Back on track

After a tough loss against a very good Elmhurst team, we wanted to get back to our winning ways. The problem was that our next opponent was Concordia. They were sitting at 10-2 for the season and ranked #22 in the Sagarin computer rankings. That's even above Elmhurst's #27 rank. We knew it would be a battle of styles; they are patient and fundamentally sound. They are very willing to win the low-scoring game. They play great team defense, maybe the best we'll see all year, and only yield 35 points a game.

On the other hand, we wanted to push the tempo and make them run with us for 32 minutes. Our calculus would be that by the fourth quarter, we would have sapped their energy and the pace of the game would favor our style. We were able to accomplish that goal and, in the end, it played out just as we had hoped. We stretched a four-point halftime lead to six at the end of the third. Forced to shoot the three-point shot against our zone, Concordia was unable to find the mark. Nor were they able to get back in transition as we heated up our running game. The final score was 58-44. Even though we weren't able to match our season offensive average, only one other team has scored more points against Concordia in a game this year.

Tabitha showed signs of finding her form, scoring 28 points to go with 12 rebounds. This performance was in spite of some suspect offensive foul calls, three in all, that were whistled against her. Bailey chipped in with nine, mostly from her favorite baseline shots. Becky found her range a bit offensively as well with 8. We limited IU-bound point guard Andrea Newbauer to 12 points, most of those hard-earned. It was a great team effort on the road against a very good team.

We have now avenged three of our four losses from last year (South Side, Wawasee, Concordia), and we didn't play the fourth team (Carmel) this season. The kids are beginning to really pull it together and our teaching is being done at a higher level - we still discuss Xs and Os, but we're also focusing on reading the game, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of opponents, and individual skill work that fits into the larger team concept. We've only played half of our regular season games now - I am very excited about the growth that is still possible in the second half of the season!