Southside girls basketball coach moving to Boaz

Boaz High girls basketball team gets a new head coach; Southside High girls basketball head coach Justin Bowen. The actual appointment of Bowen was then approved on August 5 by the Board of Education of the Boaz City Schools. 
 
Bowen who coached the Southside’s girls basketball team for the two seasons, with a record of 48-14, reached the Northeast Regional Tournament finals two years in a row in the years 2023 and 2024. 
 
“I believe that over the last few years we have assisted in bringing a lot of life to girls basketball in the Southside community,” Bowen noted. “Our runs to the Elite 8 seeing those girls celebrate during the last two years have been two of the most memorable rewards for me being a coach but probably the most enduring benefits were the bonds created not only between me and the girls but all the kids here which is why it is difficult for me to leave: however this deal was made with a view to assisting my wife and specifically our son. 
 
The Southside girls basketball teams of 2022-23 and 2023-24 academies remain the last teams that started an area schedule without a single loss and own the school records for most points scored in a game and fewest points allowed in a game. Coach Bowen was twice the Etowah County Schools and Messenger All-City Coach of the Year and recently coached the North Team in the AHSAA North-South All-Star game played in Montgomery last month. 
 
Boaz High athletic director Josh Walker added: “Coach Bowen is a quality coach, and to be able to get him at this point in time was a godsend. ” “He is very organized, very competitive, and I think he has a good clear vision of what he thinks this program should be and could be at Boaz. I really Do think he is going To Be Great fit at this place. Yeah, He is a guy that We needed. ” 
 
In addition to his administrative duties at LASA, Bowen was the defensive coordinator for the Panther football team, which in the previous year achieved 8-3 record and captured the first region championship in nine years. 
 
“I have been super proud of what I have been able to be a part of at Southside High School for the last several years,” Bowen said. “The people of Southside have been very good to me and my family and I hope to help the kids at Boaz build the same good relationship and help put a good product on floor each year which the community will be proud of no matter talent level of the players or the background from which they come. ”