Stenz earns WAW Girls Basketball Coach of the Year

When a coach leads a team to a 27-0 season and the first state championship in school history, it is a pretty easy decision to name him Coach of the Year.

What Danny Stenz accomplished this season, however, is even more impressive than the 52-3 mark and two state title game trips he has compiled over the last two seasons.

Stenz opened the season with six players firmly in a rotation that made his Marengo Academy team the obvious favorite to win AISA Class A. But misfortune struck as senior Carolyne Baker and talented freshman Rebecca Antonelli each suffered season-ending injuries relatively early in the campaign.

Stenz, 2013 Alabama Sports Writers Association AISA Coach of the Year, quickly turned to his junior varsity team just to find enough players to finish the season. But the Lady Longhorns did more than finish. Under the patient tutelage of Stenz, Marengo Academy saw freshmen Kim Osburn, Mary Jordan Drake and Hannah Freeman thrive in their new roles. And the development of Victoria Belcher as the first player off the bench proved key in MA’s state title run.

But none of it happens without the uncanny ability Stenz has of weathering the storm and squeezing the best out of his teams. Despite the fact that he is a volunteer coach who holds down a full-time a job that has nothing to do with athletics, Stenz has now claimed four state championships across two sports and makes the 2014 Girls Basketball Coach of the Year selection his third such nod from the West Alabama Watchman. He previously won the same award in 2013 before taking the Softball Coach of the Year distinction as well.