A worthy addition to the HOF

Editor,
Congratulations to the members of the 2008-2009 Lady Vandal basketball team. The team will be inducted into the Vandalia High School Sports Halt of Fame on Sept. 26 at the home coming football game.
I was privileged to coach this team in my final season of 19 seasons as the girls’ head coach. The team was based on the eight seniors who had been together for four years. They were a diverse group of individuals who, once they stepped onto the basketball court, combined their skills and talents into a team that any coach would love to have.
It was special to watch Brittany, Shelby, Ashley, Rachel, Laura, Kayla, Amanda and Cassie mature and develop over their four years, not only as basketball players, but young adults who represented their team, school and community in a positive manner.
The 2008-09 team finished with a school record of 28-2. They captured the South Central Conference championship with a perfect conference record of 10-0. The team repeated as champions of both the Mattoon Holiday and Sandoval tournaments. They finished the regular season ranked fourth in the state in the final AP poll.
In the postseason, they defeated Teutopolis in the championship game of the Teutopolis Class 2A regional. This broke T-town’s steak of 18 straight regional championships.
The Lady Vandals advanced to the championship of the Olney sectional, where they were defeated in overtime by the host team. The only other defeat was a four-point loss to Decatur MacArthur, a 3A school that won 20-plus games and a regional championship.
The team was known for their pressure defense. They gave up an average of just 31 points per game. Only one team scored 50 points, and that was in a blowout victory.
Opposing coaches constantly talked about how hard it was to prepare for Vandalia, because they had no way to match the defense we played. We knew that we had a chance to win every game we played, even if our offense struggled, because our defense would be a dominating force.
I am sorry that will not be able to attend the induction ceremony on Sept. 26. I had the opportunity to coach many talented players and quality teams during my 19 seasons at VCHS. The 2008-2009 team will always hold a special place in my memories of over 30 years of coaching.
The seniors presented me a photograph after the season. The photo was of the eight seniors with the caption “Coach B’s Elite 8.”
Every time I give this picture a glance, I remember something special about that season and that group.
No team is any more deserving of being a part of the HOF than the Lady Vandal basketball team of 2008-2009.
Coach Mike Butler