WOLFFORTH – Paul Page wanted a challenge.
After winning seven district championships and reaching the regional quarter-finals five times with Seminole, he was ready to take the leap into the classification. At this point in 2014, Frenship was reclassified to Class 6A.
“Just something fascinating about the climb, but also a great opportunity to attend a great school and help transition to 6A was something I was looking forward to,” said Page.
The challenge paid off, and seven years later he led Frenship to his very first county championship at the state’s highest prep. Under the guidance of Page, the Tigers also had their first regional class 6A quarter-finals last season.
The trip was one building block at a time, but it’s worth it and Page was named Lone Star Varsity Coach of the Year.
“If you go to a new place with the Ascension in Classifications, you know it will be a challenge,” he said, “but you didn’t know what the challenges were until you really got into them. It was definitely a process. “
There is a lot of discussion about how players grow over the course of their careers, but the same goes for coaches. The move to a higher classification required some adjustments for Paul, who has a defensive first attitude. Not only did he need time to grow as a coach, but time to develop the players he wanted in his program.
Continuity was key in this regard.
“You can build vertically from your middle school and what I recall, build and be able to invest in these kids since they were in seventh, eighth and ninth grades,” said Page. “Then by the time they’re in high school, that’s exactly the relationship piece that has already been established. They strive to play for you and do what the tigers do. We have therefore managed to achieve this continuity from year to year. “
There have been more ups and downs over the years than Page can count, but last season was in some ways comforting for the Tigers’ mentor. He brought his team to the regional quarter-finals for the first time in class 6A.
Page had a good number of players this season and knew the 2020-21 season could be special.
Frenship not only brought back players like Devin Hartfield, Jeb Smallwood and Tracy Godfrey as well as the second Tate Beeles into the university roster, but also a highly regarded junior guard in Tajavis Miller moved in from California.
Page believes the balance between post and guard play made the Tigers most effective.
“You really couldn’t take anything away and if you did we could rely on our defenses,” he said. “That was another strength for us. Not only did we have a good guard game and a good heart, but we would just come up to you and continue to attack you defensively.”
All of this culminated in Frenship winning his first District 2-6A championship 12-0. The Tigers knew what they would get from an opponent like Permian, but they had to learn from Abilene High and San Angelo Central, both of whom had joined the district that season.
Frenship made it back to the regional quarterfinals this year but fell to El Paso Americas (48-41). After Page achieves another achievement in Grade 6A, he will help his team learn how to deal with a new role as the team to be defeated.
It’s another challenge that Page is happy to take on.
“That will be a different dynamic for us as we get closer to our season and our district. Now we are going to be the team that people want to tap and be overly prepared for, but that comes with it,” he said. “You worked to be this team so you deserve to be this team and now you have the opportunity to continue to be that team. We will do that. “
Comments are closed.