January has been a good month for us. Heck, December was a good month too! With our win last night at 4A powerhouse Elkhart Memorial, we have now notched 13 consecutive wins, running our record to 17-2 for the season. We finish the regular season tomorrow night at Prairie Heights. We are playing very good basketball right now, and the thing that excites me the most is that we are still getting better! Our defensive effort last night was top-notch. In fact, I think last night was the first time all season that the win was keyed by our defense and not our ability to score points.
Understandably, we rely heavily on our scoring ability. Averaging over 81 points per game - which if the season ended today would be the all-time IHSAA record for girls - gives us a certain comfort level. But when we are able to lock up on defense, our team reaches a new level of strength and competitiveness. Such was the case last night. Memorial has two star-caliber players in their lineup and we held both of them in check for most of the night. It was a terrific team effort that began with some awesome individual efforts. I was very proud of the girls and encouraged by their willingness to do the dirty work that good defense requires.
The sectional draw is Sunday night, so we will know better the path that we will need to take to achieve our ultimate goal - a state championship. We are playing hard and playing together and the results bear out the significance of that fact. Five weeks from tomorrow is the state championship game in Terre Haute. We are not looking past any one game. All I am saying is that we plan to be there. And we plan to win.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tough Stretch
As the cold snow blows outside, it is a reminder that we are headed into one last mad dash to the end of the regular season. We've been fortunate to this point; the girls have posted a good record and continue to improve, injuries and illnesses have been minimal, and our future continues to look bright. But we will be tested in the next nine days.
We will board the bus tomorrow - weather permitting - and head west to the Culver Academy to play in their invitational tournament. Games on Friday and Saturday against relatively unfamiliar opponents will give us a mild taste of what our regional will be like. Next week we host Whitko for our Senior Night, then hit the road for a long drive to Elkhart to play one of the top teams in the state, Elkhart Memorial. The girls get a day off Friday from school, so I hope they get a chance to charge their internal batteries for one more longish trip to Orland where we will finish our regular season against Prairie Heights on Saturday.
I can't predict how the final five games will turn out, but it is worth noting that four of them have winning records and only one of the contests will see us in our own gym. So...we need to be ready mentally and physically for the grind that awaits. I hope it's an experience that brings the girls closer together and they recognize the need to fight through this challenge together. We have definitely been headed in the right direction by several measures, so I am optimistic that we will maximize our opportunities here as well.
We will board the bus tomorrow - weather permitting - and head west to the Culver Academy to play in their invitational tournament. Games on Friday and Saturday against relatively unfamiliar opponents will give us a mild taste of what our regional will be like. Next week we host Whitko for our Senior Night, then hit the road for a long drive to Elkhart to play one of the top teams in the state, Elkhart Memorial. The girls get a day off Friday from school, so I hope they get a chance to charge their internal batteries for one more longish trip to Orland where we will finish our regular season against Prairie Heights on Saturday.
I can't predict how the final five games will turn out, but it is worth noting that four of them have winning records and only one of the contests will see us in our own gym. So...we need to be ready mentally and physically for the grind that awaits. I hope it's an experience that brings the girls closer together and they recognize the need to fight through this challenge together. We have definitely been headed in the right direction by several measures, so I am optimistic that we will maximize our opportunities here as well.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Big win
I suspect, given the number of hits this blog had yesterday, that people were expecting a recap of the Concordia game. Believe me, I would have loved to put some thoughts out here sooner, but even Sundays are busy days for me and my family. So here, late on Monday night, I type.
The Saturday evening game at Concordia was billed as a matchup between two highly-ranked teams in Fort Wayne. They came in as the #4 team in Class 3A and we are still sitting at #1 in 1A. They defend you like crazy; we like to score. It was going to be a battle of styles, no doubt about it. I anticipated a game in the 50s because we've never scored more than 58 against them and only 42 last year in a close loss. Happily, I was wrong.
We had 45 points by halftime, eclipsing their defensive average of 40.2 in just 16 minutes. Unfortunately, we had some foul trouble and didn't do a very good job defending our own basket. The game would ebb and flow for most of the second half as both Coach Miller and I made adjustment after adjustment. In the end, we held them off and finished the game well. It was, without a doubt, our best game of the year considering the opponent.
The nice thing for me is that we identified a few more things that we need to do better in order to maximize our efforts. We still haven't peaked - and don't want to - until we hit the tournament trail in February. This week will present some unusual challenges. Tuesday night we face a winless Central Noble team. The challenge there will be to avoid embarrassing them and to make sure we make it off of the floor without injury. Friday and Saturday, we will be at Culver Girls Academy in a tournament. We've won it the past two seasons and I anticipate that we can do it again if we continue to play well. We first square off with Western Reserve Academy from Ohio. With a win, we will likely face Culver in the finals.
It will be an overnight trip which is something we haven't done yet this year. I look at it as practice for the state tournament when we might need to stay overnight one or more times along the trail. It may seem presumptuous or unusual to look at it this way, but it has been a reality in the past, and it would be a failure on my part if we didn't consider all foreseeable possibilities as we begin preparations for the state tournament series. It's part of being a championship program. That is our #1 goal and all of our energies are devoted to achieving it. Plus, it's fun!
The Saturday evening game at Concordia was billed as a matchup between two highly-ranked teams in Fort Wayne. They came in as the #4 team in Class 3A and we are still sitting at #1 in 1A. They defend you like crazy; we like to score. It was going to be a battle of styles, no doubt about it. I anticipated a game in the 50s because we've never scored more than 58 against them and only 42 last year in a close loss. Happily, I was wrong.
We had 45 points by halftime, eclipsing their defensive average of 40.2 in just 16 minutes. Unfortunately, we had some foul trouble and didn't do a very good job defending our own basket. The game would ebb and flow for most of the second half as both Coach Miller and I made adjustment after adjustment. In the end, we held them off and finished the game well. It was, without a doubt, our best game of the year considering the opponent.
The nice thing for me is that we identified a few more things that we need to do better in order to maximize our efforts. We still haven't peaked - and don't want to - until we hit the tournament trail in February. This week will present some unusual challenges. Tuesday night we face a winless Central Noble team. The challenge there will be to avoid embarrassing them and to make sure we make it off of the floor without injury. Friday and Saturday, we will be at Culver Girls Academy in a tournament. We've won it the past two seasons and I anticipate that we can do it again if we continue to play well. We first square off with Western Reserve Academy from Ohio. With a win, we will likely face Culver in the finals.
It will be an overnight trip which is something we haven't done yet this year. I look at it as practice for the state tournament when we might need to stay overnight one or more times along the trail. It may seem presumptuous or unusual to look at it this way, but it has been a reality in the past, and it would be a failure on my part if we didn't consider all foreseeable possibilities as we begin preparations for the state tournament series. It's part of being a championship program. That is our #1 goal and all of our energies are devoted to achieving it. Plus, it's fun!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Hoopla redux
Well, Hoopla was everything it was stacked up to be last Saturday. Four games, a packed house, free food, entertainment for the kids, and so on. We raised $1537 for the Coaches vs. Cancer effort, something that comes completely from free-will donations in lieu of admission charged at the gate. That's a cause that I feel strongly about and I will continue to support it as long as I am in a position to do so.
The game? We started off a bit sluggishly, trailing at one point 16-15 in the first half. The turnaround didn't feel very abrupt, but by halftime we had outscored Lakewood Park 46-6. For the first time, I think the girls all felt comfortable in the role they played and they were simply terrific. I tried to manage playing time and quarters as well as I could, and the starters were done as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter. In the interim, they put on a show for the standing-room-only crowd and when a pair of free throws pushed our total to 101 points for the night, the crowd went nuts. We may never do it again, but we will have opportunities if we continue to play hard and play together. That's all I asked the girls to do, and they responded.
Tonight, New Haven comes to Canterbury. They will be physical and well-coached, so we need to be prepared to play. We had a long, hard practice last night in an effort to shore up our conditioning. I hope the girls feel like tonight is an easier experience than they had last night. Playing full-court non-stop against a decent group of boys was a challenge that New Haven will probably not present. It may be unconventional, but it helps us get better and that's our primary goal every night in practice.
The snow is beginning to fall outside - it's hard to remember that we are already approaching mid-January. I'm not complaining though - I hope the rest of the winter will be as mild as we've experienced so far. It's tough enough to consider playing 8 games in the next 17 days. We don't need to start worrying about cancellations and makeup games. All we can do is play; the rest of that stuff is out of our control.
The game? We started off a bit sluggishly, trailing at one point 16-15 in the first half. The turnaround didn't feel very abrupt, but by halftime we had outscored Lakewood Park 46-6. For the first time, I think the girls all felt comfortable in the role they played and they were simply terrific. I tried to manage playing time and quarters as well as I could, and the starters were done as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter. In the interim, they put on a show for the standing-room-only crowd and when a pair of free throws pushed our total to 101 points for the night, the crowd went nuts. We may never do it again, but we will have opportunities if we continue to play hard and play together. That's all I asked the girls to do, and they responded.
Tonight, New Haven comes to Canterbury. They will be physical and well-coached, so we need to be prepared to play. We had a long, hard practice last night in an effort to shore up our conditioning. I hope the girls feel like tonight is an easier experience than they had last night. Playing full-court non-stop against a decent group of boys was a challenge that New Haven will probably not present. It may be unconventional, but it helps us get better and that's our primary goal every night in practice.
The snow is beginning to fall outside - it's hard to remember that we are already approaching mid-January. I'm not complaining though - I hope the rest of the winter will be as mild as we've experienced so far. It's tough enough to consider playing 8 games in the next 17 days. We don't need to start worrying about cancellations and makeup games. All we can do is play; the rest of that stuff is out of our control.
Friday, January 6, 2012
New Year blogging
While we've had plenty of things to occupy our time, most of them aren't really the sorts of things that people seek out when they read someone's blog. I assume most people who come here either do it 1) accidentally; or 2) with an interest in learning about some of my most recent thoughts regarding the Lady Cavalier basketball team. Accidents do happen, and you are free to go on your way. However, if you hang around for a few more words, I am ready to share some of the musings floating around in my brain.
I enjoyed the action of the SAC Tournament over the holidays, but from an unfamiliar position. I joined up with Brett Rump of Indiana Web Sports to do the color commentary on the final day of the tournament. We did four games together (both girls' semifinals and both championship games) and I had a blast! That is definitely something I would like to try when my coaching days are through. Brett does a great job and really works hard for our local athletes, broadcasting games nearly every night in basketball and football season. If you are interested in some very inexpensive sponsorship opportunities, contact him at Indianawebsports.com.
We finally got a chance to return to action a couple nights ago at Dwenger. I really like Dave Scudder and he's done a great job for a long time with the GBB teams. He's had his hands full this year with one of the most brutal schedules in the state. In fact, no team in Class 3A has a tougher slate. So while their record isn't impressive, when one considers the difficulty of the games they've played, it's easy to see why. We began playing them last year and our first contest was a double-overtime thriller that easily could have been a loss instead of the 81-76 win. I expected nothing less this time as I've seen them play a couple times and they are huge! Their guards are as big our our bigs, so we knew a slow-down game would be uncomfortable for us. Fortunately, we were able to get the pace to our liking and got out to a nice double-digit lead. But, just as they did last year, Dwenger came scratching back and drew within three points in the last minute. Some clutch ballhandling and free throw shooting iced it for us 74-67.
I was even more pleased with the win after watching the game tape. It's not that we did everything so well; we just didn't have any areas of weakness, other than conditioning. Given the fact that we had not played a game in nearly three weeks and really only had light practices in the most recent week, we did a lot of things well. Everyone contributed and there were enough highlight plays to remind me why I get excited about this team and their prospects.
Tomorrow is Hoopla - a fledgling Canterbury tradition. It's hard to describe (a classic Canterbury characteristic) but there will be several events centered around four basketball games. It should be a good time and our opponent, Lakewood Park, will bring a big crowd and help to fill the gym with a great atmosphere. If you get a chance, come out and see us play. It's our first home game since November 16 - nine road games in between - so our kids are looking forward to putting on a show. We hope to see you there!
I enjoyed the action of the SAC Tournament over the holidays, but from an unfamiliar position. I joined up with Brett Rump of Indiana Web Sports to do the color commentary on the final day of the tournament. We did four games together (both girls' semifinals and both championship games) and I had a blast! That is definitely something I would like to try when my coaching days are through. Brett does a great job and really works hard for our local athletes, broadcasting games nearly every night in basketball and football season. If you are interested in some very inexpensive sponsorship opportunities, contact him at Indianawebsports.com.
We finally got a chance to return to action a couple nights ago at Dwenger. I really like Dave Scudder and he's done a great job for a long time with the GBB teams. He's had his hands full this year with one of the most brutal schedules in the state. In fact, no team in Class 3A has a tougher slate. So while their record isn't impressive, when one considers the difficulty of the games they've played, it's easy to see why. We began playing them last year and our first contest was a double-overtime thriller that easily could have been a loss instead of the 81-76 win. I expected nothing less this time as I've seen them play a couple times and they are huge! Their guards are as big our our bigs, so we knew a slow-down game would be uncomfortable for us. Fortunately, we were able to get the pace to our liking and got out to a nice double-digit lead. But, just as they did last year, Dwenger came scratching back and drew within three points in the last minute. Some clutch ballhandling and free throw shooting iced it for us 74-67.
I was even more pleased with the win after watching the game tape. It's not that we did everything so well; we just didn't have any areas of weakness, other than conditioning. Given the fact that we had not played a game in nearly three weeks and really only had light practices in the most recent week, we did a lot of things well. Everyone contributed and there were enough highlight plays to remind me why I get excited about this team and their prospects.
Tomorrow is Hoopla - a fledgling Canterbury tradition. It's hard to describe (a classic Canterbury characteristic) but there will be several events centered around four basketball games. It should be a good time and our opponent, Lakewood Park, will bring a big crowd and help to fill the gym with a great atmosphere. If you get a chance, come out and see us play. It's our first home game since November 16 - nine road games in between - so our kids are looking forward to putting on a show. We hope to see you there!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Christmas Break
I gave my final exams yesterday and got them graded today, so I'm feeling pretty good about that. It means that Christmas break can officially begin and the time that I so often spend with the children of others can now be dedicated solely to my own. That's nice.
We won last Friday at Blackhawk and played a very good third quarter after a sluggish first half. It was particularly gratifying to have no fewer than seven former players in the building to witness the latest version of Canterbury girls basketball. It really is special when the former players take the time to come out and see us play. I hope they were impressed by what they saw.
With the win, we finished the first half of the season at 8 wins and 2 losses. That's not bad, considering we played the toughest schedule that any of my teams has ever faced. Only two of those games were contested against schools our own size; everything else came against bigger schools, many with rich histories of success in girls basketball. In the same day, we took on Northrop and Snider, two schools who brought home state championship trophies in the 1980s playing under Hall of Fame coaches. In fact, we've played half of the SAC schools in Fort Wayne already this year. We went on the road to Wawasee, home of Shana Zolman, arguably the best high school girls basketball player in Indiana history. We went to Huntington and won in a gym that the 1990 and 1995 state champions, also led by a HOF coach, called home.
I wonder sometimes how those schools view us. We won three class A state championships in 2008-2010, so Canterbury has a legacy as well. I know it's a little uncomfortable because no one wants to lose to a small school such as ours. Still, we do have some history and this year's team is certainly talented enough that other teams must play well to beat us. From my point of view, I don't think there is shame in losing to Canterbury. But, as I said, I don't know how others feel about it.
We now take a few days off for some well-earned R&R. The girls had final exams this week and with Christmas coming up and no games until early January, we have moved out of the gym for awhile. My hope is that once we get back, it will be with a new vigor and enthusiasm, one that will help carry us through the long difficult stretch known as January. We'll have to do some extra conditioning and review the offenses and defenses that we have in place. I've been able to let my head clear a bit, allowing me to begin envisioning the things that we need to concentrate on once we return. A couple new offensive sets, a full-court press, and some new out-of-bounds plays are on the to-do list. But they will have to wait for now. This is family time, and we don't have enough of it as it is. Cassie is only home until the 27th, so she and the boys are the top priorities for the next several days.
To everyone who checks in periodically to see what's on my mind, here you go...have a very Merry Christmas and a safe and blessed New Year!
We won last Friday at Blackhawk and played a very good third quarter after a sluggish first half. It was particularly gratifying to have no fewer than seven former players in the building to witness the latest version of Canterbury girls basketball. It really is special when the former players take the time to come out and see us play. I hope they were impressed by what they saw.
With the win, we finished the first half of the season at 8 wins and 2 losses. That's not bad, considering we played the toughest schedule that any of my teams has ever faced. Only two of those games were contested against schools our own size; everything else came against bigger schools, many with rich histories of success in girls basketball. In the same day, we took on Northrop and Snider, two schools who brought home state championship trophies in the 1980s playing under Hall of Fame coaches. In fact, we've played half of the SAC schools in Fort Wayne already this year. We went on the road to Wawasee, home of Shana Zolman, arguably the best high school girls basketball player in Indiana history. We went to Huntington and won in a gym that the 1990 and 1995 state champions, also led by a HOF coach, called home.
I wonder sometimes how those schools view us. We won three class A state championships in 2008-2010, so Canterbury has a legacy as well. I know it's a little uncomfortable because no one wants to lose to a small school such as ours. Still, we do have some history and this year's team is certainly talented enough that other teams must play well to beat us. From my point of view, I don't think there is shame in losing to Canterbury. But, as I said, I don't know how others feel about it.
We now take a few days off for some well-earned R&R. The girls had final exams this week and with Christmas coming up and no games until early January, we have moved out of the gym for awhile. My hope is that once we get back, it will be with a new vigor and enthusiasm, one that will help carry us through the long difficult stretch known as January. We'll have to do some extra conditioning and review the offenses and defenses that we have in place. I've been able to let my head clear a bit, allowing me to begin envisioning the things that we need to concentrate on once we return. A couple new offensive sets, a full-court press, and some new out-of-bounds plays are on the to-do list. But they will have to wait for now. This is family time, and we don't have enough of it as it is. Cassie is only home until the 27th, so she and the boys are the top priorities for the next several days.
To everyone who checks in periodically to see what's on my mind, here you go...have a very Merry Christmas and a safe and blessed New Year!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Winding down the first half
With just one game to play before Christmas - this Friday at Blackhawk Christian - we are nearly done with the first half of the regular season. To this point, we've done okay. We've played half of the Summit Athletic Conference and gone 2-2 so far. There is no shame in losing to either Snider or South Side, but it would have been nice to perform a bit better on the defensive end in those games. We scored plenty of points, but we didn't do what we needed to slow them down. In our seven wins, we were just better than the other team on that particular night and played well enough to prevail. No team in Class A plays a tougher schedule, so we're hoping that a season-long set of tough battles will help us when the tournament rolls around. That's been a winning philosophy in the past, and we hope it continues.
It's at this stage of the season that you begin to closely follow the teams that you are likely to see on the tournament trail. Some people may see that as an example of overconfidence. I prefer to think of it as preparation. If you are going to do well in the tournament, you first must believe that you are going to do well. The next logical step is to prepare each night in practice and through the collection of scouting reports and game tapes of potential opponents. Right now, there are probably 6-8 teams in Class A who are having impressive seasons. Some, like Oregon-Davis and Vincennes Rivet are familiar rivals who are once again playing well. Triton, Southern Wells, and Barr-Reeve are all undefeated at this stage. Some newer faces like Riverton Parke and Frontier have now appeared in the latest weekly poll. At the end of the day, the teams who are playing the best basketball in February will be the ones advancing through the tournament. We are trying to get better every night so we might be one of those teams. A lot can happen in the next 7-10 weeks. I hope we can be in the mix when that time comes.
It's at this stage of the season that you begin to closely follow the teams that you are likely to see on the tournament trail. Some people may see that as an example of overconfidence. I prefer to think of it as preparation. If you are going to do well in the tournament, you first must believe that you are going to do well. The next logical step is to prepare each night in practice and through the collection of scouting reports and game tapes of potential opponents. Right now, there are probably 6-8 teams in Class A who are having impressive seasons. Some, like Oregon-Davis and Vincennes Rivet are familiar rivals who are once again playing well. Triton, Southern Wells, and Barr-Reeve are all undefeated at this stage. Some newer faces like Riverton Parke and Frontier have now appeared in the latest weekly poll. At the end of the day, the teams who are playing the best basketball in February will be the ones advancing through the tournament. We are trying to get better every night so we might be one of those teams. A lot can happen in the next 7-10 weeks. I hope we can be in the mix when that time comes.
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