Josh Sherer prefers his team to play the role of the underdog.

But after the Lamar School Lady Raiders capped off their most successful season in school history in 2017-18, Sherer knew it would be a difficult sell to his players.

He still found a way to use the role to his team’s advantage.

Lamar suffered a loss to Simpson Academy in the MAIS Class AAAA, Division II championship, and Sherer used the defeat as motivation as the team prepared for its run in the Overall tournament, in which the top three teams from each MAIS classification meet to determine state supremacy in the entire private-school league.

It worked.

Lamar beat Leake Academy in March to win the program’s first Overall tournament championship. After such a successful season, Sherer was named Premier Preps Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.

“It’s more humbling than anything else because I think more so than just pointing to Josh Sherer or whatever title, honestly, it’s a testimony of two things,” Sherer said. “It’s a testimony of Jesus Christ and His ability to work through people to accomplish his goals and tasks with the ultimate goal to get His name, and what Christ can do for people, out in the public more and more. Secondly, I was along for the ride. I had a phenomenal group of girls that obviously set me up for success this year.”

In two years, Sherer has helped the Lady Raiders ascend to the top of the MAIS. This season, Lamar went 22-8 on its way to its four-point win in the Overall championship. Sherer, who will coach at Presbyterian Christian School next season, compiled a 60-13 record at Lamar.

Entering the season, Sherer knew his Lady Raiders team would be the target of opponents after a successful season in 2017-18.  

“We had high expectations coming in because I didn’t lose any seniors from the year before,” Sherer said. “Probably, higher expectations than I wanted. I like to kind of play the underdog. I don’t want to start on top. In fact, I couldn’t care less if people acknowledge us… Everybody knew that wasn’t the case this year. We had a little different approach going from completely unexpected to being expected, and having that same group.”

Lamar handled the expectations well enough to land a berth in the MAIS Class AAAA, Division II championship game. Simpson Academy handed the Lady Raiders a six-point loss, but as they headed into the Overall tournament, Sherer seized the opportunity to use the defeat as motivation.

Lamar won four consecutive games in six days to win the Overall championship.

“It fueled us that last week of Overall,” Sherer said. “You hear about people, and you read about coaches as a leader, and you’re just always reading information about people who have overcome. And the fact that they probably would not have had the stories and testimonies in their lives had they not walked through difficult moments. And although this is nothing compared to people who have had tragedy, us losing that state championship, we allowed it to propel us that last week.”