Western-Star.com

Andy Fishman doesn't need a gold medal or a banner hanging in the Lakota West High School gymnasium to validate what he already knows about his Firebirds' girls basketball team.

"For me, this was a championship season," said Fishman, following a parade down West's Main Street Wednesday afternoon, March 12. "I feel like a champion for what we've been able to accomplish as a team and for the richness of the relationships that I've developed with these girls.

"I'm incredibly proud," he added. "I see them as winners and champions. I don't need an end-of-the-game situation to have me feeling any better than I do right now about them."

What Fishman is referring to is his club's heart-breaking 69-67 loss to Mount Notre Dame Monday night, March 10, in the Division I state finals.

Kathryn Reynolds' game-winning layup appeared to come after time had expired.

"I'm getting e-mails from across the country from folks who have heard our story," said Fishman, whose wife Felice made him watch the game film. "Some people have been outraged, but yet as angered as they are by what they consider the circumstances, they felt compelled to share with me their feelings on how our girls handled the whole situation. And they wanted me to be able to convey that to them."

What occurred Monday night certainly doesn't take away from the Firebirds' achievements during the 2007-08 campaign — Greater Miami Conference, district and regional champs.

"My senior year was my best of all," Amber Gray said. "Not because of my individual success, but because as a team we accomplished a lot. We got to the final game. We had an opportunity to win it, but unfortunately we didn't. But we became closer. Our friendships will definitely last forever."

West tied the Lakota district record for wins in a single season (26), while finishing the most successful season in program history with a No. 3 state ranking.

"We accomplished what we were supposed to do, which was getting to state," senior Quinessa Johnson said. "We didn't fulfill our dreams, but it happens. As a whole, we had fun. It was a huge, fun ride; a long ride. We went through it. We won together, we lost together. It's done."

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or smatthews@coxohio.com.