Girls
Coach: Shelly Childree
21-22 Record: 4-12

Shelly Childree is working on building a winning program for the girls of Atoka as she moves up to coach the high school this year while also being in charge of the junior high program which she coached last year. 

“We’re really trying to change the culture of girls sports here in Atoka by teaching them how to win and overcome adversity,” said Childree. “I think that needs to start in the lower grades so that it’s engrained in them by the time they get to high school. We’ve already seem some of that playing out in the junior high program where they’ve won more tournaments in the past two years since I’ve been here than they did in the previous 10 years.” This season the Lady Wampus Cats will rely heavily on two returning starters in seniors Hannah Vanderburg, who also runs track. and Shay Burchfield along with junior Kyleigh Ritchie who also plays softball for the Wampus Cats. “Kyleigh is only 5-foot-9 but she plays bigger than that and she knows she’ll be needed on the floor all four quarters.

All three girls will need to step up their game this year,” said Childree. The new head coach is also high on Pittsburg move-in Shasta Washington, a sophomore who adds some height. She’s got a lot of raw talent that Childree hopes to bring along. Atoka also features five freshmen, one of whom will start this year in Kaylee Washington. “She’s got the potential to be a really good player,” said Childree. Other freshmen that will look for some varsity time this year are Kaigan Ladd, Denium Lambert, Tanaeyah Guess and Allison Williams. Childree also hopes to see the return of junior Aven Hill who saw playing time last year but is battling some health issues. Childree also notes some changes in philosophy this year for Atoka. “I play a lot of man defense and these girls are used to playing zone so that will take some adjusting. We’re going to play get-up-in-your-shorts defense and guard you even if we get by 50. On offense I like to push the ball up the floor quickly and because we’re not very big we’ll have to be able to shoot well from the outside while passing inside and kicking out to the open shooter. Depth will be a concern because we only eight players on the roster.”