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Panthers name Steinbrecher new Lady Panthers’ hoops coach




Portland East

Portland East

PORTLAND – Former Portland East Middle School basketball coach Scott Steinbrecher has accepted the job as the new Portland High School Lady Panthers basketball coach.

Steinbrecher replaces Tony Hill, who left Portland after just one season as girls basketball coach for Huntland High School to coach the Lady Hornets.

“Tony called me last Friday and kind of caught me off guard,” Portland Principal David Woods said. “He told me he planned on being at Portland, but through his coaching ranks, someone reached out to him with a job that doesn’t come open very often.”

The vacancy left Portland searching for its third head coach in as many seasons, but just as the Panthers have done with recent hires, they knew who to approach with the job offer.

“Literally, when we hung up, I called Mr. Jackson (Howell) at Portland East because I heard nothing but good things about Scott Steinbrecher,” Woods said. “So, I wanted to reach out to him and let it be his job to turn down.”

Most of Portland is familiar with Steinbrecher. He has coached the Portland East boys program for the last seven seasons, while heading up the girls program for the last six years. Steinbrecher could always be seen at nearly every high school basketball game – home or away – supporting his former Panthers.

“Mr. Woods called me Friday morning on the way home from team camp with the boys and asked me if I was interested in the job.” Steinbrecher recalled. “He said it’s yours if you want it, make a decision by Monday. So, that morning I called him and told him I’d take it.”

The transition will be smooth for the girls as well as Steinbrecher. A familiarity is already in place plus adding back the feeling of family should make for a more together team in 2018-2019.

“Having Vanessa Tomlinson stay on and help me will be huge,” Steinbrecher said. “She will make things a lot easier. I’ve got a lot of really good parents and that makes the transition easier as well. There are not very many high school jobs I would take, but I love this town and I want to stay here. Being surrounded with good people always helps.”

Steinbrecher addressed the lack of stability in the Lady Panther basketball program over the last few seasons.

“The stability needs to be fixed and they need someone that will be here for a long while,” Steinbrecher said. “That is the first thing we are committing to. I’m not a coach that is looking to leave; I may not be alumni but I love the school.

“We spent the last seven years building that at East so it should be smoother because I’ve coached them. Everything starts with relationships with the kids and parents and I believe the trust is there. The family type atmosphere will be brought back.”

Steinbrecher will move into a physical education role at the high school beginning this year.

“This gives me the time to dive in full complex,” he said. “I will be able to put more time into this and it will be nice. I know we need to get the first three months ironed out with our culture and how we play, but I can say we will not be outworked. Our district isn’t changing. We will work to get better every day.”

In addition to his role as head coach of the Lady Panthers, Steinbrecher will join Tomlinson in the dugout for the Lady Panther softball team in the spring of 2019.

 

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