By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Tenacious D is not just a comedy rock duo featuring Jack Black. It's what new Great Bend High School girls' basketball coach Jade Winter wants to see out of her defense. The Lady Panthers will have the opportunity to display the new defense in front of a home crowd for tonight's season-opener against Salina South.
"I want to just get after it and get lots of deflections," Winter said. "Even if we don't get a lot of steals, just getting a hand on the ball and deflecting it out of bounds changes the mindset of the offensive team."
Winter was a Class 6A state runner-up as a senior at Derby High School in 2017, playing alongside then-sophomore Kennedy Brown, who would go on to play at Oregon State and Duke. After high school, Winter played at Fort Scott Community College and Park University in Kansas City before earning a degree from Wichita State University. While attending graduate school, Winter moved to her family's farm in Bison where she was recruited to coach at Otis-Bison High School. She wants to bring a similar coaching style to Great Bend.
"I really like to play fast basketball," she said. "Fast, aggressive, we're getting up and down the floor. If we don't have to run an offense when we get down there, great. That's what I like the most. I'm really excited we get a shot clock this year. I just think the game is going to speed up so much and it's going to be more of that college feel."
Winter spent three years at Otis-Bison and has been a MAYB coach since 2019. She continues to coach the Marion Heim's Dream Team.