Party like the 1990s: Barlow girls basketball turns back the clock with help of positive culture, exceptional team chemistry
By Dave Ball | Photos by Taylor Balkom
The Barlow girls basketball team is back at the Chiles Center for the first time in 20 years, and the Bruins are intent on staying in prime time after knocking off Jesuit 52-36 in Thursday’s 6A quarterfinals.
“It’s one of the best feelings — this is something I’ve always strived for,” Barlow senior Lindsay Barden said. “I never saw this happening four or five years ago, but as a team we have put in a lot of effort and dedication to get us to where we are now.”
The Barlow program was a mainstay in the tournament in the 1990s, making five trips to the Purple Palace that decade. The team’s last trip to the tournament came in 2002, when it was a 16-team event.
Since that heyday, the Bruins spent time mostly in the middle of the Mt. Hood Conference pack. They would squeeze into the playoffs some years, other years they would miss the postseason.
Enter head coach Nick Hudson, a 2000 Barlow graduate who returned to campus to lead the girls program in 2017. He has had four winning records in his five seasons.
Over the past three years, the Bruins have gone 56-13 (81.2%), earning a share of the MHC title twice.
This success coincides with a junior class that has been playing basketball together since second grade. Not with an elite club, but simply growing up together playing in the Gresham-area youth league where moms and dads took on coaching duties.
“Parents spent a lot of time working with their kids and building that foundation,” Hudson said.
“We’ve been playing together so long that we’ve really been able to build that chemistry,” forward Annie Koenig said. “We got this far as a team — there has always been this ‘want’ deep down.”
This group has been together ever since they were learning basic adding and subtracting in grade school. They know each other well.
Like the Three Musketeers, Hudson fosters an ‘All for One, One for All’ mentality with his team through small everyday gestures as simple as shuffling shooting partners at the end of practice so that players can better get to know their different teammates.
“I try to build a positive team culture, high-fiving your teammates, standing up for them when they come off the floor — those little things are important,” Hudson said. “Chemistry is a big thing in any sport, but especially in basketball, where there are only five spots and only so many minutes in a game.”
Some of the most popular nights of the week are the team dinners that rotate through families before each home game. It’s a chance to eat, talk and laugh together before heading into game night.
“Some of my best friends are on this team,” point guard Kennedie Shuler said.
The Bruins started with a splash, leading most of the way in their win over Jesuit. However, Barlow did go to halftime down a point.
“We knew we had to come out and move the ball better — drive and kick,” Shuler said. “Once we got the lead, we did a good job staying composed and keeping it.”
The Bruins burst out of the locker room and put together a nine-point spurt that gave them the lead for good. Shuler drove the lane twice, getting a layup her first trip and a chance at the foul line the second. Barden capped the rally with back-to-back 3-pointers — the last one coming off a nice find by Shuler after driving behind the hoop.
Barden finished with a game-high 16 points.
The win set another landmark for the Bruins, who advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1993. Barlow (24-3) plays South Medford (24-3) at 8:15 p.m. Friday.
“Once they throw the ball in the air, it’s just basketball — know you are prepared, go out, have fun and enjoy it,” Hudson said.
