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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 9, 2005 Crater brings back Heard Former Comet coach to guide girls basketball team on interim basis By KEVIN GOFF Mail Tribune The Crater girls basketball team was in need of a helping hand with the season fast approaching. The predicament? No coach and just a few short months to go before the upcoming campaign. To alleviate the situation the Comets have turned to former coach David Heard to guide the program on an interim basis. Heard spent eight successful seasons with the Comets, including three state runner-up finishes, before leaving in 2002. He takes over for Scott Dippel, who resigned after three seasons heading up the team to become the dean of students and athletic director at Hanby Middle School. Advertisement Crater did have a coach set to step in, but that replacement had to back out of the arrangement. "I think the circumstances and the timing of it is why I came back," Heard said. "We don’t have teaching positions to offer at this time of the year. We just felt like I was the most qualified person to do it right now." The Comets will continue searching for a permanent replacement during the season in hopes of filling the position before the start of the next school year. "This is just a one-year deal," he said. "We’re gonna throw the net pretty far (to find a coach)." During his run atop the Crater program, Heard posted 159 wins and six Southern Oregon Conference titles. The Comets went 41-1 during the regular season and recorded three straight SOC titles over his final three years. The now 38-year-old coach is pleased with how the program he helped build up was maintained under Dippel. "I know Scott did a good job," Heard said. "That’s what we’re looking for. We are trying to find qualified people, wherever they may be, to keep the program elevated. We’re close to that again right now." Heard cut most ties with coaching when he left in 2002, but did briefly coach an eighth-grade girls team and spent last year running his daughter’s third-grade team. He originally left Crater to spend more time with his family. "I’m in a different place now," Heard says. "Now my daughters are a little older and they can take more interest in it, maybe even be ball girls or something." Although he didn’t reach that level of success during his brief stint, Dippel left the program stocked full of young talent. "I know we’re big and young," Heard says of his new team. "I only saw like four or five games last year, so I’ve been picking Dippel’s brain about the league. There are a lot of new coaches and I don’t exactly know (how they game plan). "I’m excited about it." Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 or e-mail Crater brings back Heard ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Salvia Divinorum Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s