New coach helps team find unity

     By W.G. Ramirez
     View staff writer
      Confidence, pride and a bit of flash are traits that can create quite an attitude.
      For Brad Query, first-year boys basketball coach at Clark High School, they're qualities that have established a winning attitude.
      "We knew things would be different this year under coach Query," said Kevin Gaines, the Chargers top player. "We knew we'd have to come in and work hard. He's a strong coach. He wants something done, it's going to get done. He's made me much stronger, I know that much."
      Query, whose talented roster consists of seven seniors and eight juniors, replaced Gordon Jennings this season and has brought a new flavor to Clark's sidelines.
      It may have been just the spice Clark's recipe called for, as the Chargers exited a pair of holiday tournaments labeled as one of the teams to watch heading into Sunset Division play.
      "I wish we had a little more size and depth, but I think we can play with anybody in the city," Query said. "We think we could get into the postseason. Our goal is to get in zone. You win one game at zone and you go to state. We'll be disappointed if that doesn't happen. We think it's feasible."
      Said Gaines: "He has made the team better, there is unity. We don't really have a big team, but by playing together, we look like we have a good team."
      Clark had a good team last season, but became a disappointment when it failed to make the zone playoffs.
      With Query at the helm, the Chargers are not only ready to vie for the playoffs, they plan on contending for the Sunset Division title.
      Unlike most of his colleagues throughout the Southern Conference though, the fiery young coach brings a different style to the sidelines, one that blends well with his players' personalities.
      In fact, at any moment during a game, Query may sound more like a member of the team rather than a coach with barks like: "Lock 'em up baby, lock 'em up, let's do this," with a bit of hip-hop flavor. When a referee's call or a designed play goes his way, one might hear, "Yeah, you like that baby, don't ya? That's old school."
      "I think it helps me," Query said of his brand of coaching. "But that's just me. I feel like that's my flavor, you know, we are who we are."
      And when he is working the referees, Query displays his street-wise charm to smooth things over with the men in stripes with quick retorts like: "I'm not talking to you baby, c'mon, I was talking to my assistant."
      Query will even joke with his counterpart on the other bench, giving the opposing coach credit for a "nice call," or a "sweet play coach," but usually reminds them that "I saw it comin' coach, I saw it comin.' "
      Query said he probably has his critics, including those who may say he is cocky and arrogant. But on the court, he said, it's more of a level of confidence he wants his players to portray.
      "As long as it's all positive," he said. "It's fun, I mean we're serious, but the kids love playing and we love coaching. It's just all fun."
      Off the court, Query transforms into a family man. Married 14 years to his wife Ginny, Query takes pride in hearing his 8-year-old daughter, Bianca, and 1-year-old daughter, Basia, talk to him during games. But once he is finished shaking hands and holding a postgame meeting, it's his two daughters he looks for with open arms.
      Clark Principal Wayne Tanaka said he couldn't be more pleased with the person -- not the coach -- in charge of the Chargers.
      "When you can get your family to support the hours a good head coach has to put in, that's a healthy relationship. He really has that nailed," Tanaka said. "We felt he was ready and was a good man to take that position."
      Tanaka said when he first hired Query three years ago, he saw him eventually taking over the program when the opportunity arose.
      So when Jennings bolted for a college teaching job in Utah, there was no question as to who would take over.
      "There's a difference between liking the coach and having an affection for the coach," Tanaka said. "I think these kids have an affection for coach Query. He really is a good man."
      Sketchy might be one way to describe Query's road to high-school teaching and coaching, while another would be to call him a man with two degrees -- one from college and another in hard knocks.
      After growing up in the troubled area of 28th Street, Query moved into the Southeast area just before his freshman year and attended Chaparral High School.
      Query moved to Bagdad, Ariz., as a junior and stayed for his senior year. Upon returning to Southern Nevada one-half credit short of graduating, Query got his diploma from Sunset High in 1982.
      "When I went away I started getting my act together," said Query, now a Green Valley resident. "It was good for me to go to a smaller town and get away from here."
      After graduating, Query enlisted in the Army and served through 1986, when he enrolled at the Community College of Southern Nevada. Two years later he began taking classes at UNLV, and in December 1990, Query received his degree.
      Now in his ninth year with the Clark County School District, the 35-year-old said he is content at one of the oldest schools in the valley.
      "I love where I'm at," he said. "I love the kids at Clark and I like dealing with them. They're tough kids, they're smart kids and overall they're good kids."