We are the champions

It's hard to imagine the Winslow Lady Bulldogs having trouble being confident.

It does happen and it is surprising to some considering the rich success the program has had since its existence. But what is not surprising is that the Lady Bulldogs are tough fighters.

They simply never stop fighting and to long time Winslow head coach Don Petranovich, that's why they are the 2010 Arizona 3A girls state champions.

"That's what made them a championship team, they played hard all year and toward the end the last five or six games they really turned it up, they went up to another level," Petranovich said.  "We played great defense, they really bought into it the last five or six games and played great defense."

And the story was no different in the state championship game against Window Rock, when Winslow started to slip just before halftime of the biggest game of the season.

"This group is special because they're fighters," Petranovich continued. "Even though we've been down in several games this year they don't quit, and tonight we had a hiccup right before halftime and instead of just folding up we came out and took it to them and I don't think Window Rock was ready for that."

Earlier in the season, it was Winslow who wasn't quite ready for the dog fight that comes with being part of 3A North girls basketball.

Prior to their first meeting with Window Rock, the Lady Bulldogs only loss was to 4A Division II Flagstaff, and another almost perfect region record seemed possible.

But Window Rock put up a fight and gave Winslow their first 3A North region loss, 52-47 loss.

It was a loss rough enough to make the Lady Bulldogs question the future of their season.

Winslow senior Paige Shirley said it was a pinnacle moment in the team's season that made their championship win even more exhilarating.

"We had our ups and downs and I think the worst part was when we loss to Window Rock in Window Rock, it kind of made us question ourselves. For a while we wanted to come up from that and redeem ourselves from a loss on home court," she said. "Petranovich knew we had all this potential and talked about it but we weren't playing up to it, but he helped us overcome it by encouraging us, letting us know that we could do better.

"Some of us had bad games and good games, it just basically came down to encouraging one another that we all wanted the gold ball very bad," Shirley said.

Just like Petranovich knew they could, they fought through it.

About two weeks after their loss to Window Rock the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Monument Valley and suffered yet again another close and tough loss, 64-63. Then their final conference defeat took place against Window Rock at home in their second meeting of the season, 60-57.

Petranovich said the Monument Valley game was another prime example of how mentally strong and mature his team was.

"We played Monument Valley at Monument and we got behind early by 10 points but they came back and tried, and we actually went ahead a couple times," he said. "To be able to be in that type of game and type of setting, Monument Valley is a tough place to play, the kids played hard that night and they played well."

Winslow senior Kourtney Shirley said although Petranovich did a great job talking to the team to help regain their confidence, it all came down to how the girls would handle it.

She said her coach always mentioned how their team may not be as talented as most, they were indeed fighters.

"I think it's just believing in ourselves was the biggest thing because when we lost a regular season game to Window Rock twice and once to Monument Valley we were kind of doubting ourselves," she said. "We thought 'oh wow we're not really on top.' We just stuck together as a team. We're not the most talented team but we never give up. We just played hard and never gave up, all those games we'd be down by 10 points or more and each time we cut that down."

So when they made it to the state championship game with Window Rock the Lady Bulldogs realized that they only needed to listen to themselves because it looked as if only they knew they could do it all along.

So they did it. They defeated the No. 1 team Safford with a 44-41 win in the semi-finals and then battled past Window Rock 51-40 for the championship title.

Kourtney Shirley said once the semi-final was won they couldn't help but already feel victorious.

"A lot of the pressure was gone once we got into the champion game. We were like we came this far, even though no one thought we would. There was no way we could not win. We just needed to have fun and play hard," she said. "It's amazing, it means everything. I was just so happy that whole night, I tried not to cry but with a minute left it was so hard not to tear up because we all knew that we wanted it, we were all crying like babies. I'm just glad it was happy tears."

The win was Petranovich's seventh state championship win since 1989. It was also his last game after 41 years of coaching as the 69-year-old is retiring.

Paige Shirley, who like her cousin Kourtney Shirley, has been playing on the varsity team since she was a freshman.

The two shared two runner-up losses their freshman and junior years. They also experienced two state championship titles in their sophomore and senior years.

Paige Shirley said the pride instilled in the program and the fact that it was Petranovich's last year made the win special for her and many of the other team members.

"This one felt really special because I'm a senior and knowing you helped to lead your team to the top to become No. 1, that you sacrificed so much to win the state championship, especially this year because Petro is retiring we basically just dedicated it Petro," she said. "Basically it's just about pride, there's so many other great programs we feel like we need to mature to that or go beyond that,  just to keep the school going.

"For the younger generation to get the idea of what everybody expects of our school basically we just feed off of what everybody expects us to do," she added. "Everyone has high expectations. We just want to mature up or go beyond that. Go for that drive, go for the long haul."

That's because just about everybody knows the fight in the Winslow Lady Bulldogs.

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