By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Easter weekend is always joyous for Lyndzee McConathy, a devout Christian and devoted mom to three energetic kids. Add Thursday afternoon’s trip to Dallas (shhhh, don’t tell those kiddos) with husband Logan to cheer for her beloved Duke Blue Devils tonight in the NCAA Tournament, and it’s hard to make this holiday weekend any better for her.
It is now.
Not long before the McConathys dropped off their brood with grandparents Mike and Connie
McConathy came the news she’d long dreamed about. Bossier Parish School Board and Benton High principal Whitney Clark announced McConathy is following the retiring, highly-accomplished Mary Ward as the Lady Tigers’ head basketball coach.
“Ten years ago, this was a big dream, because I was Mary’s assistant and there were a lot of what if’s, when’s and but’s, and I never thought when I left to be the head coach at Lakeside that I might get to come back,” said McConathy, who took over at Lakeside in 2016 after nearly a decade alongside Ward at Benton. “God has a great way of making everything align if it’s His will, and I’m definitely going to take advantage of this blessing.”
She moved to Airline as head coach and spent six seasons (2017-23) there, highlighted by the program’s best postseason trip, getting to the second round of the 2022 playoffs. After serving as head coach of the West team in last year’s coaches all-star game, she decided to step back in time and rejoin Ward, to be closer to sons Miller (10) and Miles (8), and daughter Mikah (4), who attend school in Benton.
She never expected Ward to retire so soon, calling it a career recently after 400 wins in 18 seasons, including the 2020 state championship. The year as an understudy was refreshing, she said.
“It was a humbling experience. Any time you go from being a head coach to an assistant coach, you have to be humble and have your eyes and ears open so you grow,” said McConathy. “I tried to be the best version of myself, and I learned a lot because I listened a lot and watched.
“Mary helped to refresh a few things that I didn’t lose while being a head coach, but I didn’t get to see from the assistant’s perspective because I didn’t have that for so long. Seeing a different viewpoint from the bench, being able to really, really harp on being relational with those girls as an assistant, it really helped me.”
McConathy, who turns 36 next week, said she’s evolved greatly during seven seasons being in charge to be best prepared for her “dream job” following Ward at Benton.
“I’ve grown so much as a head coach from my first year to my last year about how to coach kids. I’ve always been relational, a life coach wanting to coach more than just the game to the girls, but I’ve learned each individual kid is different and you have to respect that and still coach the game,” said McConathy. “You have to reach out to each kid hoping you can help them become the best version of themselves and the best player possible.
“We’re still Benton High School girls basketball. One thing our culture will be is respecting the past, focusing on the present and embracing the future. I harped on that with the girls this morning. We need to respect the legacy, but we need to focus on who we want to be and trust the process. It will work,” she said. “You could see the excitement, the squealing, giddy girls that they are. They are all in.”
It’s a plum job, but it’s a challenge. Benton plays in a tough basketball neighborhood, District 1-5A.
“The toughest district in the state! Even when they redistrict, they make it even harder,” McConathy said. “We just gained Huntington, and we still have Parkway, Natchitoches Central, Haughton – who deserves all the respect – and all the rest. I think we have some of the state’s greatest coaches in this district and I’m excited to be a part of representing Benton High School, the Benton community and
District 1-5A to the rest of our state.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com