Salem boss guides Lady Greyhounds to crown after near-misses

There wasn’t a specific moment or period that ultimately served as a springboard to Salem’s run toward a state title this past season.

For a change, there was a sense of normalcy surrounding Lady Greyhounds’ basketball, and it was gladly welcomed according to head coach Josh Bateman.

In his first year at the helm, the Marmaduke native led Salem to the 2021 Class 2A final where they loss to eventual fourtime champion Melbourne and had his team on track to get back the following season until misfortune struck.

“I’d lost three of my top seven players, but had a lot coming back from that previous year,” Bateman explained. “Then I lost Jaycie Strong to an injury, and that really hurt. By the time we got to the state tournament, I was just like, ‘Man, I’ve lost four girls from that team’. I would’ve loved to have gone in at full strength, but it just wasn’t in the cards.”

The Lady Greyhounds still reached the semifinals that same season, but they one-upped that finish during the 2022-23 campaign when they made the move to Class 3A and knocked off reigning runner-up Lamar in the championship game.

“It was huge, really huge,” said Bateman, who’s the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Girls Coach of the Year. “We’ve been so close and had been knocking on the door, but we felt like we’d just been having some bad luck. It felt really good to finally break through and get one. People don’t realize how much work goes into it.

“The girls had worked and worked and worked, and they got rewarded for it.”

The process may have been just as rewarding as title.

Bateman spent seven seasons leading the boys’ program at Tuckerman before taking over at Salem in 2020, but he mentioned that he enjoyed the fact that his group didn’t have to endure the kind of turmoil this year as they did in the past. That doesn’t mean the Lady Greyhounds didn’t go through a rough patch or two.

“Around Christmas, Farmington thumped us,” he explained. “It turned out worse than what it really was because I kind of mailed it in during the third quarter, but we weren’t playing well together. We were just going through that lull of it being Christmas time. Now, if you would’ve told me at that time that we were going to win it, I would’ve said no.

“But that was kind of it as far as adversity goes. It wasn’t as hard as some of the other years. Every year you’re going to hit some kind of adversity, big or small, but I thought we handled it well.”

The proof in that notion was solidified earlier this month when Salem pulled away to capture its first state championship and finish 30-4. The Lady Greyhounds have some key pieces returning next season as well, and Bateman is hoping they can defend their crown without any unfortunate setbacks.

“That’s the plan,” he said. “I’m excited about it. We’ll get back from spring break, get back to work to see what we can do.”