Staff Report

There’s thunder and lightning. And then there’s Ratley and Patterson.

South Robeson’s Lula Ratley and Red Springs’ Glenn Patterson took the county basketball seasons by storm last fall, cruising to Three Rivers Conference crowns and multiple wins in the 1A state playoffs.

The leaders of the Mustangs and Red Devils have another title to add to their coach of the year name plates after being named The Robesonian’s Boys’ and Girls’ Coaches of the Scholastic Year.

Few can forget the success these two engineered down the stretch within the packed gyms in Rowland and Red Springs. The all-important home court advantages each shared were represented by a season of hard work.

Ratley won 23 games on the South Robeson bench before Williamston ended her Mustangs’ state championship chance in Greenville. The girls’ basketball team reeled off 16 straight wins from January to March, dismantling opponents by an average of 20 points per contest.

Known for her calm demeanor and spiritually-driven post-game interviews, Ratley mastered South Robeson’s fast break, an offensive game plan that led to junior Nicorie Sinclair’s player of the year award.

In the second half of the season during the torrid winning streak, Mustang games resembled WNBA-type contests with penetrating guards, dominating bigs and a defensive mindset that frustrated opponents.

With South Robeson returning the bulk of its scoring next season, expect Ratley’s group to control area competition and be right in the thick of things in March.

Red Devils enjoy extended success

Fueled by senior leadership and some of the area’s top individual players, Red Springs fell one game short of a trip to the Eastern Regionals in Greenville, but managed their best season in recent memory.

Patterson admitted the defeat was one of the hardest losses of his career due to how much his players wanted to win. He says the key to all successful teams is unity and focus, two facets of basketball his Red Devils delivered down the stretch during an 11-game winning streak.

Patterson has managed to avoid the coaching carousel that has plagued Robeson County boys’ hoops programs thanks to a willingness to teach players’ lessons after losses and watching them respond to adversity.

Red Springs looked dead in the water in the early going, falling to 2-6 after the opening two weeks.

That was all part of Patterson’s plan to play tough competition in the first month in order to better prepare his team for games in the postseason.

While graduation losses will affect Patterson’s starting five in 2010, Red Springs will still be the team to beat in the county.

While both coaches suffered close, disappointing losses to end their scholastic seasons, each is a well-deserving recipient of The Robesonian’s Boys’ and Girls’ Coaches of the Scholastic Year.