GHSA State Basketball First RoundTonightClass AAAA GirlsCarrollton (22-6) at Northwest Whitfield (23-5), 6Heritage (22-7) at Fayette County (19-8), 6Class AAA GirlsNorth Hall (18-9) at Sonoraville (21-6), 6North Murray (12-16) at East Hall (14-14), 7Ringgold (8-21) at Buford (26-2), 6SaturdayClass AAAA BoysDalton (20-8) at Sandy Crek (20-8), 4Class AAA BoysWhite County (18-9) at Ringgold (18-8), 6Lakeview-F.O. (18-10) at Dawson County (21-7), 7:30North Murray (16-12) at Buford (23-5), 7:30Class AA GirlsSpencer (12-14) at Calhoun (20-6), 4:30Class AA BoysSpencer (12-14) at Calhoun (22-2), 6Dade County (18-9) at Manchester (21-4), 6
RINGGOLD, Ga. – On the surface an 8-21 record doesn’t look like anything to brag about, but when a once-proud basketball program reaches the depth the Ringgold girls had fallen to, those eight wins – and an unlikely state playoff berth – tell quite the story.
Consider that the Lady Tigers not so long ago were perennial participants in the state playoffs under legendary coaches Danny Vest and Hazel Brown, so last season’s 0-22 nightmare was almost unbearable for school administrators, the students and fans. It got so bad that the Lady Tigers, whose closest loss was 14 points, lost 75-4 to Northwest Whitfield and by 61 to Sonoraville.
Enter former Northwest coach and Ringgold alumna Margaret Stockburger, who jumped at the chance to revive the program after spending a year coaching at the middle school. Summer workouts began with the most basic of things atop Stockburger’s list of priorities.
“The biggest thing was just how to play hard, which is one of the hardest things to teach girls,” said Stockburger, whose team has no seniors and regularly plays four freshmen. “They’ve figured out what I want as far as defensive intensity, and once I saw how hard they were willing to work I knew good things were going to happen.