Girls basketball: Sarah Pastuschyn returns to coach at Memphis

Sarah Pastuschyn is at home on the basketball court.

The new Memphis High School girls basketball coach was a star point guard in high school and college before coaching the Memphis junior varsity team from 2003-07.

Now in her second stint at Memphis, Pastuschyn hopes to help turn around the program.

"I'm different now," Pastuschyn said regarding her coaching style. "I learned from my experience with the JV team. It takes a while to get that coaching sense. It's a difficult transition going from playing to coaching."

After picking up the much needed experience, Pastuschyn knew exactly what type of team she wanted to have when she took the varsity job.

"I'd like to have the type of team that has a quick-hitting offensive philosophy," Pastuschyn said. "Where they score and we score twice. But we have to work with the basic skills we have.

"Between the JV and varsity, half of the squad is in their first year ever playing or their first year back. I don't know why they decided to come out, but I'm glad they did. We have some young girls to work with."

Pastuschyn is originally from Arnold, a city in the Upper Peninsula. After graduating from Gwinn High School, she went on to play for Division II Lakeland College in Wisconsin, before joining Memphis as its girls junior varsity basketball coach in 2003.

After four years at the helm, Pastuschyn stepped down to raise her family. But two children later, she was itching to get back onto the court.

She returns with the program far different than it was before. Instead of having several experienced players, Kristie Gaedcke is the lone senior in the program.

As one of the leaders of the team, Gaedcke said she has been happy with the development of the team under Pastuschyn.

"Things are going good," Gaedcke said. "She is keeping our conditioning up and pushing us a lot harder than previous coaches. It's a good change.

"She has us going on a good road. If she keeps pushing us, we will do a lot better toward the end of the season."

But first, the Yellowjackets will have to learn the basics.

"We have been teaching the basics such as triple-threat (position), ball screens and so forth," Pastuschyn said.

"We try to implement more in practice. Every drill we run through, we do it fast. We don't stand still in practice unless we are doing half-court offense or defense."

The Yellowjackets (2-5) are currently 2-3 in North Central Thumb League play and will return to action Jan. 3 at Dryden.

Source: http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20111228/SPORTS/112280313/1006/RSS02

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