By DAVID ADAM

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

NORMAL, Ill. -- Of all the fans at Redbird Arena this weekend following the Quincy Notre Dame girls basketball team at the Class 3A state tournament, Scott Douglas and Shane Barnes certainly had a perspective of the action unlike any one else's.

Douglas and Barnes were members of the 1982 Quincy High School team that played in the Class AA state tournament, taking third place after its historic 64-game winning streak was snapped in Champaign.

Douglas and Barnes both have been coaches on teams in a state tournament as well. Douglas guided the QND boys team to third-place finishes in the 1999 and 2004 Class A tournaments and has been the Raiders' coach since 1996. Barnes no longer coaches and now works for the Quincy School District as director of transportation, but he was an assistant on the 1990 Quincy High School team that placed fourth in the Class AA tournament during Jerry Leggett's last season as coach.

For the past two days, they had the chance to experience the Lady Raiders' fourth-place finish at the state tournament as a parent. Barnes' daughter, Chloe, is a junior starter on the team and recently was named to the AP All-State Class 3A first-team. Douglas' daughter, Gabrielle, is a junior reserve.

For Douglas, the chance to experience another trip to the state tournament in a new capacity is one he relished.

"My other experiences as a player and as a coach give you a level of hope that anybody who participates from your family also will have that ultimate opportunity," he said. "It's just such an amazing experience.

"It is significantly different as a player, because it's an excitable time. As a coach, it's the same, but add in the strains and stresses of all the planning and preparation and what it took to get there.

"As a parent, it's just all those things rolled up into one."

Barnes said playing in the state tournament was the best experience because "you're active, you're doing something. You don't sit there and stew about it like you do as a parent. But still, it's fun to see Chloe get the opportunity to play where she's always dreamed of playing."

Both men tend to watch games differently.

On Friday, Douglas was proudly walking around Redbird Arena, capturing the moments on video, when not watching the game. Barnes was in the front row of the QND cheering section, rocking in his seat. That was in stark contrast to the Lady Raiders' super-sectional game at Jacksonville.

"I think I was in the balcony behind our fans in the first quarter, in the balcony behind their fans in the second quarter, and I paced the floor for the third and fourth quarters," Barnes admitted.

Douglas tries to watch quietly, though he has to help keep an eye on his 2-year-old son, Zane -- a task that typically falls on the shoulders of his wife, Amy, during boys games.

"It depends on if he has to go to the bathroom or not," he said. "I think Amy realizes how I kind of get caught up in everything, but I do try to take my share or at least trying to help him find a candy bar or something like that. But during the game, most everybody leaves me alone."

Douglas and Barnes also have different styles when it comes to being a coach off the floor for their children. Douglas says he rarely brings up the game with Gabrielle.

"We don't really talk anything about what she's doing. That's not, in my opinion, my place," he said. "If she asked, I'd certainly tell her, but she's got capable coaches who tell her what to do."

"Usually, he'll say, 'How was practice?' And I'll say, 'OK,'" said Gabrielle. "And then it's, 'What's for dinner?' There's just not much basketball talk at home."

On the other hand, Barnes took his daughter to a local school for individual workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday last week on top of the team's daily practices. They spoke by phone after Thursday night's shootaround in Normal and about an hour before Friday afternoon's game.

"He's certainly the toughest critic I'll ever have in my life," Chloe said with a grin. "I mean, I really respect Coach (Eric) Orne, but Dad knows what I need to do. I like to call him before a game because he helps me get focused. He used to come to me, but now I come to him."

"I try to keep it simple. I don't want to make her overthink things," said Barnes. "I really don't get to relax until after the game ... and the post-game father-daughter talk is over."

Both parents had post-game father-daughter talks on Saturday after a disappointing 50-35 loss to Lombard Montini in the third-place game. This time, the message was the same.

"Every time, Dad says, 'Did you always think you could?'" said Chloe. "We'll always be close."

"Dad's always there when I need help," said Gabrielle. "And today, he was there for me with a hug after the game was over."

-- dadam@whig.com/221-3376