Greene County has a new head girls’ basketball coach, and it’s Tori Ogden, a former assistant coach at the Southeast Warren (Liberty Center) school district. Ogden’s hiring was approved on Wednesday night by the Greene County School District Board of Education. She’s a graduate of Fairfield, (IA) High School, where she was a four-sport athlete (basketball, volleyball, softball, golf). Ogden told Raccoon Valley Radio she excited to be a head coach for the first time, and will also be a teacher associate in the Greene County School District. She has a degree in Athletic Training from Truman State U. (Kirksville, MO).

The coach told Raccoon Valley Radio she hopes to be instrumental in helping girls learn the sport from a young age. On the high school level, she prefers her teams play at a fast pace, and she would like to use a combination of pressure defenses.

There have been women assistant coaches over the years, but Ogden will be the first female to head the girls’ basketball program based in Jefferson. The late Dale Allensworth was the first head coach when the program began in the 1972-73 school year. Keith Vander Wilt was the first five-player coach, which began here in the 1993-94 school year.

Todd Gordon, the district’s Activities Director, took the job last summer on a one season basis. The Rams went 6-13 this season, doubling the win total from the previous season, and winning five more games than the team of two years ago.