WS Chronicle

Even though there is no official conference championship for junior varsity, the young men from Glenn High School have reason to celebrate. They finished atop the Central Piedmont Conference, with a record of 17-2.

The Bobcats only losses on the season were to Mt. Tabor during the Lash/Chronicle Tournament and to West Forsyth in the last game of the season when several players were dealing with illness. JV head coach Richard Daniels Jr. said he had high hopes for this team and they exceeded his expectations.

“Initially I thought we weren’t going to have our football guys, because we thought the team would go deep in the playoffs, so I thought we would struggle the first couple of games,” said Daniels. “We had five freshmen this year that were really good and all the guys really worked their butts off this year.”

Glenn started off the year with a 7-0 start. Daniels said he was happy with the record, but knew the competition would become tougher as conference play began.  

Heading into the Lash/Chronicle Tournament, Daniels felt his team had a “big head” due to their undefeated record. His team missed an entire week of practice leading up to the tournament due to the snowstorm and felt his team had a few lackluster practices heading into tournament play.

“I kept preaching to the guys that everyone wants to beat you, because you are unbeaten and I knew Mt. Tabor was just as good as we were,” he said.  

The Bobcats suffered their first loss of the season to the Spartans during the Lash/Chronicle tournament. The next day they defeated Reynolds, but Daniels felt his squad still had some improvements to make due to their slow start.

“After the new year, I just preached to them about always being ready and not taking anyone for granted,” Daniels said. “I let them know that East won the other bracket of the Lash and West won our bracket, so it doesn’t get any easier from here.

“To their credit, they listened and took heed to everything I was telling the team and came to work every game.”

Daniels said he was excited to hear that they had won the conference title, but the most important thing for him was to prepare his guys for the varsity level.  

“It’s a great feeling, but I am more of a guy that wants to see progress from his players,” he said. “It’s not so much about the wins and losses, but if I see players getting better, that means we are getting better as a team.”

Due to the nature of being on the JV level, it is hard to gauge how good his team will be because it is not clear who will move up to the varsity team. Daniels says he likes to focus on becoming a better coach to get the most out of his team.

This championship may come as a surprise to some around the county, because Glenn has not been known for their basketball recently. Daniels says his school gets overlooked, but that does not bother his guys. They enjoy being a part of the culture change.

“I think a lot of people sleep on Glenn and that is not to disrespect the other schools, but Glenn has not had too many winning seasons in the past and like I tell the guys, we have to change the culture,” he continued. “Sometimes you talk about earning respect. I told them at this point, you have to take the respect.”

There are many unknowns on the JV level, due to the nature of the sport. Some guys may get moved up and some may not. It is hard to predict how your team will look year in and year out, based on these factors. Daniels feels that is one of the best things about coaching, facing challenges.