Sweet 16 girls No. 1: Tradition-rich Providence Day aiming to make more history

Providence Day’s girls’ basketball team has built quite a record of success when it comes to state championships.

Heading into the 2015-2016 season, the Chargers know they have a target on their backs – a target they relish. But they also don’t dwell on the past.

“Every year, to me, is like a clean slate,” 6-foot-3 junior center Janelle Bailey said. “You know what the history is – you know that Providence Day has a very good basketball program – but you have to forget what happened last year.

“You still have the same goal and want to achieve that. We’re always going to have a target on our backs as long as we are a good basketball program. It’s the same goal every year, but it’s a new year with new and better teams.”

Providence Day – No. 1 in the Observer’s Sweet 16 preseason rankings – returns all five starters and nine players overall from last season’s team, which finished 27-3 after beating Rabun Gap-Nacoochee for the state title.

That gave the Chargers their sixth consecutive N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 3A state championship, and extended their title run to 10 in the past 11 seasons and 15 overall since 1982.

No other NCISAA school has come close to equaling that record of success in basketball. That also means Providence Day’s coaches have a process in place.

“The girls talk about taking it one game at a time, but I get excited about one practice at a time, one drill at a time,” said Josh Springer, who is entering his ninth season as the Chargers’ coach. “I always tell our kids, ‘Games are just a chance for you to show what you’ve learned in practice.’

“We’ve got really high expectations, that’s no secret. It’s easy to say from the outside looking in that it puts pressure on us. But I won’t approach this season any different than any of the other ones.”

Leading Providence Day’s returning players are two NCISAA all-state team selections from last season – Bailey, who earned the honor for the second straight year; and 6-1 senior forward Erin Whalen.

Bailey led the Chargers in scoring (18.2 points per game) and rebounding (7.7 per game) last season. Whalen was a close second, at 16 points and 6.5 rebounds a game.

Both players transferred to Providence Day – Bailey from Charlotte Christian her freshman year, Whalen from Ardrey Kell after her sophomore year – and both knew the program’s tradition of winning.

“It does put a target on our backs, but it just makes us want to go out there every game and play hard, and get everything that we can every game,” said Whalen, who signed with Vanderbilt Friday.

“That’s the exciting part – every team can be beaten in any game. So no matter if we’re playing our biggest competition or some team that you know you can beat, you’ve still got to bring your A-game.”

One thing that will be different about Providence Day this season will be its experience – four of its players are seniors. Then there’s Bailey, the all-state junior center, and sophomore point guard Kennedy Boyd, who started and led the team in scoring in the state championship game.

In addition to Whalen, returning seniors are guard Tori Powell and forwards Izzy Gallant and Celine Ives. Among the juniors, Bailey is joined by forward Emilie Smith.

“Unlike the past couple of years, we’re not young this year,” Springer said. “We have a really experienced group. But it’s a process, it’s a journey throughout the whole year.

“We try to roll up our sleeves one day, one practice at a time and say ‘Let’s make sure we get better today.’ If we can string a whole lot of those together, I like where we’ll be down the road.”

The Chargers’ championship run began in 1982. Former coach Barbara Nelson led the Chargers to titles in 1990, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Springer took over the program the summer of 2007, has led Providence Day to state titles in seven of the past eight seasons. The Chargers missed out in 2009, losing in the final to Hickory Grove.

Springer’s record since coming to Providence Day is 239-36, including an unbelievable 85-0 mark in Charlotte Independent Schools Athletic Association (CISAA) games.

Extending both records – the undefeated CISAA run, and the string of state championship – is a realistic goal for the Chargers this season, Springer said.

“It’s very realistic, but saying that doesn’t guarantee anything,” he said. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was excited about this team. I like our experience, I like our leadership, I like our talent pool. But we’re going to have to learn to go to work every single day.

“If we’re willing to really grind and embrace the process every single day, to get better every single practice, we have the chance to be a pretty good team. If we rest on our laurels of what’s happened in the past, we’re going to be very mediocre. Our goal is to not let that happen.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Sweet 16 girls No. 1: Tradition-rich Providence Day aiming to make more history."