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Women's Basketball

1996 - 1997 BUTLER HIGH SCHOOL ROSTER

4 KEISHA HANNAH G 16 10

5 NIKKI TIBBS G 15 10
All city - 2nd team 1995 - 96 AAU National Champs - 1995

10 TASHEIKA MORRIS F 15 10
All City - 1st team 1995 - 96 All State 1st team 1995 - 96 AAU National Champs - 1996 Junior National Camps - 1996 WASHINGTON, D.C. B'ham News - 1st team All - State 95 - 96

12 CHAKA ROBINSON G 15 10

21 JOVITA ALLEN F/C 14 9

22 DEE CUMMINGS G 15 10 5
All City Honorable Mention 1995 - 96 AAU National Champs - 95

23 REMONA RONES G/F 14 9

24 JOI GOPHER G/F 14 9

32 APRIL NANCE F 17 12
All City - 1st team 1993 - 96 All State - 1st team 95 - 96 MVP Junior Nationals, 1996 WASHINGTON D.C.

33 KATRENA BUTLER F/C 15 10
All City Honor. Mention AAU National Champs 1995

34 PAM CRUZ G 15 10
All City Honor. Mention AAU National Champs 1995

Lady Rebels Going Big Time

Huntsville Girls' basketball in the state of Alabama is finally getting the recognition it deserves mainly because of great new talent and new coaches at Butler High School. Linda Holt moved from Stone Middle School last year to become the Lady Rebs head coach. With her came her husband, Rock, and son, Robert, a recent graduate of Florida State University. Linda had been an ultra-successful coach at Stone Middle School, winning 111 straight games and setting a national record for consecutive wins. Rock and Robert were basketball coaches in the Madison County YMCA and AAU. Their teams had a record of 204 wins and 6 losses in the past five years. Their AAU teams placed ninth in the nation in 1993, fourth in the nation in 1994, and their 1995 team won the national championship in Amarillo, Texas. Most of the girls that played on these teams played at Stone Middle School and are now at Butler High. Linda and Rock's son, Robert, was hired as the assistant head coach at Butler and has an extensive basketball background working at high school and college basketball camps throughout the United States. With this coaching team in place and with the young players coming up from Stone Middle, the Holts' first high school team was the youngest varsity team in the United States. The team consisted of ten freshmen and one junior. Even with this young lineup, they produced the winningest record and advanced further than any other Butler High team ever. The 1995-96 team won 25 games and lost 7. They also won the city championship, area championship, sub-region championship, and was runner-up at the regional, finishing in the top eight in the state. Along the way they won two major tournaments: the Lady Reebok Southern Championship in Memphis and the Rogersville Classic in Rogersville, Alabama. Recognition also came in the form of honors for two of the players on this fine team, April Nance and Tasheika Morris. Both made first team All-City and first team All-State in the 6A classification, Alabama's highest classification. Tasheika also made the Birmingham News first team selection and USA Today's All-Star honorable mention. Others getting recognition include: Nikki Tibbs (second team All-City), Katrena Butler (honorable mention All-City), Pam Cruz (honorable mention All-City), and Dee Cummings (honorable mention All-City). All these other girls were freshmen and are future stars.

APRIL NANCE: MOST WANTED

BUTLER HIGH SCHOOL
The recruiting war has started. Never in the history of Butler High lady varsity basketball has a player been more sought after than April Nance. She got major exposure from playing in tournaments that attracted hundreds of college coaches this past summer. April is finally getting the attention she deserves after just going through the motions academically her first two high school years. When new coach Linda Holt came on the scene last year and saw the situation April had gotten herself into, she immediately set out to get her qualified academically. It has been a long, hard struggle, but April can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, she will qualify for a major college scholarship this year. Regardless, she WILL play for a major university one day. The colleges that April is most interested in, and being in no particular order are: Alabama, Arkansas, Clemson, Kansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi State. The head coaches at Alabama, Kansas, and Kentucky have visited April and she will visit her top five choices during the recruiting period.

11/9/96 BUTLER (1-0) 107 SPARKMAN 70
Butler jumps out quick behind relentless full court pressure and coasts to a convincing opening win over the Sparkman Senators, a favorite to win the Madison County championship. Butler led 32-14 after one quarter, 54-33 at the half, 86-52 after three quarters, and 107-70 at the end. Top scorers for Butler were: April Nance (25), Dee Cummings (24), Katrena Butler (14), and Joi Gopher (14). The top rebounder for Butler was Katrena Butler (12). The assist leader for Butler was April Nance (6). Butler High's next game will be against rival J.O. Johnson at home on 11/14/96 at 6:30.

Butler 11/27/96 11/14/96

Butler(2-0) 92 Johnson 79

Butler improves to 2-0 with a win over their cross-town rival, Johnson. Butler trailed 20-18 after one quarter, led 51-46 at the half, increased their lead to 77-61 after three quarters, and eventually won 92-79 at the end. High scorers for Butler were: April Nance (35), Tasheika Morris (19), and Joi Gopher (10). The top rebounders for Butler were: April Nance (21) and Tasheika Morris (8). The assist leader for Butler was Dee Cummings (9).

11/19/96

Butler (3-0) 99 Lee 43

Butler started out strong and coasted to a convincing victory over Lee. Butler led 25-11 after one quarter, 54-22 at the half, 79-34 after three quarters, and 99-43 at the end. High scorers for Butler were: Tasheika Morris (22), Katrena Butler (19), and Joi Gopher (15). Top rebounders for Butler were: Katrena Butler (10) and Tasheika Morris (7). The assist leaders for Butler were: Tasheika Morris (6) and Pam Cruz (6).

11/23/96

Butler (4-0) 90 Godby 72

Butler travels to Tallahassee, Florida, and defeats one of the top teams from that state. With the victory, Butler makes its first ever appearance in the USA TODAY Top 25 poll at number 22. Butler led 25-10 after one quarter, 44-33 at the half, 66-54 after three quarters, and 90-72 at the end. Top scorers for Butler were: Tasheika Morris (30), April Nance (24), and Joi Gopher (10). Top rebounders for Butler were: Tasheika Morris (22) and April Nance (14). The assist leader for Butler was Pam Cruz (8).