Maranatha coach guides team to playoffs after | College News
The story of coach Michael Allen and Maranatha High ladies’ basketball team is nothing short of superb.
He joined this system as an assistant coach this 12 months to help out a pal. When the pinnacle coach resigned two weeks earlier than the season started, he took over because the fourth head coach in 4 years.
“I’ve never coached in my life,” he mentioned.
The team went 0-8 in league play final season and hasn’t been to the playoffs because the 2018-19 season.
The Eaton fire occurred on Jan. 7 and Allen’s home was destroyed, together with that of his assistant.
“The night I lost our house was a breakthrough game for us,” he mentioned. “We beat Whittier Christian for our first league win. A couple hours later, my house went down.”
Then got here a sequence of occasions that indicated somebody was wanting over Maranatha. Whittier Christian misplaced a buzzer beater, forcing a play-in sport towards Maranatha to determine third place within the Olympic League and a playoff spot. Maranatha gained the coin toss to host. Then Maranatha gained the sport in double time beyond regulation and can go to the playoffs with a 9-16 document.
“We had definitely divine intervention,” mentioned Allen, who’s 28 and runs a business that helps colleges with after-school applications.
Afterward, there was a joyous celebration, with boys’ basketball gamers, coaches, ladies’ gamers all letting unfastened to have a good time the journey the ladies team has taken.
“Seeing it in our seniors’ eyes, you can see how much this girls’ program has been through,” Allen mentioned. “It was nice to have a positive outcome.”
Asked about coping with all of the households displaced within the Altadena/Pasadena space, together with his own, whereas teaching basketball, Allen mentioned, “It’s been something to distract us. It speaks to the heart of our community. Altadena/Pasadena have some of the most resilient people. The streets are flooded with people giving and helping.”
On Saturday morning, Allen will wait to discover out what team he could have to put together to play within the Southern Section ladies basketball playoffs.
A contented second for a team and coach that has gone by means of a lot.
This is a day by day take a look at the optimistic happenings in high faculty sports activities. To submit any information, please e mail eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
Stay up to date with the most recent information in faculty basketball! Our web site is your go-to source for cutting-edge faculty basketball information, sport highlights, participant stats, and insights into upcoming matchups. We present day by day updates to guarantee you could have entry to the freshest info on team rankings, sport outcomes, harm reviews, and main bulletins.
Explore how these trends are shaping the longer term of the game! Visit us repeatedly for essentially the most partaking and informative faculty basketball content material by clicking right here. Our rigorously curated articles will keep you knowledgeable on match brackets, convention championships, teaching adjustments, and historic moments on the courtroom.
