While no Miss-Lou schools were able to bring home state basketball titles this season, one former Natchez High star won a championship in the coaching ranks in Alabama.

Reggie Ware, who graduated from Natchez in 1992, led the Midfield Lady Patriots to a state championship last week in only his third season at the helm.

“My first year coaching we went to the state finals and lost by four,” Ware said. “My second year we went to the state final four and lost by four again. This year we won.”

The 4A school, located southwest of Birmingham, finished the season 26-6, with all its losses coming to 5A and 6A schools, winning the title game with a 56-31 drubbinng of Ashford High School.

Ware said he got the opportunity to coach the varsity girls after a successful year coaching middle school.

“(These are the same) girls I had in eighth grade,” Ware said. “We won the county tournament and went 23-0. After that, I moved up with the girls. That first year I had four ninth-graders and an eighth-grader starting. We went to the state finals and lost by four points.”

In a scary situation for Alabama’s 4A girls basketball teams, the Lady Patriots will lose only one starter heading into next season’s defense of its title.

“Their mind is on that, but I tell them to just focus on their schoolwork and get their bodies back in shape — get the soreness out,” Ware said. “Then we’ll go from there.”

The former all-state player for the Bulldogs, Co-Lin hall of famer and Samford University starter said he has taken what he learned from his past head coaches in his career as a head coach.

“I just basically took things I learned through playing for Coach Mike Martin,” Ware said. “The drills and the lessons he instilled in us — I find myself doing the same drills, the same things he taught me, along with some things I learned in college. Coach (Paul) Johnson at Copiah-Lincoln taught me a lot. (Current LSU coach) John Brady taught me a lot at Samford. I drew up my own offense and defense and took the best things they gave me and try to instill those things in my players.”