Lathan Russell says he doesn't think about his heart condition when he coaches the Superior High School girls basketball team.

He's not fazed by the fact he was out of coaching for 36 years before this season.

At 72, he says, he's too old to worry about any of that.

And besides, he has a state tournament to prepare for.

His Wildcats are 19-4 and prepping for their Class C-2 first-round game against Hartington Cedar Catholic at 8:45 p.m. Thursday at Lincoln High.

“I thought we had good talent here,” Russell said. “I didn't know how well they'd respond to me. It's been great. They've got a lot of pride, and they come to play.”

Russell took over as coach last September after the previous coach left the position. The man who hired Russell, Superior Superintendent Charles Isom, is his assistant.

Russell is a 1955 Superior graduate who last coached at Deshler High School in 1973. After giving up coaching, Russell spent 26 years working at Goodyear in Lincoln while living in Crete. And then he retired to Arizona.

He's undergone five heart bypasses and has had three stents implanted to keep the blood flowing. And he's been widowed twice. He moved back to Superior in 2007, he says, because he trusted the heart specialists in Lincoln more than the ones in Arizona.

And then he started attending Superior High basketball games.

Isom, the superintendent, said he and Russell talked basketball at games last season. And Russell expressed an interest in coaching again.

So when Isom needed a new coach in September, he approached Russell. Isom, who'd been out of coaching 13 years himself, agreed to serve as an assistant and fill the requirement of having a coach on the bench with a teaching certificate.

Isom handles substitutions. Russell is in charge of defense.

“We make offensive decisions together,” Russell said. “We work together. To me, that's what it's supposed to be.”

And what about the changes to the game since 1973? The 3-point line? Players who text and tweet?

Heck, when Russell last coached, his school didn't even have a girls team.

“The game has changed some,” Russell said, “but you still have to put it in the hoop and guard people. I try to keep it pretty simple.”

Most of all, he keeps it upbeat, said senior starter Sam Price.

“He brings a smile to our face every game,” she said.

Superior went 10-9 last season. But the new coaches “bring a lot more positive vibes to the team,” Price said. “They bring a lot more confidence all the way around.”

The coaches inherited some talent, along with some size. Four girls at least 6 feet tall start. Stacia Gebers, a 6-foot senior, averages a team-best 15.2 points and 9.1 rebounds. She's getting scholarship money to play next season at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Sister Haley (6-0 sophomore) also starts, along with Sarah Wood (6-1 junior), Montana Hayes (6-1 junior) and the 5-6 Price.

Wood adds 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, while Heidi Wilt (5-4 junior) hit four 3-pointers in the district final victory over David City Aquinas.

Russell got his players' attention the first week of conditioning when he mentioned the Wildcats' first opponent, Sutton — a team Superior had not defeated in years.

“I told them, ‘I want Sutton',” he said. “They bought into it and really went to work. That kind of got things going.”

Superior beat Sutton by 12 points on the road.

“That was kind of our trigger,” Price said. “Ever since then, it's like, ‘OK. We're not losing again.'”

They won seven straight games to open the season and eight straight in January and February. They beat Sutton again to win their subdistrict, then topped David City Aquinas in their district final.

And now it's on to Lincoln.

“I think we can play with people up there,” Russell said. “We don't fear anybody, but we respect everybody. I think any team in C-2 that gets a little bit hot can win it.”

This might be Price's last weekend of basketball — the senior guard is going off to Wayne State next year. But she plans to stay in touch with Russell.

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Definitely.”

Russell won't be hard to find. He sold his trailer, bought a house and is rooted in Superior now. His third wife, Sharon, was a high school sweetheart. They claim 14 children between three marriages.

“It's kept me young,” he said.

As for Russell's own plans for next season, they're up in the air. Isom says this year's coaching arrangement was a one-year agreement and that he's looking for staff members for next year.

Russell isn't worrying about it.

“If they ask me, I'd probably come back for one more year,” he said. “But I ain't going to be upset or depressed if nothing happens.

“I'm just glad I got a chance to do it this year.”

World-Herald staff writer Marjie Ducey contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

444-1201, sports@owh.com

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