ARLINGTON — The way Tim Spinney was doused in sweat, one would’ve thought it was he who just got done playing running up and down the court for 24 minutes on Monday night.
He did not.
But the new head coach of the Arlington Catholic girls basketball team was just as engaged and probably burned just as many calories as his players as the Cougars took down visiting Notre Dame Academy 46-38.
With every basket the Cougars scored, Spinney was the one cheering loudest on the bench. When Notre Dame walked the ball up the floor, he pantomimed on the side line as if he was the one playing defense.
Even though he himself can’t suit up and throw on a pair of sneakers and shorts, Spinney’s intensity has reinvigorated Arlington Catholic, as it’s off to a 2-0 start thus far.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the kids,” Spinney said. “It’s the kids really buying into different principles, a different approach, a different perspective, and just playing a brand of basketball that suits them and their strengths. That’s what we’ve implemented are trying to install, so hats off to them.”
Modesty, like intensity, is another way a new coach can endear themselves to their new team.
But while Spinney won’t give himself much credit, take it from one of his players.
“It’s gone really well,” said senior captain Melanie Simmons. “We’re working really well as a team so far. He knows how to motivate us. He knows our strengths, he knows our weaknesses, and he plays really into our strengths.
“We’ve only had two games, but it seems like a really good fit so far. I know everyone on the team likes him. He brings good energy and motivates us.”
By her own admission, Simmons had a “down” year last season, marred by injuries, illness, and inconsistency.
A new head coach could’ve taken one look at the box scores, and wrote her off. Not Spinney.
“I was nervous after last season,” Simmons said. “With a new head coach, you never know what’s going to happen right away, but Coach Tim was very motivating. He knows to communicate with us, and tells us that it’s okay to mess up. He’s big on effort. I knew that I had to have effort at tryouts prove to him that I can be how I was before last year. I can come back from that.”
Simmons proved it once again against Notre Dame, leading Arlington Catholic with 17 points from the field. Nora Simpson and Amara Louis each contributed eight points to the effort, while Maddie Giesta and Teagan Precourt added five and four, respectively.
Even then, that scoring alone wasn’t going to be enough.
From the very outset, Arlington Catholic played with a level of intensity on defense that matched their coach on the sideline, swarming hopeful ball handlers as they weaved their way to the rim, only to run into a wall off flailing arms.
Forced to settle for shots from the outside and unable to find its scoring touch early, NDA fell behind as Arlington Catholic went on a 5-0 run that helped them establish a 10-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
After a back and forth second quarter that featured four different lead changes, the Cougars began to runaway with the contest coming out of the half, outscoring NDA 13-5 in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, NDA came back with a vigor that nearly put Arlington back its heels. Still the Cougars held on, with Louis bottling up and frustrating NDA’s Elle Orlando (23 points) as she continuously tried to attack the basket in the final minutes.
“They bought in,” said Spinney. “It came down to belief.”
If the team didn’t believe in itself before, it certainly does now that it knocked off an opponent that has won a combined 40 games over the last two years and is coming off a run to the state championship game last season.
Next up, Cougars will visit Lowell Catholic on Tuesday, and will bring as much intensity and belief as they can with them.
NDA (0-1) hosts Ursuline Academy on Wednesday.
