Dixie Flyer Girls Basketball Team Ranked #1 in 4A RPI

We interviewed Dixie Flyer Head Coach Kasey Winters about the Flyers season thus far, and their big game tonight at Snow Canyon.

Andy: How is it going, Coach?

Winters: Everything is good. Thanks for having us.

Andy: Absolutely. Let's start first before we talk about your big game tonight. How about that game last night, the boys' game at the Hangar?

Winters: Man, oh man, what a great game. I mean, all the way till the last 1.3 seconds. And kudos to Coach Murdock and his staff and, ultimately, Trey Leroy for throwing a great pass and Britton Phillips with a great finish at the buzzer. I think that is kind of the way that we thought the majority of the games in Region 9 would go this season. And last night definitely did not disappoint.

Andy: Yeah, that was awesome. Dixie girls' team has a huge one tonight in the Jungle against Snow Canyon. This was a battle earlier on in the year. But before we get to that matchup, Coach, catch us up. I know you lost a tough one to Pine View; you just beat Crimson in a heck of a game. Give us kind of the State of the Union right now for the Flyers.

Winters: Yeah. I mean, we are just looking to finish strong. I mean, it is crazy that we are already at this point in the season where we are talking about three games left in the region. And it is a dogfight. You mentioned the Pine View loss, where Pine View, I feel like, is playing as good as anybody in the state right now. And they have got a big win tonight against Desert Hills, which will definitely have some impact on the region standings. And then we have the huge one against Snow Canyon tonight and a huge one against Desert Hills next Tuesday, which could be, depending on how things shake out tonight, even more important in the region standings come Tuesday. And then, yeah, we have a tough one up in Cedar on Thursday to finish our region schedule. So the thing I like about it is you want to be playing your best ball towards the end of the season. And we feel like that typically happens when we are playing the best teams.

Andy: Yeah, absolutely. That is a heck of a stretch down the homestretch here of the season for you guys. And four teams in Region 9 right now are in the top five of the RPI, which is crazy. I was watching some film on your last game against Crimson Cliffs. You guys had 19 team assists in that game; you had 17 steals. And it is like watching the opposition having to bring the ball up with Izzy Hollingshead and Addy Winters on the top of that zone, who were just all over it. I think they are averaging about six steals a game, and a lot of those turn into points on the other end. How awesome is kind of your perimeter defense this year generating turnovers for you guys?

Winters: Yeah, it has been good. And we have had to remind the girls, everybody likes to score, and we like to put up a lot of points. But we have to remind them quite frequently that it all starts on the defensive end. And if we can get those steals and tips and easy shots, it just helps us get into a really good flow and a really good rhythm. And so we try to stick with that as long as we can. Most of the coaches in the region do a pretty good job of figuring it out, and then we have got to make some adjustments. But yeah, any time that we can get those early steals right around half court that lead to either wide open threes or wide open layups, we cannot ask for anything easier on the offensive end.

Andy: When you guys are cooking in the half court, Coach, and you are getting open shots or open threes, what does the possession look like when you are over there as a head coach, satisfied with what just happened, whether the shot goes in or not? What are you looking for in your half court?

Winters: Yeah. I mean, we are just looking for a good shot. And if that comes in the first 10 seconds of the clock, great. If we have got to work a little bit longer and it comes into the last 10 seconds, that is fine. But one thing that we really stress is paint touches. As a lot of coaches know, we do not want to just catch the ball and hold it and let the defense readjust. Once we get that defense rotating and moving side to side, we want to keep that ball moving and try to get to the paint. I feel like we have done a better job the last few games of scoring in the paint. But then that just helps the defense collapse. And we feel like we have got some pretty good shooters on the perimeter that will get on two feet, and if we can kick it out, then we have got a pretty good chance of knocking down those kick out threes.

Andy: One of the clichés in basketball is if you have great guard play, you can make a run in any tournament you are in. And it seems like you have got great guard play this year. I always ask you about Izzy Hollingshead first because she is one of the top scorers in 4A, right around 20 points a game, still making about three three pointers a game. And I already talked about her defensive effort as well. From all the teams you have coached, I guess, how important is having a solid backcourt of experienced guards who can also score a ton?

Winters: Yeah. I mean, it helps. And just to be able to get into an offense and not be bothered by pressure too much. I mean, we still turn the ball over more than I would like, but for the most part, we feel like we can handle pressure that gets thrown at us and we can get into the paint, like I said, or we can find open people while we are breaking a press. So having multiple guards with Izzy and Addy, and then we can bring Jersey Bundy and we can bring Audrey, and they can bring the ball up. Even Hayden and Lydia, we would classify as our four and five. We are fine if they get a rebound and want to dribble the ball up court. So we feel like that is one way that we can counterbalance not having a ton of size. Having girls that can shoot and dribble and are quick and have some speed has been great for us so far. But we still need all five girls to rebound. And we still need all five girls to help guard the post and keep the ball out of the paint, which is going to be a huge key tonight out at Snow Canyon.

Andy: Yeah, Snow Canyon has a lot of length on that team, Coach. And like I referred to, this was a really fun game at the Hangar several weeks ago and always one of the top teams in the region is Snow Canyon. I guess give me a key or two on what you are looking for from your girls tonight in order to get the win on the road.

Winters: I think for us, getting off to a good start, creating a little bit of havoc defensively and trying to speed them up is going to be important and not letting them settle into a few things that they do really well. I mean, Brady Chesley is playing really well, and if you let her get comfortable, she will make you pay. Charlize had put up some really good numbers when she can post up and go one on one with someone on the block. Felten Randall is coming back from an injury, and I expect her to be a little bit more comfortable tonight now that she has got a game under her belt. And so I think for us, the more that we can just keep them sped up and keep the pressure, that is going to be huge. And then I already mentioned rebounding. I mean, the games where we have struggled this season, it is when we do not do a great job on the defensive glass and we give up and ones and easy opportunities on the offensive glass. So for us, it is going to be by committee like all five girls have to rebound. We cannot get too concerned about leaking out and starting our transition offense before we have the rebound.

Andy: That is Coach Kasey Winters, Dixie Flyers, 19 and one right now, number one in the RPI. You have got a showdown tonight in the Jungle against Snow Canyon. Thanks so much, Coach, and good luck tonight.