Kirtland girls basketball coach Paul Force relishes new opportunity

Emerging out of the visitor’s locker room at Lakeside earlier this week, Paul Force was greeted with a handshake and a number. That number was 289. With his team’s win over the host Dragons, that was the career victory number Force had just achieved at the young-ish age of 44. “That’s a lot,” he said with a sigh. “It just means I’ve been coaching a long time and have had a lot of great players and support from a lot of great communities as well as great assistant coaches, which always helps.” Coach speak? Maybe. Truth? Absolutely. The only difference is, Force is doing it at a new school the year, having left the job he held the previous 19...