Nice job bringing back 2 state trophies to the Panhandle.

Way to go, Lady Panthers!

I know this is long - but pretty neat - from www.amarillo.com

1,000 Wins - Unassuming coach takes center stage
AUSTIN - Step aside, Michael Flatley.

Joe Lombard - Lord of the dance

Canyon's impressive 59-43 victory over Kennedale on Saturday morning in the Texas Class 3A state championship game was Lombard's 1,000th victory in a career that began with the 1978-79 hoops season.

The first year set the stage for this remarkable coaching run by winning a Class B state championship with Nazareth and producing Lombard's first 36 wins.

Thirty years later, Lombard is only the fifth high school girls basketball coach in the country to reach 1,000 wins. "This is an unbelievable day.

This is perfect," Lombard said after hugging his family, including his 84-year-old mother, Dorothy, who flew to Austin from Fort Wayne, Ind.

Son and former Canyon player Tate wiped away tears.

"I am emotional," he said.

Joe Lombard graciously accepted the moment of a lifetime.

"This is a great day for my team and I'm honored to be a little part of it," he said. "It would have been nice to get 1,000 in Canyon, but you can't write a better script than this. I'm glad it happened in a championship game. It's a blessing."

He said he told his team about a month ago that the math pointed to the Class 3A championship game as the milestone game.

"When it came down to the end, when we couldn't afford to lose another game, this is just icing on the cake," he said. "This is a very special team."

Said his wife and scorebook keeper, Babs, "It was a long season but it ended like it should have."

With 1:11 to go in the championship game and the Lady Eagles on top by 18 points, Canyon fans began pulling on lime-green T-shirts imprinted: "1,000 For the Old Man."

Senior guard Brittany Hampton gave Lombard his own T-shirt that reads: "I Am the Old Man."

"Our team gets to be the big number. It's incredible," said senior Jade Tinner, who was chosen the most valuable player of the championship game.

Lombard now has 14 state girls basketball titles, eight during his 23 years at Canyon and six titles during his seven seasons at Nazareth.

Lombard has lost 92 games.

"Unbelievable," said Panhandle girls basketball coach Kurt Richardson, who attended Saturday's Canyon-Kennedale game. Lombard's former assistant led the Pantherettes to the state tournament his first year as head coach in 2007 after moving northeast from Canyon. This year's Pantherette team advanced to the Region I-3A semifinals.

Richardson has 48 wins, but he already has 19 career losses.

"I can lose only 73 more games?" Richardson said, laughing. "Whew."

The University Interscholastic League publicly honored Lombard after the game.

"As you can see by the T-shirts, this gives Joe Lombard his 1,000th victory," the public address announcer said. "From the UIL and its member schools, congratulations, Coach Lombard."

Canyon coaches were presented the game ball, which could be headed to the National High School Hall of Fame.

Lombard lost his first game at Naz, to Hartley, to open the 1978 season.

"We always have to remind him of that so he'll come on down the totem pole and back to earth," joked Roxanne (Birkenfeld) Richardson, who played on Lombard's first four teams and attended the historic game.

She said her coach "re-evaluated his whole coaching theory after that game."

"He decided he had to put his five best players on the court, no matter if they were a senior, a junior, a sophomore or a freshman. No matter who their momma was, no matter who their daddy was," she said. "Whoever produced for him would be on the court."

The strategy worked. Naz won its next 35 games on its way to the 1979 Class B state championship.

On Saturday, Canyon started a freshman at point guard, Nicole Hampton, assigned to guard Kennedale's high school All-American. Lombard was not afraid to put sophomores in the game when the outcome still was on the line.

"The girls were pumped for this game," he said. "I think they had more butterflies in the first game (a semifinals win over Navasota). Today, I think they were ready to make history."

Consider these coaching achievements by Lombard:

# No team he has coached - two boys or 30 girls - won fewer than 25 games in a season.

# His "losingest" season came in 1991-92, when the Lady Eagles lost eight games. That team won his first Class 3A championship.

# There have been 17 girls teams in UIL Texas high school history that have recorded unbeaten seasons. Lombard has coached three of those (1984 and 1985 at Nazareth and 1996 at Canyon).

# He has won titles in Class B, Class A, Class 3A and Class 4A.

# He has a 61-9 record as a boys coach, leading Nazareth to back-to-back state runner-up finishes the two seasons before moving to Canyon High.

# In his last two seasons at Naz, Lombard compiled a 129-9 record and coached in four state championship games.

# His 2002-2003 Canyon team produced two Division I players and was declared USA Today's national champions.

Lombard, who turns 55 Wednesday, shows no signs of losing his edge. His teams have won six state titles this century with a record of 283-22. That's a winning percentage just a tick above his career mark of 91.5 percent.

"For a long time, I remembered every loss. I guess I'm getting older because I don't," he said, chuckling. "But then I decided to enjoy the ride because the positives far outweigh the negatives. It's all for the glory of God."

Good news for Class 3A girls teams: Canyon will compete at the 4A level next year.

Bad news for Lady Eagles opponents: Lombard confirmed he will be back next season.

"I still have a passion for the game," he said. "It's not a job, I am doing what I really like to do."