Tag: Caleb McClatchey

Announcements

Seniors Attend Annual Crab Feast

Words: Caleb McClatchey

Photos: Noorie Kazmi

On Wednesday, September 25, Centennial seniors ate, danced, and socialized together at the annual Senior Crab Feast from 6-8pm in the cafeteria.

Seniors spent most of the first half of the night enjoying an all-you-can-eat menu featuring crabs, turkey, ham, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and more. Towards the end of the night, however, many ditched their crab mallets for the dance floor.

Keeping with tradition, the majority of seniors wore homemade crab-themed t-shirts to the event. These t-shirts, along with all of the crabs and dancing, helped this year’s senior class start the year off with a sense of unity.

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan. 

Announcements, News

Concerns Arise Over Limited Club Interest in Homecoming Carnival

Words: Caleb McClatchey

As of Thursday afternoon, only 13 clubs had signed up for this year’s Homecoming Carnival. If the unusually low number holds through tomorrow’s registration deadline at 2:10pm, John Sharbaugh, nicknamed the “Carnival King” for his role as the event’s lead organizer, says he would recommend cancelling it.

“Thirteen booths at a carnival is not what we want. We need more for the carnival to be successful,” explained Sharbaugh. While the decision to cancel or proceed with the carnival ultimately lies with the administration, Sharbaugh would advise them to choose the former should the number of clubs remain unchanged through tomorrow’s end of the school day deadline.

Although Sharbaugh emphasized that there is no exact minimum number of clubs needed for the carnival to occur, he did mention that it would be best to have at least twenty booths at the carnival.

In order to sign up for the carnival, club sponsors must complete and submit a fundraising form to Cheryl Beall, Centennial’s bookkeeper, and notify her that they will have a Carnival booth.

As of now, the Homecoming Carnival is scheduled for Saturday, September 28 from 11:00am to 1:00pm. Clubs typically set up their booths and fundraise by offering games or selling food and drinks. According to Beall, around 40 clubs participated in the carnival last year. She estimated that clubs normally fundraise between $50 and $100 each, and around $3,000 total at the carnival. Losing this fundraising source could negatively impact many clubs because, as Sharbaugh pointed out, “the carnival is the main fundraising activity most clubs do all year.”

In past years, the carnival has been held on the Friday afternoon of Homecoming weekend, not Saturday morning as it is this year. According to Sharbaugh, the move came over concerns about the safety and supervision of students between the end of the carnival and the start of the football game. The lack of club interest in the Homecoming Carnival this year might be due, in part, to these scheduling changes.

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan.

Feature

End of an Era: Hollwedel Steps Away from the Sideline

Words: Caleb McClatchey

Photo contributed by: Wingspan Archives

When Chad Hollwedel switched his major from engineering to education, he knew that, wherever he taught, he wanted to have an impact on the school community beyond the classroom. With sports being a major part of his youth, he also knew that he wanted to coach.

However, what the 26-year-old Hollwedel didn’t know when he first started teaching at Centennial in 1997 was just how impactful his coaching would be. He didn’t know that he would help lead the basketball program to ten straight winning seasons. He didn’t know that his teams’ success would bring an entire school community together. He didn’t know that in 2015, with all of Centennial behind its back, his team would win the first boys basketball state title in school history. He didn’t know that his coaching would continue to influence and inspire his players years after they graduated. Now, twenty-two years later, with his coaching career finally coming to an end, Hollwedel knows. And so does Centennial.

When he first arrived at Centennial, Hollwedel wasted no time getting involved. In 1997, he joined the basketball program as an assistant for the Junior Varsity (JV) team. Hollwedel worked his way up the coaching ladder, serving as a Varsity assistant under head coach Jim Hill before taking over as head coach of the Junior Varsity team in the 2000–01 season. When Hill stepped down after the 2006–07 season, he felt confident leaving the program in the hands of Hollwedel.

Over the next twelve years, Hollwedel turned a historically inconsistent program into a model of consistency. After beginning his tenure with two losing seasons, Hollwedel led Centennial to ten straight winning seasons. His 193 career wins include three regional titles and one state championship.

Behind Hollwedel’s extraordinary success was his unwavering passion for the game. For twenty-two years, he devoted his life to the Centennial basketball program. For every hour of game the public watches, there are hours upon hours of practice to coach, meetings to hold, and film to watch. Factor in his off-season responsibilities and it’s easy to understand why, as Hollwedel put it, “Everything I did in my spare time was really [at Centennial].”

And while Hollwedel’s passion was evident in the amount of time he devoted to the program, it was how he coached in that time, and how much the program meant to him, which truly gave a sense of his incredible ardor.

Ben Goldsmith, a 2012 Centennial graduate, played for Hollwedel on the 2011 and 2012 regional championship teams.  In Goldsmith’s eyes, Hollwedel’s greatest skill was the passionate attitude he coached with.

“He never had an off day,” Goldsmith recalled. “Whether it was an early Saturday morning practice or over holiday break, Hollwedel brought an energy to the gym.”

This energy —a general enthusiasm for the game and a demand for excellence— was contagious.

“It was easy to play our hearts out and enjoy doing it,” explained Goldsmith, “because we had a coach who was coaching his heart out and enjoying it too.”

For many of Hollwedel’s teams, the spirited, team-oriented culture which he developed translated into on-the-court success. In Goldsmith’s junior year, Hollwedel led Centennial past the regional finals and into the state final for the first time in school history. And although the 56–44 loss to Milford Mill in the championship hurt, making it there in the first place was an extremely rewarding accomplishment for Hollwedel.

The following year, Centennial won the regional title again and made it to the state tournament for the second year in a row. Having already been there and lost, Hollwedel felt that Centennial had to win this time. So when they came back empty-handed again —this time losing to Thomas Stone in the semi-final— there was a much greater feeling of failure for Hollwedel.

“That was personally devastating at the time,” he recalled. “I was just hoping to be able to get back.”

Three years later, after posting a 20–2 regular season record and on the heels of a dramatic win at the buzzer over River Hill in the regional final, Centennial got back. And this time, with the 2012 semi-final loss still weighing heavily on his shoulders, Hollwedel felt an even greater sense of urgency to win.

Nevertheless, he entered the state tournament at ease, confident that his team would finish what his 2011 team had started.

“After [the buzzer beater], I just felt like we were going to do it. Whether I had the right to believe we were going to do it or not, I believed we were going to.”

Centennial cruised past C. Milton Wright 75–61 in the semi-final, setting up a showdown with Westlake in the state championship. It’s a game which, one may argue, epitomized Hollwedel’s career.

Hundreds of fans greeted the Centennial players and coaches as they walked onto the Xfinity Center court before the game.

“It just looked like this mountain of red,” described Hollwedel. “It was overwhelming how many people were there.”

Making up that mountain were students, parents, teachers, alumni, and future Eagles– an entire community brought together by one basketball team. Hollwedel had built something which they all found hope in together, took pride in together, and celebrated together. From when the clock started ticking till the sound of the final buzzer, his team united them as Eagles.

Those Eagles cheered on, as loud and spirited as ever. Even as the two teams battled back and forth over the first three quarters, Hollwedel and Centennial never wavered. Then, with eight minutes left to decide whether they would make history or go home devastated, Centennial broke through.

Over the final quarter, Centennial outscored Westlake 20–9. As the clock hit 0:00, sealing a 57–43 win and the first state title in school history, the mountain of red erupted into a thunderous roar.

Shortly after the game ended, the announcer called up each of the players one-by-one to receive a plaque. As Hollwedel looked back on that moment a few weeks ago, the emotions of that day, the extraordinary significance of that win to him, his players, and the community, suddenly came flooding back.

“It was the happiest and most rewarding feeling that I’ve had as a coach,” he said, holding back tears. He searched for the right words to match the magic of that moment but could not find any. His voice shaky, all he could manage was “It was indescribable.”

When it was his turn to receive the state championship trophy, and the announcer officially pronounced the Eagles as Class 3A State Champions, Hollwedel turned and hoisted it triumphantly toward the Centennial crowd. Once again, they erupted in celebration.

In a way, that trophy was theirs as much as it was his. For years, the program and the community had fed off of and strengthened each other. Now, Hollwedel had brought the ultimate prize back to the community which put him there.

“It was truly a beautiful thing to witness,” remembered Isaiah White, a senior on the 2014–15 team. “Us playing as a team, and then him turning and pumping his fist into the crowd yelling ‘Let’s go!’”

It was not only in the community, however, that Hollwedel’s passionate coaching made a difference. It was in his players as well.

White, for instance, will never forget Hollwedel’s saying, “1–0.” One of Hollwedel’s points of emphasis, it meant players should focus on one game at a time rather than the season as a whole.

“It’s something that’s stuck with me throughout other aspects of my life,” he explained, “reminding me only to take care of what I can control, and to focus on the task at hand.”

After graduating from Centennial in 2015, White went on to play Division 1 basketball at the University of Maine. In addition to teaching him intangible lessons, White credits Hollwedel with coaching him the fundamentals and laying the foundation he needed to take the next step at the college level.

“I know for a fact that he helped get me where I am today,” concluded White.

Like White, Goldsmith also played basketball collegiately after graduating from Centennial. Now, Goldsmith is finishing his second year teaching at Leonardtown Middle School and coaching basketball at Leonardtown High School. Goldsmith says that without Hollwedel, he would have never chosen this career path.

“I try to model what I do after what Coach did at Centennial,” said Goldsmith. He aspires to develop a program at Leonardtown built on teamwork and determination just like Hollwedel did at Centennial.

As Goldsmith walks in the footsteps of Hollwedel, he ensures that Hollwedel’s message and attitude will continue to impact players and communities long after his retirement from coaching. His influence now extends beyond Centennial; he has forever changed the lives of his players and they are eager to have that same effect on others.

This year, Hollwedel is stepping away from the Centennial program. The possibility had been on his mind for years. After the 2018–19 season ended in March, Hollwedel spent time reflecting and ultimately decided that now was the right time.

Most importantly, Hollwedel felt that he was having trouble maintaining the passionate energy he believes is needed to run the program.  He was a high energy coach who no longer had a high level of energy.

Also weighing into his decision was the opportunity to spend more time focusing on his family. His daughter, Emily, plays volleyball at Centennial and on a club team in the offseason. His son, Ryan, is planning on playing basketball at Hood College this winter.  He is looking forward to spending more time watching and enjoying both of their athletic careers.

“I definitely just want to be a dad,” he explained.

While Hollwedel admits that it will be “extremely hard” to step away from something that has played such an important role in his life for the past twenty-two years, he doesn’t feel hesitant about his decision.

Hollwedel expects that stepping away from the basketball program will be similar to when he stepped away from coaching football. He noted that, even though Friday nights were tough for him at first, “It didn’t last very long. I still knew that I could enjoy it without being on the other side of the fence.”

With that being said, there are certainly some aspects of coaching that Hollwedel will miss. He says that the packed crowds, the thrill and emotion of the game, and the opportunity to grow relationships with his players all come to his mind.

In his twenty-two years at Centennial, coaching has become part of Chad Hollwedel’s identity. Visit him on any given day and you’ll likely find him in a Centennial basketball t-shirt, teaching in a classroom whose walls are lined with pictures and newspaper clippings of the program he helped build. He says he’ll miss having that as part of his identity, miss people saying “Hey, Coach” in the hallway. In a few years, he expects that there’ll be kids who never even knew he coached. And for an ordinary coach, that may be true. But Hollwedel’s coaching career was bigger than basketball. In turning the Centennial basketball program into a consistent winner, Hollwedel brought an entire community together. Through his passion and leadership, he made a difference in, often even changed, the lives of countless players. And so, even as Hollwedel steps away from the sideline, to all of those people whose lives he touched, whether they were part of the program or cheering it on, he will always be “Coach.”

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This article is featured in the 2019 Takeover Issue.  To see the full issue, Click Here!

For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan.

Announcements

Centennial Cheers on Law Enforcement Torch Run

Words: Caleb McClatchey

Photos: Zach Grable

Centennial students and staff took a break from their usual routine Thursday morning to support the Law Enforcement Torch Run, a public awareness and fundraising group which supports the Special Olympics.

As students clapped and cheered, law enforcement, along with some Special Olympics athletes, ran down Centennial Lane carrying the Flame of Hope, the Special Olympics torch.

In preparation for the Special Olympics Maryland Summer Games, the torch has been passed between Maryland counties. The games are set to begin this Friday at Towson University.

Each year, 97,000 law enforcement officers participate in the Law Enforcement Torch Run, carrying the Flame of Hope into local, state, national, and world competitions.

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For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan.

Feature

The History of Centennial’s Senior Traditions

Words: Caleb McClatchey

Photo: Zach Grable

On a late May night nearly 40 years ago, Centennial’s class of 1979 gathered in the auditorium. One by one they walked across the stage, received their diploma, and walked off into the next chapter of their lives. They left behind a school just like them– young and ambitious. They were both blank slates waiting to be filled with countless experiences and memories.

Now, 39 graduating classes and thousands of alumni later, Centennial is no longer the blank slate it used to be. Centennial has its own identity, its own culture, and its own traditions. For generations of seniors, these traditions have helped shape their time at Centennial. And while traditions like homecomings and Hebron games were enjoyed all four years, some of the most memorable and meaningful ones only came once. These senior-only traditions, some of which date all the way back to the Class of ‘79, have provided students with the chance to celebrate, reminisce, and enjoy their final year at Centennial.

The Senior Crab Feast, typically the first senior activity of every school year, took place for the first time on October 6, 1978– making it the first official senior activity in Centennial’s history. Although the menu has varied slightly, the event always kicks off senior year with a casual night of crabs and music with friends. Ever since it began, the overarching goal of the crab feast has remained the same: to help the senior class begin the year with a sense of unity.

According to Lisa Schoenbrodt, a member of the Class of 1979 Senior Board, the board originally decided to organize the crab feast because nearby schools, including those which Centennial’s newly-created student body came from, already hosted similar activities.

Following the crab feast, there is a lull in senior activities as winter sets in. By February, however, with every college application turned in and midterm completed, seniors begin to focus on their much anticipated graduation and the warm summer to follow. The Senior Luau, ironically held in chilly February, allows seniors to start getting in that summer mindset early with a Hawaiian themed night. Dressed in Hawaiian shirts and leis, seniors enjoy a laid-back, tropical atmosphere brought to life with music, dancing, and food.

Unlike the crab feast, the Luau didn’t begin with Centennial’s first senior class and hasn’t been held continuously since its beginning. In fact, it began with the Class of 1982, who, following a successful crab feast, wanted to host another “casual” event before graduation.

“Jimmy Buffett was popular, the Beach Boys would play at the Washington Monument each Fourth of July, so, we figured, why not squeeze one more ‘summer’ event into the year,” recalled Karen Donegan, president of the 1982 Senior Board.

Six years later, in 1988, the senior board decided to replace the Luau with a fancier class night. The Luau returned the next year before again disappearing in 1993.

While the Luau and Crab Feast serve as more relaxed events for seniors, prom is a different story. Although Centennial’s prom is open to both juniors and seniors, senior year prom, typically seen as a sort of “last ride” for students with graduation fast approaching, takes on added significance.

When Centennial opened as a new school for the 1977-78 school year, there was no senior class, so a junior-only prom was held. Centennial’s first junior-senior prom came a year later, on May 12, 1979, at the Kittamaquandi Room by Lake Kittamaquandi in Columbia. Since then, many more locations, including the Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore Grand, M&T Bank Stadium, and Martin’s West, have played host to Centennial’s prom.

Outside of the venue, the differences between the prom of today and the prom of the past are limited. Look through the the prom pages of Centennial’s forty-one yearbooks and you’ll start to find that the forty-one different stories, each with their own characters, their own settings, are really just the same story told by forty-one different classes of Centennial students. It’s a story of corsages, of boutonnieres, of dresses, of tuxedos, of limos, of hours of hectic preparation and weeks of nervous anticipation, all coming together, along with countless Centennial couples and friends, for one night full of grandeur and splendor.

And when prom ends, whether it be at 1:00am as it did in 1979, or 11:00pm  as it did in 2019, seniors still have one more night to look forward to spending together before their graduation. Class night, as the name suggests, gives the whole senior class one last chance to celebrate how far they’ve come and reminisce over the years they’ve spent together.

Centennial’s first class night, held just two days before the graduation of Centennial’s first class, took place at La Fontaine Bleue, an event venue in Glen Burnie. The event, slightly more formal than current class nights, featured dancing to live music, a dinner buffet, and reading of seniors’ wills.

Seniors in the class of 1979 gather for the first
ever crab feast. Photo contributed by: Eyrie

Up until the mid 2000s, class nights were mainly held at local hotels or other event venues, such as Martin’s West. In recent years, however, more classes have chosen to take the party from the dancefloor to the deck, with cruises becoming popular alternatives to traditional dances.

The theme that seems to emerge from every senior event, and in particular class night, is unity. As graduation draws near, students begin to realize how ingrained their classmates have been in their lives over the past four, seven, sometimes twelve years. And while yearbooks and pictures can ensure the memories they made and the friendships they forged are never forgotten, the time they spent together, the time which once seemed limitless, is now ever so finite.

Most of Centennial’s first class, composed entirely of students uprooted from their original high schools after their sophomore year, came from Mount Hebron, with a smaller portion coming from other feeder schools. Unsurprisingly, becoming a unified class wasn’t so easy.

“We had to really rally our class to come to some events, like dances,” remembered Schoenbrodt. “It took some time for our class to become a cohesive unit.”

Yet even for the Class of 1979, as the 1978-79 edition of Eyrie wrote, “What particularly characterized Class Night was the harmony which surfaced among such a diverse senior class.”

Outside of the longstanding senior traditions at Centennial, many other senior events and activities have come and gone since 1978. In the 1970s and 80s, some of Centennial’s senior classes took trips to Great Adventure amusement park in New Jersey. The Class of 1993 held a Senior Fiesta featuring a variety of festively dressed seniors. The Class of 1994 hosted a Toga Dance complete with prizes for the most creative, most colorful, and ugliest togas. These short-lived traditions, and the many others like them, are testaments to the remarkable staying power of the Crab Feast, Senior Luau, Prom, and Class Night.

What stands out about Centennial’s senior traditions is the extraordinary timelessness of them all. In the 42 years since Centennial opened, much has changed at the school and in the world in general. Yet now, in a new century, a new millennium, Centennial’s seniors flock to the crab feast, prom, and class night just as Centennial’s very first class did so many years ago. Maybe it’s because of our unchanging love of crabs. Maybe it’s because of our timeless desire for a night of luxury and limos. Or maybe, just maybe, there is something deeper at play. Maybe it’s because as the rest of our lives creep up on us, slowly at first, then faster and faster, we want, or rather, we need, chances to enjoy the present. We need those chances before they, like the present, slip away into the past.

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This article is featured in the 2019 Senior Issue.  To see the full issue, Click Here!

For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan.

Feature

3 Coaches. 1 Program. Still Soaring

Words: Caleb McClatchey

41 years ago, Centennial’s Varsity boys basketball team celebrated their first win in program history, a 68-64 double overtime victory over rival Mount Hebron. Over four decades and 450 wins later, generations of Eagle athletes have built a program rich in tradition and full of history.

In the landscape of high school basketball, continuity takes a backseat to change far too often. A team which wins a championship one year may have a completely new lineup the next. Come back four years later and there won’t be a single familiar face. In a competition level where turnover is inevitable, can a program really be considered a program? Is there truly any connection between Greg Brouse of Centennial’s inaugural season and Stafford Smith of today’s?

The answer –in the case of Centennial– is yes. But this story isn’t about the connection between any of Centennial’s players, it’s about the three coaches who tied them all together.

Samuel Leishure became coach of the Varsity team when the school opened in 1977. Leishure, 34 at the time, transferred to Centennial after spending 11 years working at Northwestern High School. Although he stepped down from coaching after the 1983-84 season, Leishure continued to work as a guidance counselor at Centennial until his retirement in 2002.

As coach, Leishure was tasked with a unique challenge: building a program from scratch. Unsurprisingly, Centennial’s inexperience proved too much to overcome in their inaugural season. After their thrilling, double-overtime win over Mount Hebron, the Eagles only won one more game and finished with an overall record of 2-18.  However, Centennial improved dramatically the following year and finished 15-9 — the first winning record in program history.

Unfortunately, that 15-9 record proved to be the high water mark of Leishure’s tenure. Over his next five seasons, the Eagles were consistently mediocre, never finishing with a better record than 12-8 or a worse record than 8-14. Nevertheless, Leishure’s influence on the program extended far beyond wins and losses. Although he may not have achieved the final results he desired, Leishure set the tone for how the program should be run.

“He did what was right,” said Jim Hill, Leishure’s successor. “He was always kind of a moral pinnacle.” As coach, Leishure demanded excellence from his players both on and off the court. He made sure they never cut corners, and never put up with players cutting classes or getting into fights.

According to Hill, Leishure would “make sure that [his players] were willing to pay the price to be good, and be a good person as well.” It was in this way that Leishure shaped the program from the beginning, serving as a great example for the two coaches who followed him.

When Leishure stepped down from coaching at the end of the 1983-84 season, Hill applied for the job and got it. Hill had already been a part of the program for two years as coach of the Junior Varsity (JV) team, making the switch to Varsity more of a natural step.

Although Hill’s more aggressive, pressure-oriented coaching style differed from Leishure’s more conservative approach, Hill believes he benefited from watching Leishure coach before taking over as Varsity coach.

“I think he rubbed off on me in a very positive fashion,” Hill recalled. “He made me a little more cautious and [got me] to consider other aspects of the game.”

“[Leishure] did what was right. He was always kind of a moral pinnacle.” – Jim Hill
Ben Lubbehusen, who played for both coaches, noted that even though Leishure influenced Hill, Hill “never became Leishure. He took those skills and implemented them into his personality.”

Despite their distinctly different philosophies, Hill produced similar results in his first seven seasons as Varsity coach. From Hill’s first season in 1984-85 to the 1990-91 season, the Eagles went a combined 59-95 (.383 winning percentage). In comparison, the Eagles went 64-84 (.432 winning percentage) from 1977-78 to 1983-84 under Leishure.

Entering its 15th season in 1991, Centennial’s basketball program had become defined by mediocrity. The program had no county titles, no regional titles, and owned an overall winning percentage barely over .400. The Howard County Sun, in their 1991-92 Howard County Basketball Preview, put it bluntly: “The Eagles have talent, but need the confidence to overcome a losing tradition and the consistency they’ve sorely lacked in the past.”

For Hill, two of the most important things in establishing a winning culture were getting his players to “buy in” and truly dedicate themselves to the program.

Under Hill, basketball became a near year-round commitment for Centennial players. The team began to play in summer and fall leagues together, strengthening team unity and giving players more opportunities to practice and improve.

“[They] bought into the concept that you had to work at the game to get better,” said Hill.

In addition to playing in summer and fall leagues, Hill began taking his teams on overnight team camps in the summer. While staying at colleges like Syracuse or the University of Delaware, his players had a chance to learn from other coaches, practice, and bond on and off the court.

Hill believes that playing basketball almost year-round, along with the discipline they developed and their overall dedication to the program, “made them realize that they had to work at it and become better at it and they did.”

Perhaps as a result of their work ethic and dedication, Hill’s teams became known for their sound fundamentals and great defense. Both of these characteristics stemmed from Hill’s emphasis on the team over the individual. Hill pushed the idea that it’s much better for five players to score ten points than for one player to score twenty. It was Hill’s goal to make opposing defenses feel as if they had to stop all five players at once — an extremely difficult task.

“[The team] bought into the concept that you had to work at the game to get better.” – Jim Hill
Over the next ten seasons, Hill’s methods and philosophy proved successful as the Eagles completely changed the culture of the Centennial basketball program. After ending a streak of four straight losing seasons with a 14-9 mark in 1991-92, the Eagles won the first county title in school history the following year. Three seasons later, the Eagles won their second county title. The next year, they won their third, en route to an undefeated season and 22-1 overall record. Three seasons after that, they won another county title. As if that wasn’t enough, they won yet another in the 2000-01 season.

After leading Centennial to five county titles and a 145-82 record (.639 winning percentage) in a ten-year span, Hill had not just erased the program’s losing tradition, he had replaced it with a winning one. He led Centennial to one more county title, his sixth, in the 2004-05 season before retiring two seasons later.

Following his departure, JV Coach Chad Hollwedel took over the Varsity job. Hollwedel had been part of the program since 1997, serving as JV assistant, Varsity assistant, and JV head coach in that time. According to Hollwedel, Hill was supportive of him getting the job and even put in a good word to Scott Pfeifer, the principal.

“I felt that the program would be in great hands with Coach Hollwedel,” recalled Hill.

With ten years of experience coaching in the program, Hollwedel was already familiar with the program’s new, winning culture and Hill’s philosophy. Just as Leishure had rubbed off on Hill, Hill gave Hollwedel valuable insight on coaching and leading a successful program.

Coaching wise, Hollwedel says that watching how the system which Hill taught in practice translated to games taught him a lot. While the system which Hollwedel runs now differs from the one Hill ran, the three major tenets of Hill’s philosophy: great discipline, great defense, and sound fundamentals, are still a major focus in the program according to Hollwedel.

Off the court, Hollwedel learned the importance of developing interpersonal relationships with his players.

“Being able to relate personally as a player and coach was obviously critical,” he said.

Hill also taught Hollwedel that mutual respect between and unity within a program’s coaching staff is essential for success. Hollwedel noted that players will see through a disunified coaching staff right away – ultimately leading to a more divided program.

As Varsity coach, Hollwedel took this concept of unity within the program and expanded on it, implementing a system similar to the one he had been a part of in the football program. Instead of traditional JV or Varsity assistant coaches, Hollwedel decided to have “program assistants.” These assistants rotate between JV and Varsity every day, giving them the chance to work with all players in the program.

“There’s continuity in what we teach because all of the coaches are teaching the same thing to every kid,” explained Hollwedel. As a result, JV and Varsity are more like one unified program and less like two separate teams.

Another important point of emphasis for Hollwedel is focusing on one game at a time rather than the season as whole.

“You’re not worrying about having a winning record, you’re not worried about consistently winning over the course of the season. You’re worried about trying to be your best every night to be 1-0 at the end of that night.” Hollwedel believes that having this mindset the whole season helps prepare his teams for the playoffs, a time when each game is truly a must-win.

With Hollwedel at the helm, the winning tradition that Hill began has grown even stronger. After finishing with a losing record in his first two seasons, Hollwedel has led Centennial to nine straight winning seasons. Although Hollwedel has not won as many county titles as Hill, he has demonstrated a knack for taking his teams deep into the playoffs.

In the 2010-11 season, Centennial won regionals and advanced to the state tournament for the first time in school history. Like Hill’s success with county titles, the floodgates opened after winning the first. In fact, the Eagles won regionals again the very next year and again in the 2014-15 season.

In their 1979-80 varsity basketball preview, Pam Harrison and Brent Burkhardt of the Wingspan wrote that Leishure, “says that winning the state championships would naturally be his ultimate goal, but a more attainable one would be just to make it to the state championships.” On March 14, 2015 –12,889 days after the Wingspan’s preview was published– Leishure’s “ultimate goal” finally turned into a reality for the program. With a 57-43 victory over Westlake at College Park, Centennial earned its first boys basketball state title in school history. That win wasn’t just the result of one team’s year of hard work. Instead, it was the culmination of 38 seasons of Centennial basketball. 38 seasons of dedication and a commitment to excellence from Centennial players. 38 seasons of support from the Centennial community. 38 seasons in which Leishure set an example, Hill created a winning culture, and Hollwedel improved on their success. And so, as the Eagles try to win that elusive last game of the season once again this year, they are not merely playing for themselves or for Hollwedel. They are also playing for Hill, Leishure, and all the players who came before them. They are the Eagles of course; they play for Centennial.

To read this article in the March print issue click here.

Featured Image by Ellie Zoller-Gritz.

For more breaking news and photos, follow The Wingspan on Instagram and Twitter @CHSWingspan.

Sports

Centennial Boys’ Victorious over Glenelg in 57-56 Thriller

Words: Caleb McClatchey

Photos: Noorie Kazmi

The Centennial Varsity Boys’ basketball team defeated Glenelg 57-56 on the Eagles’ home court Friday night.

The Eagles and Gladiators fought back and forth all night, with neither team able to take control of the game and pull away from the other.

Glenelg’s early foul trouble helped Centennial jump out to a seven point lead midway through the first quarter, the largest by either team during the game. However, Glenelg battled back and tied the game at 23 with 4:40 left in the second quarter. At the end of the half, the Eagles trailed 31-30.

The second half began much like the first, with Centennial jumping out to a 41-36 lead. Glenelg answered with a 10-0 run of their own, and led 46-41 midway through the fourth quarter. This time, Centennial closed the deficit and cut Glenelg’s lead to one point, setting up a nail-biting final two minutes.

With two minutes to go, a three-point shot by Centennial’s Ryan Hollwedel gave the Eagles a 52-50 lead. After both teams scored two points, a three-point shot by Glenelg put the Gladiators back in front 55-54 with just over a minute left. Following a Glenelg free throw which extended their lead to two points, Centennial’s Stafford Smith made a layup on a fast break to tie the game at 56.

Shortly after, a foul by Glenelg sent Centennial’s Brandon Bonner to the line. Bonner sunk his first shot but missed his second, giving the Eagles a one point lead and Glenelg one last possession. The Gladiators ran the clock down as they passed the ball around, trying to find an open look for a game-winning shot.

With only three seconds left in the game, Glenelg’s shot clanked off the rim- securing a 57-56 Eagles win and sending the Centennial crowd into a frenzy.

Centennial was kept relatively quiet from beyond the arc for most of the night, making only three three-pointers over the first three quarters. However, the Eagles’ deep shot came in clutch in the fourth quarter. Two three-pointers by Stafford Smith and one by Ryan Hollwedel helped propel Centennial to victory in the dramatic final eight minutes.

Both teams had trouble scoring in the paint all night thanks to solid defensive performances by both squads.

Stafford Smith led the Eagles in scoring with 17 points, followed by Brandon Bonner and Cameron Berkeley with 11. Carson Dick finished with a team-high 21 points for Glenelg.

Centennial improved to 7-4 overall and 6-1 in county with their win over Glenelg. The Eagles will look for their fourth straight win on Wednesday at home versus River Hill.

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