Base women's basketball team takes home best record

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Wesley Wright
  • Minot Air Force Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The base women's basketball team took first place recently in the Minot Recreation City League after finishing the season with a record of 12-3.

The nine-person team, made up of officers, enlisted Airmen and dependents, triumphed over numerous challenges and obstacles during the 15-game season en route to proving the "Lady Magic" were the best in town.

"They far exceeded what I expected," said Master Sgt. Troy Myles, 5th Medical Group dental lab technician and team coach. "Judging by the first few practices I knew we had a lot of work to do. But they learned fast and performed well."

According to Tech. Sgt. Antony Clark, 5th Bomb Wing honor guard noncommissioned officer in charge and assistant coach, the challenges included attendance due to mission requirements and losing players to permanent change of station.

"We have an important mission at the base here," Coach Clark said. "The mission always comes first and so many times it was a challenge to get people to show up, but somehow we always came through."

However, the biggest challenge to the Lady Magic was the loss of their star player four games into the season. Achlee Beharic, wife of Airman Dino Beharic, a records technician in the 5th Medical Support Squadron, showed such stellar talent and potential that she was offered a scholarship to Minot State University.

"We took a big hit when we lost Achlee," Coach Myles said. "She brought a lot of offense and defense. However, when Achlee got picked up by Minot state, we had people step up and wind up far exceeding our expectations."

Coach Myles likened the loss of losing his star player to an Air Force unit losing an experienced person to a deployment.

"In a unit if you have somebody who deploys, someone has to step up and fill that void," Coach Myles said. "In our situation, our best player got a scholarship to Minot State. Somebody had to step up and they did. They bonded together and finished with the best record in the league."

Overcoming challenges also extended to basketball court itself in the Lady Magic's three losses, but according Coach Myles, the players' core values never wavered.

"Nobody likes to lose," Coach Myles said. "The next day in practice they would hit it hard and then play even harder in the next game. We also had trouble getting good calls, but they kept their integrity and composure and kept playing basketball. They represented Minot AFB well."

Although this was his first time coaching, Sergeant Myles is no stranger to success on the basketball court having played All Air Force basketball six times, winning gold once and silver five times. Additionally, he has numerous tournament championships under his belt.

"I wasn't sure if I had the patience to do this, but I learned a lot about myself from this experience," Coach Myles said. "I like to play with people who hate to lose more than they enjoy winning and this group definitely had that same attitude."

For Coach Clark, the experience was rewarding from a teaching standpoint.

"It was different because I coached the men's team last year," Coach Clark said. "Nothing against them but I found the women's team were like a bunch of sponges, they took the coaching and executed what we taught them well. There were rough spots but we got through them."

One of the players who took the coaching to heart was Senior Airman LaQuarsha Lott, 791st Missile Security Forces Squadron member.

"It was a fun experience," Airman Lott said. "Having good coaches who are willing to tell it like it is helped out in tough games. I'm definitely looking forward to next year!"

For people interested in playing intramural or base sports, Coach Myles and Clark recommend they call the McAdoo Sports and Fitness Center at 723-2145 or contact squadron sports representatives.