Click, who is in his 19th year as head coach at Glen Este, won his 250th career game on Dec. 17.

Click, who is in his 19th year as head coach at Glen Este, won his 250th career game on Dec. 17.
By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

Coming into the 2014-15 season needing just six wins to reach 250 for his career, Jeff Click knew the question was not ‘if,’ but ‘when.’

‘When’ turned out to be Wednesday, Dec. 17 at Kings High School in a 51-38 victory over the Lady Trojans’ Eastern Cincinnati Conference rivals.

Perhaps reaching 250 quicker than expected, Click’s squad is off to a 7-0 start — the best start since his 2007-08 team began the year 9-0. Beyond what the solid start means to a quality roster, Click said that the milestone victory means a few different things to him.

“What stands out the most is that it means I’m getting old,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve been (at Glen Este) a long time and the biggest thing is that when you’re at some place for so long, you’re lucky to have a good experience.

“We’ve had a bunch of really good players, really good parents; our administration supports us. It’s just a good combination that every year, you’re happy to come back.

“At the end of the day, it’s all on the players. Me and my coaches have never made a single basket or done anything (on the court). The players that we’ve had, we’re lucky.”

Click has been at the helm of the girls program at Glen Este for 19 years. Before that, he patrolled the boys’ junior varsity sidelines at Goshen for a year and then the girls’ JV team at Glen Este for another. Click’s record is 251-148.

More important to the coach currently is the team whose record is 7-0. Click was optimistic about the team coming into the season having a handful of returning players as well as some impact freshmen who have proved to fit in nicely within the scheme.

The Lady Trojans are led this year by freshman guard Jasmine Hale who is averaging 15.3 points per game and 4.3 rebounds.

“Jasmine is easily one of the most talented freshmen in the city,” Click said. “Even if she wasn’t a freshman, she’s still one of the most talented players in the city. The thing with her is that she plays on both ends.

“She’s obviously talented on offense, but she can defend. She also makes it easier on some of our other players because she demands a lot of attention.”

The give-and-take that Hale embodies is something that Click said makes this edition of the Lady Trojans so dangerous.

“On the court, (the girls) are learning to trust each other and one person doesn’t feel like they have to go make the plays on offense or make the plays on defense. They’re realizing on offense that they’ll be better if they share the ball. And on defense, they’re supporting each other. We’re trying to get them to understand that they need to care more about their teammates than they do about themselves.”

Click said that the ‘team over self’ mantra is easier said than done, especially at the high school level, but he’s seeing growth every day from his squad. Glen Este buying into that motto is evident on the stat sheet where eight players are averaging at least one field goal per night.

Kelly Simon, a returning All-ECC performer, is putting up 11.2 points per night while point guard Payton Funk is going for 9.3. Courtney Vespie, Lindsey Singleton, Rachel Nelson, Kaylin Burdick and Whitney Brand are also in that rotation of players that Click says makes his team so hard to match up with given their talent and depth.

The Lady Trojans are getting a few days off over holiday break to really concentrate on their basketball while school’s out, Click said, and that’s a good thing with their biggest game of the season to date coming up on Sunday, Dec. 28.

“We go up to Lakota (West) and Wayne will be a challenge and then Mount Notre Dame is No. 1 in the city,” he said. “I think that’s something that we can use to challenge ourselves. If this team wants to continue to improve, then we have to play good competition and I think that will help us grow as we get into more league play when we come back from break.”

The Lady Trojans will play Wayne on Saturday, Dec. 27 at 4 p.m. in the Lakota West Holiday Tournament and then again on Sunday at 4 p.m. against Mount Notre Dame to wrap up their 2014.

Should Click and his team remain unblemished through the New Year, they will equal the best start in school history dating back to 1987.