By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – Tena Niven is no stranger to the Montevallo sideline. The head coach of both the volleyball and girls basketball team at Montevallo has roamed the sidelines for the last 14 seasons, and has made the Lady Bulldogs consistent competitors in both sports. Her overall record on the basketball floor is 275-135, which works out to a winning percentage of 67 percent, very high. Her teams have gone to the Sweet Sixteen six times, have won six area championships and have made two appearances in the Elite Eight, and she is the 2015-16 girls basketball Coach of the Year.

However, this is not a career achievement award, rather a single-season award. While Niven has consistently put one of the top basketball products on the floor during her time, her 2015-16 product was one of the best.

Last season Montevallo and Thompson made it further than any girls’ team in the county when both made Sweet Sixteen appearances. This season the Lady Bulldogs went a step further as they made an appearance in the 4A Elite Eight, without one senior on the roster. Montevallo finished 25-8 this year as well, which was tied for the best record in the county along with the boys from Oak Mountain.

Now, Niven is blessed to have one of the most talented young players in the state on her roster in Lauryn Lilly, who averaged 22.8 points per game on 44 percent shooting as a sophomore. The presence of Lilly makes life easier on Niven, as all good players do for coaches, but Montevallo’s success cannot be completely contributed to the production of one player.

This Lady Bulldogs team did not have much size. Freshman Takila Hill was the only true post presence Montevallo could use, and was a guard-dominant team with Lilly, Alasha Reed and Emri Hannah controlling the majority of the team’s possession. To compensate, the Lady Bulldogs got out in transition, a lot.

What developed was a team that pushed the ball at every opportunity. Niven had the Lady Bulldogs creating as much offense as they could off of turnovers and in transition, which worked incredibly well. Montevallo forced nearly 12 turnovers per game solely from steals, and more often than not turned those steals into easy buckets. Niven got this team to work within the confines of what their personnel allowed for, and got about as good of a result as she could have asked for.

Niven is also quick to give credit to her assistant coach, Kevin Raybon, who Niven said does “so much to help with our success.”

With Niven still at the helm and literally the entire roster returning in 2016, the Lady Bulldogs will once again be a force to be reckoned with next season as well.