The word out in the community was Brenden Stowers would be promoted to this position once his father Jeffrey Stowers announced his retirement as the head coach of the Simon Kenton Lady Pioneers basketball program.
The Simon Kenton administration made it official Thursday for the 1999 Simon Kenton graduate. The 41-year-old former Simon Kenton and Northern Kentucky University Norse player takes over the program that has turned into a perennial region contender in the 8th Region.
“Coach Stowers obviously brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our program. The girls will be familiar with his coaching and leadership style, which will lead to a seamless transition for everyone involved,” said Troy Roberts, Simon Kenton Director of Athletics. “There is no doubt that Brenden will create a positive atmosphere for the young ladies in our program, and we know he will continue the tradition of winning and excellence that his father has started here.”
Brenden Stowers has been on his Dad’s staff for a total of 13 years. His first season was the 2004-2005 season when he was training to play pro basketball and needed a job. He spent five years coaching on the college level before coming back to Simon Kenton. Brenden Stowers is a Special Education teacher at Simon Kenton High School.
“He’s made for it. He’s been with me even when I was coaching my younger sons in junior pro and AAU (Amateur Athletic Union). He’s done his homework,” Jeffrey Stowers said of Brenden Stowers taking over the program. “He’s seen the game at the college level as a video coordinator. He’s very good at scouting reports. He made up all our scouting reports. He knows the game and he does everything he can to put the girls in the best possible situation to be successful.”
In the 20 years Jeffrey Stowers served as head coach, Simon Kenton finished 427-180 and had just three losing seasons. Simon Kenton won five 8th Region championships in 2008, 2009, 2015, 2017 and 2018. The Lady Pioneers advanced to the state quarterfinals in 2009 and 2017.
“I just smiled. I grew up with a lot of the parents of the players, some of the teachers I work with here at school. Just to be given a chance in a head role to give back to these girls and part some of the knowledge that I’ve learned over the years from my Dad and just continue the legacy that he’s built, it’s very special,” Brenden Stowers said. “I believe somebody said, ‘They’re keeping it in the family.’ But it’s the Simon Kenton family. It really does feel that way. It’s one of those things I’ve worked for since the first time I stepped on the floor to be an assistant. I’m very happy.”
Some may say the growth of the Simon Kenton girls basketball program is a reflection of the growth of the Independence community in general. The Lady Pioneers had gone 2-43 the previous two seasons before Jeffrey Stowers took before the 2002-2003 season.
Jeffrey Stowers pointed out the community has different rallying points. The main one is the 1981 Simon Kenton boys basketball state title after a gas explosion in the basement boiler room Oct. 9, 1980.
“(The Independence residents) still rally around Simon Kenton basketball,” Jeffrey Stowers said. “It’s just a matter of getting them to rally around Simon Kenton girls basketball. The way I saw through that was come out and play hard. We’re not going to lose because we didn’t play our hardest, play our best.”
Simon Kenton has had the luxury of depth over the years. That has helped them wear down opponents among other things.
“If you’re going to step out on that court, you’re going to play hard or take a seat until you can decide that you want to play hard because there are other girls on that bench that want to play. We just kind of use that against each other,” Jeffrey Stowers said. “We only ask you to play hard for a minute or so because if you are, you should be tired and then somebody else can come in. We’ll get you a break when you need it. But we want everything out of you when you are out there. That will go on from here as well.”
Simon Kenton graduates three players from last year’s squad that finished 17-13. The Lady Pioneers lost 56-54 at Walton-Verona in the 32nd District championship game before losing 77-67 to eventual 8th Region champion Anderson County in the state quarterfinals. They are 1,000-point scoring center Sereniti Webb, guard Alexis Baker and guard Teanna Griffin.
Webb’s younger sister in eighth grader Haylie Webb returns. Sereniti Webb said the team camaraderie made her time there special.
“In all my years, every single player on the team liked each other,” Sereniti Webb said. “I think that’s a big deal because on the court, it’s really important to have that team chemistry. We were able to hang out outside of that. That just helped us out and I think that will continue.”
The leading returning scorer is junior forward Emilee Eggleston. She averaged 10.6 points per game. Eggleston and other players have their own plans of how to step into leadership roles.
“I plan on bringing up the younger girls as well since we have the seniors that left making them the best they can be and working with the team as a collective group hopefully getting further this season and getting better as a team,” Eggleston said. “(I’m) just helping them through things if they make mistakes. I’ll just show them how to do it correctly and continue to push them hard so they can succeed.”
Jeffrey Stowers said Eggleston has shown progress over the last two years. Simon Kenton started a seventh grader at point guard in Brynli Pernell and eighth grade forward/guard Anna Kelch saw more playing time toward the end of the year.
Jeffrey Stowers also mentioned sophomore guard Ava Slusher expecting her minutes to go up. He also said some of the sophomore and juniors have been in the system for three or four years.
“I spend a lot of time with them. This is my second family away from my own. My own kids know these girls very well,” Brenden Stowers said. “My nieces and nephews pretend to be the girls in the driveway when they’re playing. I consider myself blessed and lucky to be able to continue to develop these girls. They’re great people first and foremost. They come from great families. They’re awesome students and them being amazing athletes is just icing on the cake. It’s a very fortunate situation.”
Brenden Stowers said Simon Kenton likes to push the ball playing opportunistic basketball. He recalls his senior year at NKU when his dad asked the Norse how they ran the defense Brenden Stowers described as the former NKU Head Coach and assistant Jeff Bezold defense. The team came up for a week and ran it simplifying things for the players during Jeffrey Stowers’ first season. The Lady Pioneers still run that defense.
The Lady Pioneers like to score then set up a press doing it all over again. But Brenden Stowers said he’s aware that teams need to be able to play the half-court game, especially in the post-season. Simon Kenton mostly plays man-to-man defense with some spot zone depending on the game flow among other situations.
“Whatever team we have, we make it fit,” Brenden Stowers said. “There aren’t going to be a lot of changes as far as style and what we do. It will be SKLP basketball and we’ll continue that going forward. We try to prepare our girls for everything.”
Brenden Stowers said he plans to retain a number of the assistants. Jeffrey Stowers might be in one of those roles. But longtime assistant Loretta Olmstead will return along with Kelsey Schmiade and Ryan Pernell. Ally Niece, a 2018 Simon Kenton alum and former NKU women’s basketball player, will also join the staff.
One of the first things the Lady Pioneers hope to do is take back the 32nd District. Walton-Verona has won the last four district tournament titles. Simon Kenton advanced to the 8th Region title game in 2019 but has not won a region tournament game in the last three years.
“Rivalries are great. Everyone loves rivalries – the fans, coaches and players. But at the end of the day, we have to do what we have to do to be successful. It’s been different every year. Whatever we have to do to better ourselves, better our situation during the game, make winning plays, that’s what we’re going to focus on,” Brenden Stowers said. “We’ll worry about the rivalry games and those games when they happen. We’ll scout those games and do whatever we have to do. But first and foremost, we have to take care of ourselves and get better in the offseason.”
During the season, Brenden Stowers said the focus is nothing out of the ordinary for any team. That’s daily improvement. Jeffrey Stowers used to say the team had 32 scrimmage games to prepare for the postseason.
“I’m a very competitive person and I want to win every game,” Brenden Stowers said. “But it’s not more than the girls learning. I want them to learn first and then winning comes along with that. As long as these girls are getting better individually and as a team, everything else will take care of itself.”
Official practice for the season starts Oct. 15. The first game listed on the KHSAA web site is Dec. 13 at home against Dixie Heights at 7:30 p.m.