The basketball postseason for both boys' and girls' teams begins in two weeks. And though the HIES coaches may be relatively new to the school, they are both long on experience.

For the girls, Ms. Shelly Anderson is in just her second year leading the Lady Bears, but her 13th of coaching. She began her career at Westminster, then held stints at Mt. Paran and Druid Hills before coming to HIES.

Ms. Anderson says her team is in good shape going into the playoffs, as they have a shot at being seeded No. 2 in their subregion. “We have a chance of winning the rest of our games, which would put us second behind Paideia,” Anderson said. “This would mean we’d have to win only one game to advance out of the region and into state.”

Ms. Anderson knows it won’t be as easy as it sounds, though, as the game could be against Buford, a team that topped the Bears earlier this year. But she's optimistic. “We’re coming together as a team now; you always want to be gelling late in the year.”

For the boys, Mr. Mike Harner is in his first year of leading the Bears, but arrived with 14 years' experience under his belt. He was the head coach for eight years at Savannah Country Day.

Mr. Harner’s squad, currently on a two-game winning streak, should go into tournament play as one of the top three teams.

“Coming down the stretch, we’re really starting to play well,” Harner said. “We’re doing a better job of handling pressure and we’re continuing to get good balance, which is important.”

For both boys and girls, the opening round of the postseason will be at Greater Atlanta Christian; the second round is at Pace.

While both teams will have to battle on the court, we can rest assured they’ve got good leadership on the bench.