Jost accepts OF Lady ’Cats position

[KFDM COOP]

Jost accepts OF Lady ’Cats position

Gabriel Pruett

The Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD — Chris Jost is more than happy to move 400 miles away from home to start a job in Orange County. Jost recently accepted the Orangefield Lady Bobcats head basketball coach position in replacement of Sondra Ancelot.

Jost, 34, will leave being the head coach of Comanche High School and takes over a program in Orangefield already set up nicely for a successful future.

“My last few stops I have had to rebuild so it is nice to come in where the program is already established,†Jost said. “I plan on coming in and just putting my stamp on it. I know they lost some key seniors from last year but there is a good group coming back with experience.â€

So how does a coach 400 miles away become interested in a job in Orangefield?

“I saw the job posted on Texashoops.com and saw where Coach Ancelot had gone to Lamar,†Jost said. “I did a little research on the program and saw the facilities they have and the fan support. That is when I became really interested. The kids there expect to win and work hard.â€

Laura Riddick, a senior at Orangefield, was more than excited about next year and the hire of Jost.

“He seemed real nice,†Riddick said. “We were playing at the open gym and he was being shown around. I hope the transition goes real smooth and goes well. We are all looking forward to Coach Jost coming in and we know we are going to have to play real hard to keep up next season.â€

Jost was 60-39 at Comanche and reached the playoffs in all three seasons there with one trip to the regional semifinals.. He carries a 161-122 overall record and has been to the playoffs the last six years .

He also coached at VanVleck and Lytle High Schools.

The Lady Bobcats have reached the regional tournament in Huntsville the last two seasons along with District 21-3A rival West Orange-Stark.

Orangefield fell to Diboll 65-58 this past season in the regional tournament and posted a 28-8 record.

The position became open when Ancelot accepted the position of assistant head coach for the Lamar Lady Cardinals under new head coach Larry Tidwell.

Ancelot was 139-35 at Orangefield in five years with the last four marking playoff trips.

Orangefield lost a group of seven seniors last year but the cupboard is not empty.

The Lady Bobcats will return top scorer Kaylin Little and also bring back Riddick and Olivia Wagner.

“I know he did some research on the job and thinks this is one of the top jobs in the state,†Morrison said. “He is the right man for the job. We wanted someone who is going to be dedicated and be successful. We want to take this program to a new direction.â€

Jost knows even with the returning talent and a nice pool of youngsters to come in does not immediately mean success.

“I have noticed that District 21-3A the last several years is one of the toughest in the state,†Jost said. “Our style of play will resemble a lot of what Orangefield is used to in the past. We will also do a lot of full-court press on defense and look to push on offense. We want to dictate the tempo and be able to play at any speed.

“I have said that at Comanche we had decent talent but the players played so hard. At Orangefield the talent is better and the girls still play very hard. Orangefield is just a real good job and I am excited about the situation.â€

[DP#1FAN]

Now congrats coach!

[Cat22]

Looks like he has a similar philosophy as Ancelot.  Setting the tempo and playing good team defense.  Orangefield will be young, but will play hard and never quit. I'm looking forward to this season.  Welcome Coach Jost!

[PoppaBearstarr]

Good luck OF from HJ cant wait until the season starts