Ashford’s Herbert pulls double duty at Troy Regional

By Ken Rogers

Published: February 21, 2008

Win or lose, coaches almost always tell their teams to forget the last game and move on.
Ashford coach Bill Herbert had to do the same on Thursday.
There was no time to dwell on the Ashford girls’ 52-48 loss — as heart-pounding and as heartbreaking as it was. For as his team was leaving the court, the Ashford boys were coming out of the dressing room to warm up.
Herbert is the only coach to lead both the boys and girls teams to the South Regional in Troy this year.
It’s his second year with the boys team and his first with the girls. That he took both to the Class 4A regionals was impressive enough. The girls finished 21-7. The boys are 24-10 — and will play for a trip to Birmingham on Saturday.
As part of his responsibilities as head coach, Herbert had to meet with the media after each game, including the girls’ loss. Ashford cut a 13-point deficit to one point before falling to T.R. Miller.
“Just coaching the games wasn’t so bad,” he said. “Not being able to be with the girls after a heartbreaking loss was tough. Fortunately, I asked a couple Ashford coaches to check on them.”
As for the boys, Herbert said it was gratifying to see a program he took over playing ninth-graders two years ago get to this level.
“Last year we got beat in overtime in the sub-regional in overtime,” the coach recalled. “Since then, the kids have been focusing on getting here and winning. That’s what they talked about all season.”
He is justifiably proud of the progress made in both programs.
And he’s proud of his players. Asked if he was Tim James’ barber — James sported a freshly shaved mohawk haircut for the game — Herbert smiled, shook his head and said, “I’m his daddy. I’m all of them’s daddy.”
The girls don’t have a senior on their roster; the boys start one senior, Jeremy White, and bring another senior, Kendrick Russaw, off the bench.
Both teams learned key lessons for the future Thursday. The girls fell behind 14-4 after the first quarter. The boys were leading 15-5 after the opening period.
There is another game to prepare for Saturday. But just one.
“It won’t be weird,” he said, noting the area tournament games were on staggered dates. “I’ve done it both ways.”
And he’s done it pretty well.