New coach leads young Iron Horse team with optimism

Philip Simmons High School girls’ basketball coach Allen Gethers could take the easy way out and say the future is next year.

 

After all, the 2024-25 edition of the Iron Horse team includes only two players with varsity experience.

 

Gethers, who is in his first year at the school after an impressive stint at Timberland, still insists the future is now despite the team’s record, which includes one victory in seven games as of Dec. 19.

 

“Right now, I’m enjoying myself,” Gethers said. “We have a very young team. But I get to see them grow individually and as a team every day, and I enjoy that.

 

“They don’t quit,” he continued. “They play hard every day, every time they step out on the court. They are getting ready to take that next step. This is a good group.”

 

That approach to hoops helped Gethers handle a tough start when he returned to his old high school to coach basketball at Timberland after graduating from South Carolina State University. He arrived back on campus first as an assistant until becoming the main man.

 

Gethers owned a 77-94 record as head coach of the Wolves. The team struggled in his first two seasons, combining for a 14-26 record.

 

Timberland won back-to-back region championships during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons before going 11-11 last winter, his final season at Timberland. 

 

Gethers inherits a program that quickly developed into a winner under Dustin Williams, who attended SCSU while Gethers was on campus. The two became friends. 

 

Williams’ Iron Horses were 5-10 in their first season but posted a 16-9 record the next season, winning their first playoff game. 

 

Williams was 95-50 with three region championships when he stepped down at the end of last season, ending his time as the only girls’ basketball coach in the school’s history. 

 

This season, most of the players are getting a good amount of playing time, with nine of the 11 on the roster averaging at least 10 minutes of action. 

 

Junior Germany Moore is the headliner on this team, which should get better every time she steps out on the court. She is just shy of averaging a double-double with 10.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game heading into this week’s action. She’s impressive on defense with 1.8 steals per outing.

 

Sophomore Harper Cohen has the discipline to be the point guard; she was a member of the state championship team, which also included her sister Ansley and was coached by their father, Steve.

 

She’s third in scoring with 4.4 points and leads with 1.8 assists per game. She has connected on 88 percent of her free throws. 

 

Junior Kenira Holmes is second on the team in scoring with 5.2 points per game while teaming up with Moore for some impressive board work.