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Pine Valley alum unite at Hae Jude

OBSERVER Photo by Gib Snyder III Pictured, from left to right, are Christine (Latshaw) Krenzer, Tammy (Brown) Rice and Bryelle Cortright. Krenzer (Cassadaga Valley), Rice (Silver Creek) and Cortright (Pine Valley) were all on hand as head coaches during Silver Creek's annual Hae Jude girls basketball tournament. All three are also former Pine Valley Lady Panther basketball players.

SILVER CREEK — It was a reunion of sorts this weekend when Silver Creek hosted its annual Hae Jude Tournament, as three former Pine Valley Lady Panther varsity basketball players were trying to coach their teams to the tournament title.

Tammy (Brown) Rice, Christine (Latshaw) Krenzer and Bryelle Cortright were all members of very successful Lady Panther teams during their high school days and over the weekend, Rice, the head coach of Silver Creek, Krenzer, the head coach at Cassadaga Valley, and Cortright, the head coach at their alma mater, were all on hand for the annual event.

“This tournament was extremely dear to my heart, because it involved four teams that were special to me,” Rice, a member of the Pine Valley Class of 1991, said. “My first coaching position was at Forestville, I went to Pine Valley and I work with Christine Krenzer at Cassadaga Valley, so every single team that was involved was near and dear to my heart.”

Cortright, who took over for legendary coach Tim Nobles in 2014, was just as thrilled to bring her team to the tournament to show off what she has done with the Lady Panthers, who won the tournament Saturday afternoon, 40-31, over the Black Knights.

“It’s really cool,” Cortright said. “And it speaks to Tim Nobles’ legacy that you have three alumnae that want to carry on the traditions that he did. And with all three of us, you can see that passion and love for the game.”

Rice was a member of the 1991 Class D state champion Lady Panther squad, and she says she uses that as motivation to help her players work toward a common goal.

“We weren’t supposed to be a team that anybody was watching,” Rice said. “But we won the state title my senior year and we won it because we all played together. There wasn’t a superstar on the team. We all shared the ball and when we won the state final, we had four or five girls that (scored) in double digits. And that wasn’t uncommon all season long.”

Cortright, who was a member of three-consecutive state champion teams from 2003-05, earning All-Tournament Team nominations in ’04 and ’05, could not be more proud to have been tabbed to take over as the Pine Valley head coach once Nobles decided to step down.

“It’s a complete and total blessing that I don’t take for granted any day,” Cortright said. “It’s one of my proudest things.”

She was also thrilled to be able to catch up with Rice and Krenzer, who was a member of a Class D Final Four team her senior year in 1994.

“They led the way,” Cortright said of Rice and Krenzer. “Tammy won a state championship and Kristine was on one of our best teams on paper. They left that legacy for me, as a youngster, to look up to. And they left some pretty big shoes to fill and it was an honor to fill them.”

With all three having played for Nobles, it was easy for Rice and Cortright to notice some similarities in the way all three of them coach their own teams.

“I think the intensity and the passion that each coach brings,” Cortright said when asked if she saw any similarities between herself, Rice and Krenzer. “Obviously we each run different defenses — I’m sticking with the Tim Nobles man-to-man, we’ll continue with that — but definitely the passion and love for the game is the same.”

“Work ethic especially,” Rice added. “It’s hard to build that in a program. It takes a while, but it really starts with all your girls buying into giving 100 percent effort. Then, when younger players see that, it inspires them to play the game at another level. It’s confidence and Pine Valley has a tradition of winning and it shows when they step up onto the court. It shows during warm ups and in the physicality of their game. I think that all three of us work to continue that, or to achieve that. I know Bryelle coaches in the Pine Valley program, but Christine and I talk about when we played at Pine Valley and our desire and will to win and not quit and go hard and that builds confidence.”

Despite being busy with what life has brought their way, one thing is for sure, none of them will ever forget the memories, bonds and friendships they made while playing basketball at Pine Valley.

“Every year for the March Madness event, we call back all the alumni,” Cortright said. “And we usually have a really good turn out for that — probably between 30-35 girls every year — and I keep in touch with all of my former teammates for the most part. It’s a family.”

“It’s awesome,” Rice concluded. “And that time period of my life was one of the most special periods, because we achieved something. We all worked hard and everyone supported us and now we can go back and look at a banner and say, ‘We earned that.'”

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