Lady Marlins are Number 1
Best 3-point team in nation
BY DAN PARKER SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

National champs STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER The 2007-08 Port Aransas High School Lady Marlins basketball team set the national record for threepointers made in a single season, with 322. From left: Hannah Jones, Emily Scott, Katelin Dupnik, Elaine Franco, Sarah Pate, Lia Phillips, Kathy Ashley, Rachael Phillips, Reba Armanovs and Meredith Berry.

The Port Aransas High School Lady Marlins have been crowned national champions, of sorts, even though their 2007-08 season ended with a loss in the regional quarterfi- nals in the playoffs.

The National Federation of High School Sports (NFHSS) has reported that the team set a national record for three-point shots made by a girls' high school basketball team in a single season, with 332, said Randy Henderson, coach of the Lady Marlins. The record is for all girls' basketball teams, no matter the size of the high school, in all 50 states.

"I had no idea we had set any kind of record until I saw the Texas entries in the NFHSS girls' basketball record book printed in the 2008 UIL state tournament program," Henderson said. "I stared at it in disbelief and read over it several times until it sank in. I am so proud of these players. They earned it."

Lady Marlin players were excited to hear the news.

"It's cool," said junior Hannah Jones, a post on the Lady Marlins squad. "It's awesome. I love it. It's unexpected. But it's not unexpected, in a way, because we worked hard."

Henderson said he got confirmation from the NFHS of the Port Aransas girls' feat on Monday, March 3.

The previous record of 317 three pointers in a season was held by the varsity girls' 1998-99 team at A.L. Butler High School in Huntsville, Ala.

The NFHS also reported that the Port Aransas girls set the record for three-point attempts, with 1,052. The previous record of 1,005 was held by the 2001-02 team from Nazareth - another class 1A powerhouse program in Texas.

The Port Aransas girls earned these honors, Henderson said. The players practiced in the gym throughout the summer and fall, and that included a lot of three-point shooting.

"It all paid off," Henderson said. "I told the players that it was a great opportunity for us to be successful, and they trusted me and went with it. What more can a coach ask?"

As previously reported, Kathy Ashley this year set a new PAHS Lady Marlins record for three-pointers in a season, sinking 99 shots from beyond the arc. Only two other girls at Texas high schools scored more three pointers this season than Ashley.

Ashley joined two other Lady Marlins - sisters Lia and Rachael Phillips - by tying the Port Aransas girls' record for three-pointers made in a single game, with six each.

Along with Ashley, Lia Phillips broke a Port Aransas single-season record for three-pointers, as she finished with 70 threes. That put her in second place behind Ashley. Rachael Phillips ended the '07-08 season in fourth place, with 54 threepointers.

Lia Phillips also finished in third place for career threes, scoring 112 of them.

But Henderson said credit for the national three-point records should go to the entire team.

"Not only did some make the threes, but everyone on the team either made the assists or set the screens that allowed the shot opportunity," Henderson said.