Veteran coach guides Bulldogs to state

SANDPOINT — For half a century, Duane Ward has been coaching some form of basketball in Sandpoint.

So when Ward, 72, leads the Bulldog girls into the state tournament today, let’s just say this ain’t his first rodeo.

The former Bulldog basketball standout, who is in the Sandpoint Hall of Fame, started coaching in Sandpoint in 1966, and he’s coached just about every level, both boys and girls, ever since.

Ward admits he’s grown more patient over the years, while his relationships with the kids and coaches remains the same as it ever was. He’s coached both boys and girls varsity teams, middle school boys and girls teams, and everything in between, and admits he’s learned a lot in five decades drawing up plays.

“One other thing I’ve learned over the years is to have fun. We have to make it fun for the kids, if it’s not, it’s not going to work,” says Ward. “I tell the kids, and I remind myself to enjoy the moment, you’ve got to celebrate these things.”

The desire to win is as strong as ever for Ward, who is now coaching his second generation of family, having coached his son Jeff Ward and now granddaughter, junior Taylor Ward.

Taylor, the type of player coaches often refer to as a glue player, or someone who kind of does a little bit of everything that’s important, shares one trait with her father.

“I coached her dad, and she’s a lot like him. They’re both of the same nature; very aggressive,” describes Duane of the pair, admitting he might be a hair tougher on Taylor than the other players. “She’s not afraid to say what she thinks, but she knows where to draw the line.”

The Bulldogs (13-9) have had one of the best seasons in recent memory, due in large part to Ward, and assistant Will Love, who has played a huge role in the Bulldogs’ success from the bench.

Today they face a Burley Bobcats (15-10) squad that is the second seed from District IV. Their head coach is in his 24th season, and their top player and lone senior, Kortney Hutchison, averaged 17 points and seven rebounds per game and has scored more than 1,000 points in her career.

Ward and the Bulldogs will lean heavily on defense, while continuing to ride the one-two scoring punch of Madi Schoening and Grace Kirscher. Ward has turned the Bulldogs loose this season, letting them play a creative and aggressive brand of hoops. It’s another of the slight ways he’s changed over the years.

“In years past, especially early on, you have this idea you’ve got this offense and defense and that’s going to do great things for you,” describes Ward. “Now, I teach them to play basketball and let them go. I preach movement and team play. If we do those things we’re hard to defend. I changed my approach that way.”

Ward and Love preach what could best be described as a match-up zone, similar to what Jim Boeheim has run as Syracuse for years. It’s designed to create a ton of pressure up high, and keeps an offense from ever finding a rhythm.

“When I started coaching, it was always a hard man defense, now I’ve switched to a zone,” admits Ward. “You’ve got to trust your teammate, that they’ll cover their back for you.”

Ward, in his second season of his second stint as varsity girls coach, is hoping to coach just long enough to leave the program where every year it has a shot to compete at state.

This year marks as good as any for the program’s first title. The pressure of state games is what makes them extremely memorable. Oddly enough, when asked what his favorite part of coaching was, Ward went a different direction.

“I love practice. I really love practice,” says Ward. “If I’m down, if we lose, when I go to practice, those kids pick you up. My worst days are the days of the game.”

The Bulldogs face Burley today, at 2 p.m. in the opener of the 4A state tournament. Bob Witte will call the game live on AM1400, and www.idahosports.com will webcast the game live.