Noah joins the Breakfast Club at Grosse Pointe South High School
He asked his players to participate in the morning workout. They all agreed. At first, there was an adjustment period, when they relied on their minds to drag their bodies until the latter adapted to the new routine. But slowly, each player realized the benefits, they could see the improvements and they could feel the added strength.
Achieving their goal became a possibly.
Coach Kevin Richards, head coach of Grosse Pointe South High School girls’ basketball team, had an ally to rally his players to the 6 a.m. workouts. Just a short time earlier, last March 8, the coach and his nine returning players watched Grosse Pointe North High School win Michigan’s Class A girls’ basketball state championship.
Instantly, there was a goal.
"The fact they're our rivals, challenges us more," Richards said. "I think it does push us to get much better."
Richards installed the three-player workout session to improve on dribbling, passing, rebounding—all the fundamentals that are a mark of a good team. However, he needed help to develop his team’s biggest weakness.
"A month and a half after our rivals won the state championship, we bought a NOAH," Richards said. "We used the finance program and it's worked out great."
Grosse Pointe South basketball stresses tempo, the drive and kick and three-pointers from the spread motion offense. In the team’s first season under Richards, the Blue Devils recorded a 12-11 mark, good for the most wins in four years. Richards believes that if his team had shot the ball better—from the line, behind the arch and those pesky mid-range jumpers—it could have meant a handful more victories.
"Shooting was definitely our weakness," Richards said. "That was an area we wanted to improve the most."
Senior guard Katie Pangori and junior guard Chloe Srebernak, two returning starters, admitted to their shooting deficiencies. But just minutes into the introduction of the NOAH Select Shooting System, both girls noticed a difference.
"I wasn't sure about it when I was just watching the demonstration," said Pangori, who last year averaged 8.6 points and shot 32 percent from the field and 62 percent from the line. "But once I got to try it, I knew it would be the biggest thing to help my game. I got better almost right away."
The 5-foot-9 Srebernak is a slashing lefthander who can give defenders fits. But the lack of a consistent shot prevented her from being an elite player.
"My shot was just horrible," said Srebernak, who scored 10.6 points per game while shooting 41 percent from the field and 55 percent from the line. "That was my biggest thing, but now I feel confident every time I shoot the ball."
Richards incorporated NOAH in the early morning sessions. The intimate three-player gathering allowed each girl to practice up to 300 shots. They worked on every facet of shooting.
Grosse Pointe South is still waiting to play its first game and to see the margin of improvement from the early morning sessions and its work with NOAH.
Richards has a feeling the results will be very positive.
"If our practices are any indication of how much NOAH has helped us, then I'm willing to predict good things," Richards said. "Our practices have been so good and the girls are putting the ball in the basket."