to be worth it after they finally won the championship they had all been striving for. When the clock got closer to zero, Clark said the excitement grew as the girls, with a double digit lead, were almost to the finish line.
After the girl’s dog-piled on the “O” of Schottenstein Center, they had to finally regroup themselves on last time, to be awarded their newly earned title. With the state championship trophy in their hands, and the medals around their necks, the girls could finally exhale, enjoy the moment, and call themselves champions.
Impact
Along with the on-court experiences , the state championship has helped the players and coaches grow as individuals. For Lackey, the championship has helped him renew his love of coaching. According to Trenz, she learned lessons of leadership and teamwork, which are now helping her raise her family. Burke is back at Mason High School as a strength trainer and said she has the mentality of paying it forward to high school athletes. Clark is now a math teacher at Mason High School, teaching alongside her former coach — Lackey, and continues to help the girls basketball program grow as the varsity assistant coach. Now as alumni, these three former teammates continue to stay and support the Mason community that once supported them in their own athletic experience in high school.
2000 championship game footage contributed by Gerald Lackey.
MBC Overtime 