MORGANTOWN — After nine years under former head coach Mike Baldy, the Trinity Christian High School girls’ basketball team will have a new head coach to lead the Warriors next season.
Chad Williams will take over for the TCS girls’ team next season after coaching formerly at Morgantown Christian Academy and with the North Central West Virginia Swish AAU team.
“I saw that the position had been posted, and I have two daughters at the school who are on the team,” Williams said. ”I knew Jason White was taking over as the athletic director and he is a great guy to work with, so I knew it was something I would want to do. I prayed about it and asked God to open the door if it was his will and close it if it wasn’t, and I’m blessed to have the job.”
Williams said he knows he has some shows to fill in following Baldy and the recent loss of some key senior players, Jenna Barnett and Ella Lynch.
“We lost two really strong leaders in the seniors that graduated, one of them being all-state,” he said. “Team basketball will be our main focus from the beginning. We will have to make sure every single player is ready to go at any time to step up if the chance shows itself. We have some good pieces on the team and two seniors who have seen a lot of game time.”
His daughter Kate, who joined TCS last season from MCA, will be a senior next season for the Warriors and considered one of the team’s top scorers. His youngest daughter, Lauren, will be an incoming freshman.
“I’ve coached Kate since she was in fifth grade in school and travel basketball,” Williams said. “We’re familiar with each other on the court, and it’ll be exciting to be so closely involved in her senior year of high school basketball. It’s something we share closely. This is the only opportunity for Kate and Lauren to play together, so that’s special for us. We all get to share the season and work together to succeed.”
Not only will the Warriors have a new coach, but they will also have some new competition, moving down to Class A from Class AA, and, with it, an 11-team region that includes the likes of three-time defending state champion Cameron and Parkersburg Catholic.
“I think our region will be one of the toughest to get out of with the reclassification,” Williams said. “We plan to try and build from last year and work hard to get back to the state tournament. The foundations of the program are strong, and we want to continue to build on what Trinity Christian girls’ basketball is all about.”
