T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON - West Marshall head girls basketball coach Fred Zeller, center, poses with assistant coaches Linda Goecke Baker, left, and Amy Jo Wertzberger during practice on Friday in State Center. All three coaches bring unique experience to the sideline for the Trojans’ Class 3A Iowa High School Girls State Basketball tournament game against Center Point-Urbana on Tuesday.

STATE CENTER — When the West Marshall girls basketball team steps onto the court at Wells Fargo Arena on Tuesday in Des Moines for its Class 3A Iowa High School Girls State Basketball Tournament opener against Center Point-Urbana, it will be for the first time since 2012.

That doesn’t mean the Trojans don’t come in with a wealth of experience though. In fact, the man at the head of the program has more experience than anyone left coaching in the.

Fred Zeller has coached at West Marshall for 29 years, and he’s been a head coach in Iowa for 45 seasons. He coached in his 1,000th game when the Trojans beat Iowa Falls-Alden in the regional finals to earn their state qualification, and he is the winningest active girls basketball coach in the state with a 678-322 overall record.

When asked why he continues to put on his shirt and tie and manage games from the sidelines, Zeller said it’s a simple reason really.

“It’s fun,” he said during practice on Friday. “When you get to be 74-years old, you try to limit your activities to things that you want to do. It doesn’t always work out that way with family and obligations and other things but I am having as much fun as I did 30 or 40 years ago and I’m probably more fun to be around just because I’ve mellowed out a little bit, or at least the old players tell me I’m not as tough as I used to be.”

Though he’s not the young man he was when he first started coaching 45 years ago, Zeller doesn’t shy away from getting on the court and mixing it up with his players in practice. He is helped in that aspect by assistant coach Amy Jo Wertzberger, who herself has some experience playing at the state tournament.

Wertzberger was a state qualifier with Central Decatur as a freshman in 2006 and again as a senior in 2009, and she said she’s been able to help the girls prepare for what playing in The Well will be like.

“It’s just a lot brighter, it’s louder, it’s an atmosphere that you’ve been with if you’ve ever been to an Iowa State football or basketball game, but not something where you’ve been down on the floor with,” she said. “It is a different vibe when you get out there, you do get the jitters, you do get nervous, so I’ve talked with them about the more loose you can be the more relaxed and ready that you are to play. If you can soak it in but not let that distract you, the better off you’re gonna be.”

The state experience doesn’t stop with those two, as assistant coach Linda Goecke Baker hasn’t just been at Zeller’s side for a long time, she was part of the first ever West Marshall girls teams to qualify for the state tournament in 1964 and 1965. Zeller said Baker is a great tie to the past for the current girls and she can speak directly to what representing West Marshall on the state stage is like.

“Of course Linda was back in the 6-on-6 days and Amy Jo hardly even knows what that is,” Zeller said with a laugh. “Linda’s experience and memories, a lot of it was going to the state tournament in 1964 and 1965. She looks back on that as some of her best memories from high school and anything else she’s done.”

Now being a part of another trip to the state tournament, Baker said it’s almost overwhelming how proud she is of the girls and how far they’ve come.

“I love it, I love every minute of it. It’s great to be around the kids and I am glad they let me be here,” she said. “It’s fun to watch how they’ve grown, some of those kids we’ve had for four years and there’s been lots of improvements. It’s fun to see them grow.”

If it weren’t for his two assistants, Zeller said he’s not sure he’d be able to reach the girls as well.

“Having Linda with me and Amy Jo kind of keeps me level,” he said. “Amy Jo is a teacher so she’s around these kids in a different situation, but for Linda and I it’s just a fun thing to do in the winter. If we didn’t have this, I don’t know what we’d do to make these long, cold winters go a little faster. Sometimes you just do things because it’s fun and you don’t know what else to do, and as long as it’s fun and they still want me around I’ll keep doing it.”

While the coaching staff has quite a bit of experience competing at state, the girls do as well, just not in basketball. Karlyn Snider, Kayla Cripps and Renae Schaper were all part of the 2017 state softball tournament team for the Trojans, Cripps and Schaper have both been state track competitors, and Grace Girard and Avril Sinning have both run at the state cross country meet.

Schaper said because of her experiences at other state events, she finds it easier to not get overwhelmed by the moment.

“I’m not really nervous right now, all my teachers will ask, ‘are you nervous?’ And I’m just like, ‘no, not really,'” she said. “It’ll sink in eventually, especially when we get there, but even in the district final I wasn’t nervous at all. I just close it out, I don’t hear what people are saying so hopefully it’ll be the same there.”

Sinning said it also helps to have such an experienced coach like Zeller to rely on.

“Zeller has been there multiple times and he can tell us how it is and how it isn’t,” she said. “The court is longer, it’ll be a little off because of all the bleachers, so if he tells us what to do we should believe in what he says.”

The game has obviously changed quite a bit since Baker was competing on the court at the old Veterans Memorial Auditorium in the 6-on-6 tournaments, but she said a lot of the principals from her time playing transfer well to the modern game.

“You wanted to be a good shooter and if you were a forward that’s all you worked on,” she said. “In this game kids have to learn both defense and offense. It’s a lot tougher game and you have to be in a lot better shape than we were back then. It’s about the same, you still need to be skilled at shooting and make baskets.”

In Baker’s two state appearances, she said the crowds at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, or The Barn as it is lovingly referred to, easily rival those of the crowds during the current tournament, so she knows what the girls will be going through on that side of the equation.

“The first games on Tuesday and Wednesday, you always had your home crowd because the town shut down and showed up for the games,” Baker said. “It usually was pretty crowded, but then in the quarterfinals the place was packed. I don’t know the capacity, but it was full clear up to the rafters. It’s a lot different atmosphere as far as crowds because The Well doesn’t fill up as much for the first few games now, but it’s still fun to play on a big floor.”

Wertzberger said for the starters specifically it’s going to be a challenge when they step onto the court for the first time, but there are ways to combat the nerves.

“Talking to your players that are going to be on the floor, you want them to play their game, you don’t want to be so sidelined by all of the emotions and everything that they’re feeling that they walk away from the game feeling like they didn’t show up to do what they wanted to do,” she said. “It’s about objectives, these are the things that we need to do right and that’s what you need to be thinking about when you’re out on the floor.”

Since they are the No. 7 seed and are facing second-seeded and 21-2 Center Point-Urbana, Baker said the girls are looked at as the underdogs, but that’s exactly where she wants them to be.

“The kids have nothing to lose. To me, that’s the best way to play,” she said. “Imagine that the boundary around the floor is an imaginary box. You go inside there and ignore all the noise and all the hooplah that’s going on and just play ball.

“It’s a feeling you’ll never forget and nobody can take it away from you. Win or lose, you’re one of a few teams who make it to state. Just go out and be loose and do your best, that’s all they can do.”

Zeller said in all his years as a coach, there are a few stats that always rear their heads at the state tournament that you have to avoid, and the big one for his girls will be how they take care of the ball.

“The key I think down there will be turnovers,” he said. “If we can avoid the unforced turnovers or forced turnovers out of their press, maybe we’ll get hot and score 50 points. If we can hold them to 50 points I think we will be in the game.”

There’s going to be a lot of sights and sounds going on for the girls to get distracted by, so Wertzberger said it’s important to keep your focus, but also to enjoy the experience to its fullest.

“Don’t let anybody take this away from you, this is a moment that is going to be something that you will relive for the rest of your life,” she said. “Really just take it all in.”

West Marshall and Center Point-Urbana will meet in the 3A Iowa High School Girls State Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Tuesday, starting at 10 a.m.

Iowa High School Girls State Basketball Tournament

At Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines

CLASS 5A

Quarterfinals

Monday, Feb. 25

No. 1 Johnston (21-2) vs. No. 8 Urbadnae (13-9), 10 a.m.

No. 4 Iowa City High (19-2) vs. No. 5 West Des Moines Valley (17-5), 11:45 a.m.

No. 2 Waukee (18-4) vs. No. 7 Dowling Catholic (16-7), 1:30 p.m.

No. 3 Southeast Polk (19-3) vs. No. 6 Ankeny Centennial (15-7), 3:15 p.m.

CLASS 3A

Quarterfinals

Monday, Feb. 25

No. 1 North Polk (21-2) vs. No. 8 Estherville-Lincoln Central (14-10), 5 p.m.

No. 4 Crestwood (15-5) vs. No. 5 Waukon (18-3), 6:45 p.m.

No. 3 Des Moines Christian (22-2) vs. No. 6 Roland-Story (19-5), 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 26

No. 2 Center Point-Urbana vs. No. 7 West Marshall (14-7), 10 a.m.

CLASS 4A

Tuesday, Feb. 26

No. 1 Marion (21-1) vs. No. 8 Cedar Rapids Xavier (14-8), 11:45 a.m.

No. 4 Mason City (15-8) vs. No. 5 Waverly-Shell Rock (20-2), 1:30 p.m.

No. 2 North Scott (19-3) vs. No. 7 Denison-Schleswig (20-2), 3:15 p.m.

No. 3 Grinnell (19-2) vs. No. 6 Sioux City Bishop Heelan (18-5), 5 p.m.

CLASS 2A

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, Feb. 26

No. 1 Grundy Center (22-0) vs. No. 8 Unity Christian (19-5), 6:45 p.m.

No. 4 Cascade (22-1) vs. No. 5 Dike-New Hartford (20-2), 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 27

No. 2 Central Decatur (22-0) vs. No. 7 Aplington-Parkersburg (23-2), 10 a.m.

No. 3 Treynor (23-1) vs. No. 6 North Linn (21-1), 11:45 a.m.

CLASS 1A

Quarterfinals

Wednesday, Feb. 27

No. 1 Newell-Fonda (24-0) vs. No. 8 Springville (16-9), 1:30 p.m.

No. 4 Clarksville (20-2) vs. No. 5 Marquette Catholic (21-2), 3:15 p.m.

No. 2 West Hancock (23-1) vs. No. 7 North Mahaska (21-2), 5 p.m.

No. 3 Montezuma (21-2) vs. No. 6 CAM, Anita (21-2), 6:45 p.m.