TOUGH YEARS
Alexander Central High’s girls went 2-23 this season in one of their toughest years, beating St. Stephens 45-34 on Dec. 27 in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Classic and the Indians again, 48-34, on Feb. 1 in Taylorsville.
A look at the five seasons in which the Cougars posted their fewest wins since 1984-85:
Year Record
2008-09 0-24
1993-94 1-23
1998-99 1-23
2005-06 1-23
1985-86 1-22
1984-85 1-20
1987-88 2-22
1997-98 2-23
2018-19 2-23
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files.
HobbsDailyReport.com
TAYLORSVILLE – Jonathan Winkler resigned Friday after two seasons as head girls’ basketball coach at Alexander Central, the school’s athletic department said in a press release.
Winkler guided the Cougars to a record of 6-43 that includes his team going 2-23 overall and 1-13 and finishing in last place this season in the Northwestern 3A-4A.
WINKLER
“I would like to publically thank Jonathan Winkler for serving as our head … coach for the past two seasons,” Alexander Central athletic director Nathan Robinson said in the release. “I would like to also thank him for his dedication and leadership to our athletic department here at Alexander Central.”
Robinson said the search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
Winkler will remain on staff as a physical education teacher at Alexander Central and will continue as a football assistant coach and head track and field coach, the press release said.
The Cougars will hire their 13th head girls’ basketball coach dating back to 1984-85 and their ninth since the 2001-02 season.
Alexander Central was 4-20 overall and was seventh (2-12) in the Northwestern 3A-4A in Winkler’s first season after he replaced Jacob Lail.
Lail coached the Cougars for one season after replacing Brad Mangum, who left after three seasons.
Mangum’s teams went 70-17 and won two North Piedmont 3A-4A regular season titles, going 14-0 in the league in 2013-14 and 2015-16. He resigned and joined the coaching staff at Lenoir-Rhyne University and just completed his second season as girls’ head coach at West Caldwell.
Alexander Central’s up-and-down history in girls’ basketball ranges from records of 1-20 and 1-22 in 1984-85 and 1985-86 to its only West Regional appearance in 2011-12 and a 28-2 record in 2013-14.
The Cougars have missed the state playoffs two years in a row after making them six straight years, starting in 2011-12, and going 132-41 in those six seasons.
Before that, Alexander Central had one postseason team over a 27-year stretch, a 13-13 team coached by Ronald Hargrave in 1990-91.
The Cougars have seven winning seasons, one .500 record and 27 losing seasons in the last 35 years.
