So many events have transpired since 1922, but until this year, something that hadn’t occurred was a state championship game appearance for the Edmond Memorial girls basketball team.
That all changed when head coach Dandy Peeler, a 1999 graduate of Elk City High School, helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to a championship game berth against Edmond Santa Fe and prompted The Oklahoman to name her Big All-City Coach of the Year.
“I was blessed to have seven seniors on my team and two who are going to play in college,” Peeler said. “But if they hadn’t bought into [the coaching staff’s approach] we wouldn’t be where we were.”
Peeler, a former softball and basketball player at ECHS, played collegiate softball player at Butler Community College and Southwestern Oklahoma State University and never lost her love for basketball through the years.
She seemed to sense all along she would return to coach the game.
“I just love the game of basketball. I’ve always had a passion for it. Softball was just a way to pay for my college, but I always knew I wanted to be a basketball coach,” Peeler said.
For the complete story, including quotes from Peeler's mother, Cindy, pick up a copy of Wednesday's Daily Elk Citian.