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| Photo Credit: Devin Courtright/The Advocate |
| Head coach Larry Davis will step down a er serving as the Lady Saints coach for the last six seasons. |
Lady Saints lose season finale; head coach Larry Davis resigns
The Advocate
Not only did the Lady Saints lose their final game of the season Saturday 69-66 to the Umpqua Riverhawks, but the women will also be losing head
coach Larry Davis.
Asked why Davis would be stepping down after six years, Kim Hyatt, Saints athletic director, said, "He personally resigned to pursue other opportunities."
Davis said Thursday, "It's not like I'm just going to split and say good luck and goodbye." He said he plans on training the women during the off-season as well as meeting with them to talk about their future.
Davis said familycommitments and the responsibilities of running his business, Willamette Valley Basketball, caught up with him and said it's and evaluate everything.
He said he's leaving now so the school can get a new coach in time to start recruiting players.
Davis said he will miss MHCC, but is ready to turn over the team to someone who will continue the tradition and take the program to the next level.
Davis emailed Hyatt his resignation Sunday. Hyatt plans to meet with the team Monday to discuss the situation and the future of the program. The "number one concern is for them to meet their academic goal. Our hope is that they stay," she said.
Freshman forward Melissa Carey said, "I do plan on staying at Mt. hood to play again and meet a bunch of new people. The majority of our team is leaving and going back home or off to other schools."
It's uncertain how many women will return next year. Davis anticipates four to fi ve players will return next season while the others will seek other options.
Forwards Charlie Neilan and Jackie Cannon are the team's only sophomores. Neilan is undecided on her plans for next year. Earlier this season, freshman Natalie Laffoon suffered a concussion rendering her unable to fi nish the year. Her basketball MHCC career is over.
After a year away from her family, freshman forward Gina Bianchi will return to her hometown Carson, Nev., and plans to attend the University of Nevada- Reno.
"These girls are leaving with a sense of satisfaction," said Davis. They now laugh about stuff they thought they wouldn't be able to do, he said. "They truly did bust their ass this year," he said of his players who worked harder than any team that he could remember in his six years here as Saints head coach.
Concerning the season, Davis said, "Our goal ultimately was to make it to an NWAACC championships. We fell short."
He added that there was a "true sense of what this team is, and would be, if we were healthy."
Bianchi and Carey commented on the rollercoaster season they had but expressed how they wouldn't soon forget how far the team has came.
"Our team had our ups and downs," Bianchi said, "but by the end of the season we saw what our team truly was and that we could play amazingly together."
Carey said, "Our team performed with so much potential and energy every game. We sure weren't the biggest team out there but you bet yourself we were the best conditioned team and could go forever."
Neilan said the fi rst scrimmage of the season went good but then it "went downhill due to injuries, but it ended on a high note with players coming back from injury. "Just sucks we couldn't have everyone back a lot sooner," Neilan said.
The Lady Saints fi nished fi fth in the Southern Region (6-8), beating the No. 4 seeded team, the Southwestern Oregon Lakers, 58-56 on Feb. 25.
Davis said he is going to miss MHCC and gives thanks to the athletic department. "These are coaches that truly love to coach," he said of his colleagues.
The Advocate reserves the right to not publish comments based on their appropriateness.