Ooltewah High girls basketball hires former Cleveland High assistant James Baird as team鈥檚 new head coach
OOLTEWAH, Tenn. (BVM) — The Ooltewah High School girls basketball team got a shot in the arm earlier this month when the team announced the hiring of new head coach James Baird. Baird, a top assistant for nearby District 5 foe Cleveland High School, helped lead the Lady Raiders to a 13-9 overall record and an 8-2 record in the district en route to a Region 3 tournament appearance.
鈥淭he Ooltewah Administration is very excited about Coach Baird joining the OHS family as he starts to lead our Women鈥檚 Basketball program,鈥� the school said 鈥淗e brings a great deal of experience coaching women鈥檚 basketball locally and will be a great asset to the school overall.鈥�
Welcome to the family @CoachBairdOHS! Excited to have you on
— Ooltewah High School (@Ooltewah_Live)
Baird was the first to share the news of his hiring on his social media June 9. In his post, Baird said he 鈥渃an鈥檛 wait to get to work.鈥�
I鈥檓 beyond excited to announce I have been named head coach of the Ooltewah Lady Owls鈥� basketball program. I can鈥檛 wait to get to work.
— James Baird (@CoachBaird18)
The new head coach will have a lot of work ahead of him, however. The Owls were unsuccessful in recording a win last season according to their . Though the team was unable to get in the win column last season, they will bring back Class of 2023 member Mackenzie Bernier who was named to the All District 5-AAA Tournament team after averaging 11 points, seven rebounds and 2.5 blocks during the tournament.
Congratulations Mackenzie Bernier on being named to the 2021 All District 5-AAA Tournament Team!
— Ooltewah Lady Owls Basketball (@OHS_LadyOwls)
With Baird now on board for the Lady Owls, fans will see if he can bring similar success he had in Cleveland to Ooltewah. One thing is clear, getting the Lady Owls back in the win column would be seen as a big victory for the new head coach.
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