They tried to separate themselves from Coach Royal, all the tradition and build their own dynasties and it hasn't worked. We've been close to the edge (of a national championship) maybe four or five times these last 35 years, but we haven't got it done.

You would think that his lifelong dream was to coach a team that won a state championship, but he wasn't really thinking about basketball when he started here. Once he took the job, he got so serious and watched and learned. His teams pride themselves on defense, which makes them fun to watch.

We tried to train the girls smarter, and not necessarily harder, to build up to this. We knew we would be in the hunt for the title, but for us to win it is just unbelievable.

I worked the drive-through at McDonald's and tried out different accents - Italian, Russian, Irish.

I didn't think I was going to get to it. But I tried anyway and it worked out.

I tried to take it to the opposite field and it worked out well.