Gazette winter coach of the year: Career clarity, new offense helps Andrew Booth lead Wadsworth to state semis

Andrew Booth is a man who always has a sense of control. The 59-year-old's cool confidence has been the hallmark of the Wadsworth girls basketball program for two decades now, and well-timed sarcasm that is sometimes self-deprecating also keeps the vibe light.Uncertainty due to looming retirement last season put Booth in an unfamiliar position. The farm-boy-at-heart hailing from Lucas wanted to continue coaching and even considered a path as a college assistant, but the terms would have to be his own. After long discussions with the district, Booth eventually remained as a special education teacher at Wadsworth High as a retire-rehire, a move that often saves districts money. Being in the building as a coach is non-negotiable in Booth's eyes, so that was the last piece of the puzzle he needed.There were many others, of course, chief among them an incredibly hard-working and passionate group of players who also are, by far, the most charismatic he's ever coached.Another chance to coach with Mark Postak, Mike Schmeltzer Sr. and Mike Schmeltzer Jr. was a big factor, too — they're best friends off the court as well — and the opportunity to watch his son, Alec Booth, and former Wadsworth guards Molly Palecek and Sophia Fortner grow as assistant coaches was another clear selling point.With fun returning as the primary focus after a handful of seasons of being very good but not elite, Booth and the Grizzlies re-staked their claim as one of Ohio's best by reaching the Division I state semifinals. Already the Suburban League National Conference, Northeast Inland District and Ohio D-I Coach of the Year, Booth is now Gazette Winter Coach of the Year for the first time since winning the 2016 D-I state championship. "Once we got into (last) season, with the way things turned out and the makeup of the team, my mindset changed," he said. "I never, ever thought 'This is my last year,' but I was going to have as much fun as I could."It was amazing what that did to make things more enjoyable and relaxed. The group of kids that we had played into that. They still are, but last year's group was such a cool group to work with and to be around. Outside of basketball, the amount of fun we actually did have, personally I had fun, too."Despite winning the 2020-21 SL National championship, Wadsworth had been stuck in a rut offensively against the best competition from 2019-24. The Grizzlies became a bit robotic, averaging between 44 and 48 points — a far cry from the low 60s and high 50s of a decade ago — yet were still elite enough defensively to generally finish second in the league and challenge for a district title.That wasn't good enough in Booth's highly competitive mind, and he clearly was not resistant to change after ditching the relentless pressing and 3-point shooting of his early Wadsworth career in favor of a smashmouth style benefitting Jodi Johnson, Fortner, Peyton Banks and Co. in 2016. So, he went to the lab and came up with a new formula.The timing was ripe again with dynamic athlete Lauren Decker, hyper-aggressive twins Natalie and Julia Maddox, multi-faceted Natalie Moser and sneaky-clutch shooter Marah Minor showing potential as a core offensive group in 2024-25 that could do more damage with an all-for-one approach in 2025-26. That was going to be a challenge for Booth, who had become as set-heavy as anyone over the last decade, but he was ready.Booth listened to new ideas from his son, who joined the coaching and teaching staffs after a year as freshman coach at Hoover, while Fortner and Palecek became intrigued with a five-out offense popularized in the NBA by Atlanta Hawks coach Quinn Snyder. The Grizzlies implemented "White" last season — "white" has five letters, indicating five-out — but fully committed to it during the summer and never looked back."The spacing was the big thing," Booth said. "We had to spread the floor and use our speed and quickness. That was the genesis of it, that two summers ago we couldn't stick anyone in the post and be successful."What it evolved into this year was us running it as our base setup. It's like dribble-drive without that dunker spot, and there's no traffic down there. We call it two-clap decision, meaning you have a half-second to make a decision to pass, drive or shoot. Once you move it, you've got to cut as hard as you can. If you can take those gaps and get into the paint, you draw (defensive) help and kick out."The result was basketball poetry, as instead of calling "Chin," "Blue," "Toledo," "Virginia" or "Duke" — sometimes after multiple resets on the same possession — Booth simply yelled "Move the ball!" Wadsworth's scoring average skyrocketed to the mid 50s, allowing it to bury Hudson and Brecksville in key early games that set the tone for the rest of the season.The X-factor was Minor, who operated between the elbow and 3-point arc opposite the ball to draw opposing centers away from the rim. That freed the high-flying Decker, the rim-attacking Maddox twins and mid-range maestro Moser to create down the sides of the paint yet maintain flexibility for corner 3-pointers. That made long-range specialist Analise Lucey deadly off the bench, allowed defensive queen Leah Blake to contribute and created opportunities for backup posts Tenley Mendel and LyndiGray Tetzel to score after a hard cut.The statistics were incredibly efficient, as Wadsworth shot .432 from the floor, .323 from 3-point range and .667 from the foul line. As a contrast to prove how those numbers are considered excellent in the girls game, they were a remarkable improvement from .343, .243 and .540 only two seasons ago and better from the field than 2016 (.406, .293, .745)."The kids really knew what to expect and exploited it a lot better," Booth said. "In the summer, they really worked on the shots we were going to get out of it: stand-still threes and moves to finish in the paint. We tell the kids, 'We love layups, and we really like open threes.' Those are the two shots we try to get. The kids put in the time to work on those."Wadsworth started the season fast, never really slowed down and became a legitimate regional contender after smacking Strongsville 75-59 and surviving Padua Franciscan 58-57 over Christmas break.There were hiccups where old, passive habits led to a frustrating 37-27 loss on a snowy night at Twinsburg and a bizarre defensive letdown in a 56-47 game at Brecksville, but the Grizzlies quickly regrouped with a high-quality slugfest victory at Hudson and eventually captured the SL National outright.That turned out to a bigger deal than just winning the first SL National crown in five years, as the circuit produced five regional qualifiers and three finalists out of eight schools. The wars set the tone for easy district wins over Euclid and Perrysburg, putting Wadsworth into a favorable regional draw at Barberton.Moser then starred in a 44-33 win over Massillon Jackson, and Decker took over in an impressive 64-55 win that snapped Mentor's 23-game winning streak. The Grizzlies were heading to Dayton after being the only team in Ohio with the guts to accept a relatively new OHSAA bylaw that allows schools to bump up to D-I if they so choose.While Wadsworth faded in the second half of a competitive 53-43 loss to Cincinnati Princeton in the state semifinals, the Grizzlies were more than content with a memorable journey full of fun."I called these seniors in and showed them both scenarios (D-I or D-II) and what I thought were pros and cons. They were on board," Booth said. "I was leaning the D-I route, but if they had said they didn't want to do it, we would have stayed D-II. They agreed with what I was thinking."I guess I don't know what public perception was. It really doesn't matter, but we did make it. We were the only team to opt up in the entire state, and that was pretty satisfying. We punched above our weight and chose to do so. Getting down to that final four was such an incredible achievement for these kids."Just two years removed from the only true uncertain time of a decorated career that has led to a 418-116 record at Wadsworth and 516-174 overall, including Mansfield Madison, Booth is completely rejuvenated. The Maddox twins, Moser, Lucey, Blake, Tetzel and Mendel will return in 2026-27, and multiple players from a talented eighth-grade class led by Callie Echols, the daughter of 1997 state championship hero Jenny Martin, should keep the flame burning.Coaching is truly fun again for Booth. To him, there's no sweeter feeling than that."There's no doubt I'm loving it," he said. "I've had a ton of fun. Last year was the main reason, but that's not to shortchange my group in my classroom. I had a group of 10 kids and felt a deep sense of choosing them. Coming back this year, I have not had one reason to regret that decision at all."I know I like to joke about golfing, but I'm too old to golf every day. It wouldn't be as satisfying, for sure. Coaching, when you look back on it, it's about the memories. I think back when I played, these kids get four years. As a coach, you get as many years as you want to do it. With the memories we got out of this year, who knows? I always say 'Maybe in a couple years,' but then you look down the road at the kids coming. At this point, it's more open-ended than it was a couple years ago, let's put it that way."Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.