BUTLER TWP — Lydia Roth is not accustomed to the spotlight.

Basketball? Different story.

After playing soccer and basketball for First Baptist in Butler, she wound up playing basketball and softball for two years at Butler County Community College from 2016-18 before finishing her hoop career at Geneva College — small schools all the way.

Now she finds herself as head coach of the Pioneers’ women’s basketball team.

“Coaching is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Roth said. “When I was at First Baptist and Geneva, I did some coaching with youth soccer and basketball teams.

“My younger sister, Michaella, played for BC3 and told me (before the start of the 2021-22 season) Dick Hartung needed an assistant coach and asked me to call him. I wound up on the staff last year.”

Hartung retired at the end of last season and Roth stepped in — well prepared.

She is the seventh of nine children in her family. All were home-schooled. All played basketball.

“I was born into basketball,” Roth said. “Since I was 3 or so, I’ve been going to watch my siblings play. I’ve seen a lot of basketball games over the years.

“By the time I was 11 or 12, I was into analyzing the game. Playing point guard, I was always thinking about what defense we were in, the offense we were running ... much more the mental side of the game than the physical side.”

The Pioneers reached the Region XX championship game with a six-player roster last season. The bulk of that team is back and Roth is the familiar face on the coaching staff.

“We’ve had a smooth transition that way,” BC3 athletic director Rob Snyder said. “Lydia was an assistant last year and the players know her. And she knows the game inside and out.”

Roth’s assistants are Dan Odell and Butler High School boys tennis coach Conlan Walsh. The latter also played basketball at Geneva College.

Walsh applied for the head men’s basketball coaching position vacated by Hartung’s retirement. When veteran coach Joe Lewandowski got that job, Walsh wound up as an assistant on the women’s team.

“Lydia identifies with these girls. She knows how to meet them where they’re at,” Walsh said. “Coming from a small school herself, she knows where a lot of these girls have come from and what they’re all about.

“She met with each player individually before the season, talked about their goals and what they wanted out of the program.”

Roth described basketball at large public schools as “pretty intense.” She said some girls get burned out on basketball from that type of atmosphere and no longer want to put time into it once they graduate from high school.

That made recruiting this off-season a bit of a challenge — especially since she wasn’t around for most of it. Roth spent eight weeks in Kenya during the summer.

“I worked at an orphanage and did some teaching there,” Roth said. “I didn’t get back until the end of July. Before I left, the girls asked me to reserve them some open-gym time during the summer. I did that and the players showed up almost every day to shoot around or play pick-up games. I was encouraged by that.”

BC3’s roster stands at 10 players this season.

“We got some through word of mouth, players already on the team talking about it,” Roth said. “When I got back from Kenya, I looked up every senior girls basketball player from every high school within 40 minutes of here on MaxPreps. Then I found out which ones had enrolled here for the fall.

“I reached out to them and got a couiple of players that way. Emma Johns (Karns City) is one of them. Zoe Morley played at Portersville Christian and we played them when I was in school. I knew the program she was coming from.”

All 10 players on the Pioneer roster are from Butler County schools.

“She’s a great teacher and she’s able to spend mre time preparing us than Coach Hartung could, since he coached the guys, too,” Moniteau graduate and BC3 sophomore Aslyn Pry said. “Being a small-school player herself, she’s good with our players from similar backgrounds.

“We want to get back to the Region XX championship game, maybe win it this time. Coach Roth can get us there. She’s making this fun. We have more players now and we can scrimmage during practice now. That’s helped tremendously.”

Roth said she’s learned different things through paying for Hartung and two different coaches at Geneva. She said Hartung “flipped” the general coaching philosophy and she’s doing the same.

“Most coaches take the approach of having a player prove she can play, then they develop the confidence to put her on the court,” she said. “ Coach Hartung has confidence in the player and puts her out there right away, then helps the player develop confidence in herself. On our team, that’s the way it’s going to be.”

The Pioneers are off to a 2-0 start under Roth.

“These girls want to play basketball. They want to win. They want to have fun,” Walsh said. “It’s all positive.”

“This is an extra-curricular activity and it’s supposed to be fun,” Roth said. “If someone has to study for a test, she can leave practice early. Everything is relaxed. That’s the first step. Just relax and go play.”