By Brady Extin | The Times-Post
LAPEL — A six-season stretch that included some of the most successful seasons in school history is coming to an end for Lapel’s Zach Newby, who has stepped down as the school’s girls basketball coach.
Newby steps away after having brought unprecedented success to the program.
In his six seasons at the helm, the Bulldogs were 105-47 and had five winning seasons.
His teams posted 16-8, 17-7, 10-11 and 17-8 records in his first four campaigns, but that success really reached its peak over the past two seasons.
In 2023, he led the Lapel girls to their first semistate title and the school’s first state championship appearance in the sport.
In 2024, the team lost just five games and returned to the semistate.
During the last two years, the Bulldogs had a 45-13 record.
In both 2023 and 2024, the Bulldogs captured Madison County, sectional and regional titles. The county titles were the first since 2008, and the sectional and regional crowns were the program’s first since 2007.
Following the 2023 season, Newby was named the 2023 Bob King District 2 Coach of the Year by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. He coached the Indiana Junior All-Star team that season.
With the program reaching new heights, Newby’s resignation stems from wanting to spend more time with his family, and not having enough time to devote to the program to keep it at the high level he’s helped get it to.
A 2006 graduate of Lapel, Newby was a four-year member of the basketball program and played for coaches Derek Shelton, Tim Hillenbrand and Jimmie Howell.
He then attended Ball State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in education in 2010.
Newby returned to Lapel, serving as an assistant coach in Howell’s boys program for three seasons, in Kevin Brattain’s girls program for four seasons, and back in Howell’s boys program for one more season before becoming the girls head coach in spring 2018.
Along with teaching at the school, Newby serves as the assistant athletic director.
The head coaching position will be posted immediately, and Newby will have input in choosing his successor.
