Q&A with Plains Trotters' Coach Richard Griffin

Richard Griffin

What was your proudest moment from this year’s basketball season?

When we played Eureka, after playing Bigfork the night before and then traveling, in the second to the last game [of the regular season]. We didn’t play very well, but we never gave up. We were down by two and got fouled with no time on the clock, and Jessica Hanson made two free throws. The way the team came together at that moment was wonderful. I wish the fans could have been in our huddle after she made those free throws to see how unified they were at that moment.

What was your team’s biggest challenge? How did they respond?

Just getting to the point of saying, ‘hey we can go out and win’ rather than ‘I think we can win.’ I think our biggest challenge was to believe in the program and to believe in what we were doing.

In what areas did you see the most improvement?

It depends on how you measure that. You can measure it in behavior or you can measure it in fundamentals. I think the best thing that happened to us this was year was getting along. Being able to accept freshmen coming in and playing on varisty or seniors playing on JV. Just being able to know our roles and having a good attitude towards it. That was probably the best thing the girls did all year.

Fundamentally, there’s quite a bit. If I had to narrow it down to one thing, I’d say being able to take care of the ball: making good passes and making good decisions.

When and how did you see the greatest character exhibited by your team?

In the last game of the year [versus Valley Christian at divisionals]. We played in the early morning after a late night and we played well and together. The girls actually high fived each other out on the court and on the bench. To me, that showed a lot of character. They showed me, we don’t want it to end right now, we’re going to try as hard as we can. I was really, really extremely proud of them.

What are you looking forward to the most about next season?

I think the girls saw the potential they had this year so I’m looking forward to seeing how they react to it over the off season.

Any final thoughts on the season?

I was told by someone the other day a saying, “if it is to be, it’s up to me.” That’s how the girls should think about it. Over the course of the summer, I think if the girls want it they need to go get it. I really feel that if the girls want it, we can do some good things next year.