Bender named new SHS girls basketball coach

SANDPOINT — The new Sandpoint girls basketball coach is originally from the the state of Indiana, where people are passionate about hoops, and Bill Bender is hoping to bring some of that passion to his new job guiding the Bulldog program.

Bender, a 63-year-old who lives in Sagle, was picked to succeed Lance Bruce earlier this week by an interview committee at SHS.

Bender has been teaching and coaching in the Nine Mile Falls School District in Washington, where he was the head girls basketball coach at St. George’s Prep School in Spokane for four years from 2002-06, and before that was an assistant at Lakeside High School for eight years.

He’s excited for the new opportunity at SHS, and now that he doesn’t teach full-time anymore, is ready to continue to build the program up. He hopes to employ an up-tempo, pressure-oriented brand of basketball.

“I like to transition and run, and would love to have a game where we never ran a set, but that’s not possible,” said Bender of his coaching style. “Controlled pressure on the defensive end, and quietly control the tempo of the game.”

Growing up in the Hoosier state, where hoops is a sort of religion, Bender remembers seeing crowds of more than 5,000 people, and that was just for the junior high games.

He plans to keep focusing on the elementary and middle school levels, teaching the kids fundamentals while fostering some passion for the game.

“Getting the kids to love and appreciate the game, then they’ll take off on their own,” said Bender of his goal. “The excitement level will generate interest and success.”