South Dakota loses a trailblazing coach with the passing of Philip's Jana Jones

Over the weekend the town of Philip and surrounding communities were saddened by the sudden passing of Philip High School boys basketball coach Jana Jones, who died on New Year’s Day. She was 63. 
Jones was the first woman in South Dakota to coach boys basketball and she broke through that glass ceiling over 30 years ago when she began coaching the Midland boys team for the 1990-1991 season. 
When Jones took the head job at Midland no one in the community thought much about it. She had been a coaching fixture in the elementary grades and also coached the boys junior varsity the year prior to the 1990-1991 season. 
When coach Brad Sheehan left the Midland job, Jones with little fanfare took over the program.
“She was my coach for several years in grade school and junior high,” said Brad Hand, a former Midland player and current Philip assistant coach. “At the time none of us really thought much about it.” 
Working with the youth most of her life as a teacher, Hand said Jones was known for sticking to the fundamentals and teaching the game she loved like the daughter of a coach. Her father, Nick Feller, was a basketball coach at Wall. Jones grew up in the Wall community and played basketball from 1973-1977. She played for a year at Black Hills State in 1979.
While the Midland boys went on to enjoy state tournament success in the late 1990s, Jones helped lay the building blocks for that run of success. 
Jones led Midland to a 10-12 record in 1990-1991. The next year the team finished 19-4 then 19-2 and she wrapped up her Midland coaching career with a 78-33 record, going 17-5 in her final season.  
“My sophomore year we lost to Harding County,” Hand said. “The next year we were upset by Lyman and my senior year we got beat by Tulare.” 
The call to coach came again in 2020 when she was offered the Philip boys job. 
“She called me after she took the job,” Hand said. “Philip had gone 2-19 the year before and I told her she was a glutton for punishment.”
Hand said Jones had always liked a good challenge. The Philip job presented a number of challenges including only eight boys going out for the sport the year before she took over. 
Hand was up for the challenge.
The first year under her direction the team went 5-16. The following season the Scotties went 6-15 and last year the team was greatly improved finishing with a 15-7 record. 
“It has been a big deal the way this program has progressed,” Hand said. “The last few years we had about 13 kids out for basketball. This year we had 24-25 go out and that’s not easy considering Philip is a wrestling school.” 
Last February, Jones reached the 100-career win milestone on Feb. 5. She wasn’t aware that the 100 wins was coming up but her assistant coaches, Hand and Colt Terkildsen, presented her with a basketball to commemorate the moment. 
After the win and the ball presentation Hand talked about the moment with Ravelette Publications.
”As the head coach, I had no idea about the 100 wins coming up,” Jones said. “When coaches Brad Hand and Colt Terkildsen presented me with the basketball that had the 100 wins on it, I was shocked and grateful for these two amazing coaches and our team.”
Because of weather cancellations Philip played its first game of the season this year against Hill City on Dec. 30. Hand was one of the people that found Jones at her home and followed that up with a tough conversation with the Philip boys. 
“We told the kids on Monday so they would have some time to process it,” he said. “It was tough on them, they were solemn but they took it how I thought they would.”
The Scotties have seven games in the next 10 days and the Philip coaching staff feels like that will be good for the kids, the school and the community. 
Trendsetters and barrier breakers aren’t often forgotten and Hand said Jones leaves behind a tremendous basketball legacy. 
“She thought a lot about basketball, not wins or losses but the development of the kids,” Hand said. “She always strived for the kids to control themselves emotionally, be good teammates and be good people.” 
A memorial visitation was held Sunday at the Philip Fine Arts Building.