Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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  • Yvonne Brown, Mount View girls coach File photo by Tom Bone

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  • Gary Brown, Mount View boys coach File photo by Tom Bone

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  • Malory McPherson, James Monroe girls coach File photo by Tom Bone

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  • Jonathan McPherson, James Monroe boys coach File photo by Tom Bone

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February 7, 2012

All in the family: Couples share coaching as a common bond

Notebook: Tigerettes survive tough stretch in season

By JONATHAN GREENE Bluefield Daily Telegraph

WELCH — Few people understand what a head coach goes through like a spouse. Yet at Mount View and James Monroe, that is taken to the next level.

Both the Knights and Mavericks basketball teams are led by husband and wife.

At Mount View, Gary Brown is the boys’ head coach while Yvonne Brown is in charge of the girls’ team. The same is true at James Monroe where Jonathan McPherson is guiding the boys’ team and Malory McPherson is leading the Lady Mavs.

“My husband and I, we’ve have been coaching for a long time,” Yvonne Brown said. “It’s a never ending story, because you eat, sleep, drink and dream basketball all the time. We’re able to communicate and tell each other what our problems may be.”

Yvonne and Gary Brown have been coaching in the area for many years now, but the McPherson’s are in their first year as head coaches. Both understand exactly what the other is going through on a daily basis even if they aren’t around to see it.

“It’s nice to actually get to see each other team’s play, because a lot of the times we play on the same night [at different places],” Malory McPherson said. “It’s nice to get to go and support each other and travel together. The time together during basketball season is a rarity actually.”

All four coaches are in their first year at their respective jobs with a twist for the Brown’s. Gary was head coach of the girls’ team with Yvonne as his assistant last year. Gary took over the boys’ program this season which allowed Yvonne to take over the head position for the Lady Knights.

“When I was here before, we did the same thing,” Gary Brown said. “It’s really nothing new for us. She was my assistant then and she was my assistant coach last year. She understands what I want and she works well with the girls. She’s doing a heck of a job.”

On Saturday night, Yvonne and the Mount View Lady Knights came out on top of Malory and the James Monroe Lady Mavs. Fittingly enough, Jonathan and the James Monroe Mavericks edged Gary and the Mount Knights for a split at the Castle.

“I told [the team] I want them to come out and play better than the girls did,” Jonathan said. “They didn’t play their best. It’s definitely a good win and a long trip home [for us]. We’ll celebrate once we get there.”

It was a perfect end to a rare doubleheader for the spousal coaching duos.

•  •  •

LESSONS LEARNED: It wasn’t perfect, but the Princeton Tigerettes survived possibly the toughest stretch of games any team will face this season outside of playing in the state tournament.

They visited No. 4 South Charleston and No. 1 Greenbrier East before hosting AA powerhouse Summers County on Tuesday.

The first two contests didn’t go in Princeton’s favor as the Tigerettes dropped both by more than 20 points, but they rebounded for a 25-point win over the Bobcats.

“We’ve had a rough end of the schedule,” Princeton head coach Debbie Ball said Tuesday after Princeton’s win over Summers County. “It’s pretty rough. We’ve played the top two teams. Of course, Greenbrier East is the top.

“You have South Charleston who plays a lot of streetball type of basketball and that’s hard for our team to play against. They have a really strong team. Then you go to Greenbrier [East] and they have five shooters instead of a couple shooters.

“It’s tough to play against teams like that. What we learned, maybe when we meet them again we’ll do something different.”

The schedule doesn’t get an easier for the Tigerettes as they host Nicholas County and top-10 ranked Woodrow Wilson this week.

“We’re learning every game,” Princeton junior McKenzie Akers said. “We can’t take any team lightly, because we’re in a rough game. We’re just taking it game-by-game.”

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