Girls basketball: Woodstock North names Jay Justice as varsity head coach

Woodstock North announced Wednesday that it hired Jay Justice as its next varsity girls basketball head coach.

Justice has coached at North’s crosstown rival, Woodstock, for the past nine years and officially was approved as the Thunder’s next head coach at the Woodstock School District 200 Board meeting Tuesday.

Justice most recently was the JV boys coach at Woodstock under former varsity coach Al Baker. Justice also was hired as a physical education teacher at Olson Elementary School in Woodstock.

With the hire, Justice becomes only the second varsity girls basketball head coach in school history.

Mike Lewis, North’s only head girls basketball coach since the school opened in 2008, resigned at the end of last season. He led the Thunder to a 160-197 record over 13 seasons, including a program-best 21-10 mark in 2020.

The Thunder won their second Kishwaukee River Conference title last season and first outright, finishing 19-8 overall and 9-1 in the conference. North shared the KRC title with Marengo two years ago.

“We’re excited to welcome Coach Justice to Thunder Nation and are looking forward to the future of what’s become a very successful program,” North athletic director Dave Rose said in a press release. “We appreciate both his ability to connect with young players and his basketball knowledge.”

Justice said that he learned a lot from Baker and other assistants at Woodstock, appreciates the work that Lewis has done with the Thunder program and is grateful for the opportunity to become the next girl basketball head coach at North.

“I am thrilled to be taking over as the head girls coach at Woodstock North,” Justice said. “I can’t wait to meet the girls, build those relationships and get to work this summer. The first thing that matters is building relationships and trust. From there, we will really focus on developing skills and assess next steps based on our areas of strength.”