Looks like Round Lake is prepared to honor Conkling
Howard Conkling would have loved it, from how Round Lake's girls basketball players looked in their new uniforms, to how his friend drew up that old play.
You know, that play. Watch the cut.
"There's an inbounds play that every (team) loves," Doug Barnshaw said. "Howard always hated when people did it to us ... It's been around for 40 years, where you're screening."
So right before Round Lake tipped off its season against Wheeling in the Maine East Blue Demons Thanksgiving tournament on Tuesday night, Barnshaw grabbed his whiteboard. He huddled his players.
"I said to the girls, 'Coach Conkling would be so upset if we didn't react to this,' " Barnshaw said. "I spent a few moments on it and drew it up on the board. A lot of the girls were shaking their heads because they remember a couple of years ago, which was the last time he was really with us coaching-wise. They were like, 'Oh, yeah.' "
Just 58, Howard Conkling lost his fight with cancer this past summer. Barnshaw, who started coaching at Round Lake in 1994 and quickly developed a friendship with Conkling, is sure his old friend was watching over him and the Panthers on Tuesday night.
Conkling would be proud of how Barnshaw and fellow coaches Gary Edge and Molly Hennig have carried on without him for the sake for the program, the kids, the school.
"He would be smiling down on us," Barnshaw said.
With Conkling too ill to coach last season, Barnshaw assumed the head-coaching duties and is doing so again this season. Conkling had planned to retire from teaching at the end of the 2017-18 school year. When Edge stepped down as head coach following the 2009-10 season, Conkling, a longtime coach at Round Lake, stepped in.
"When he took over, we were really not competitive," Barnshaw said. "Howard's big thing was, by the time he retired, he wanted to have the girls program where we were competitive night and night out in the conference."
If that doesn't happen in the Northern Lake County this winter, it won't make the Panthers' season any less special.
They took the court at Maine East sporting new warmup jackets with the letter "C" sewn on a sleeve to honor Conkling. The mother of junior point guard Emily Etherington did that.
When the players took off their warmup jackets, they revealed new uniforms.
"He always loved all that stuff," Barnshaw said.
That's because the dapper Conkling always wanted to make sure his teams looked presentable. He wanted to his Panthers to be proud Panthers. A first-class man, he wanted his players to look first class.
"We feel like he's with us," Barnshaw said, "(helping us with) his vision for what we're trying to create here.
"Howard was a guy who just loved coaching," Barnshaw added. "He loved Round Lake. He loved the Panthers. He loved the interaction you have as a coach. For him, it was always about getting better and how we carried ourselves."
The Panthers have some experienced players on their roster. Barnshaw is looking for big seasons from Etherington, Kiara Billups, Hannah Brooks, Diane Flade, Sam Nicoline and Alexandria Ramirez.
"We got a good amount of people that are ready to compete at the varsity level," said Barnshaw, whose Panthers won just seven games last season. "We have 8-10 people who could come in and probably contribute significant minutes."
They just have to execute - and not get burned on that darn inbounds play.
jaguilar@dailyherald.com
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