and the livin' is easy. Or something like that.
Summer league has gone pretty well despite the radical changes that have occurred with our lineup. For so long, Tab, Cassie, and Paigey held it down for us along with Becky and Madison. This summer, we've had Madison part of the time and that's been it. The other girls are getting a chance to step up and begin to understand what it's going to take to continue the high level of play that has been established over the past couple years. It's definitely a different mix, but I think we're going to have some fun!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tournament time!
Abbreviated version -
Heritage (Senior Night) tore me up. I did okay holding it together, but the reality that this senior class (and more specifically, Cassie) has now played their final home game hit me like a ton of bricks. We played well against a Heritage team that has really struggled this year.
Bluffton - I wanted Cassie to get her 1000th point before the tournament started, but she didn't feel good and wasn't able to finish a few shots that are normally automatic. Maybe I should have told her how close she was, but who knows if it would have mattered. Anyway, she's at 999 for her career. I think she's got at least one more point in her. The team played pretty well again. Tab had a good night and Bailey put up her biggest scoring numbers yet. Bluffton, too, was down, so I just wanted to get off the floor in one piece. We did.
Now, we look ahead to the tournament. We drew Elkhart Christian, a team we have not seen this year. They were young last year, mostly sophomores, and we handled them 68-30 in the sectional. They are probably the second best team in the sectional, so they should at least be competitive. The one foe we haven't been able to handle this week is the weather! Snow has kept us from starting the tournament on time and the girls are like caged animals - they want to get out and play!! Judging from the blue skies and diminished winds, it looks like we may finally get our chance. Barring any other delays, we will go Friday, Saturday, and a Monday championship. The quest for #3 begins at Hamilton tomorrow night!
Heritage (Senior Night) tore me up. I did okay holding it together, but the reality that this senior class (and more specifically, Cassie) has now played their final home game hit me like a ton of bricks. We played well against a Heritage team that has really struggled this year.
Bluffton - I wanted Cassie to get her 1000th point before the tournament started, but she didn't feel good and wasn't able to finish a few shots that are normally automatic. Maybe I should have told her how close she was, but who knows if it would have mattered. Anyway, she's at 999 for her career. I think she's got at least one more point in her. The team played pretty well again. Tab had a good night and Bailey put up her biggest scoring numbers yet. Bluffton, too, was down, so I just wanted to get off the floor in one piece. We did.
Now, we look ahead to the tournament. We drew Elkhart Christian, a team we have not seen this year. They were young last year, mostly sophomores, and we handled them 68-30 in the sectional. They are probably the second best team in the sectional, so they should at least be competitive. The one foe we haven't been able to handle this week is the weather! Snow has kept us from starting the tournament on time and the girls are like caged animals - they want to get out and play!! Judging from the blue skies and diminished winds, it looks like we may finally get our chance. Barring any other delays, we will go Friday, Saturday, and a Monday championship. The quest for #3 begins at Hamilton tomorrow night!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Playing catch-up
Lots of activity since my last post. First, we went to a tournament at Culver Girls Academy and came home with the trophy after dispatching Western Reserve Academy of Ohio and then the host team the next day. The quality of play was pretty good overall, although we temporarily lost both Madison (ankle) and Bailey (broken nose) in Saturday's championship game. A little adversity doesn't hurt, so we mixed in a little foul trouble too, just to see if we could do it. We did.
We returned home to prepare for a bruising week. First up was Harding on Tuesday. With Bailey still on the sidelines, our rotation was not as fortified as it normally is. Unfortunately, we prepared for a basketball game and a track meet broke out. Very few stoppages in play and plenty of high octane performances. I was tired just sitting and watching. We blew out to a nice halftime lead, but Harding would not go quietly and we had to fight some mental and physical fatigue before we could hold them off. Thursday, Fremont came to town with a 15-2 record and the NECC Tournament Championship on their resume. We left little doubt though as we blew out to a 42-17 lead and never looked back. Pretty convincing stuff, so much so that our crowd began to head for the exits late in the third quarter. Sorry we're so boring.
The end to a long week came up at Prairie Heights, still not at full strength as we had Bailey back but lost Matte to illness. Once again, it didn't really matter as we found ourselves up 29-2 at the end of the first quarter and finished with five girls in double figures in the 87-41 win. There were a few PH fans who were less than hospitable throughout the day, so it was nice to listen to the relative silence coming from their fairly large Saturday afternoon crowd.
Two games ahead - Senior Night with Heritage and a road trip down to Bluffton. We should finish the "preseason" 18-2 and begin setting our sights on another great tournament run.
We returned home to prepare for a bruising week. First up was Harding on Tuesday. With Bailey still on the sidelines, our rotation was not as fortified as it normally is. Unfortunately, we prepared for a basketball game and a track meet broke out. Very few stoppages in play and plenty of high octane performances. I was tired just sitting and watching. We blew out to a nice halftime lead, but Harding would not go quietly and we had to fight some mental and physical fatigue before we could hold them off. Thursday, Fremont came to town with a 15-2 record and the NECC Tournament Championship on their resume. We left little doubt though as we blew out to a 42-17 lead and never looked back. Pretty convincing stuff, so much so that our crowd began to head for the exits late in the third quarter. Sorry we're so boring.
The end to a long week came up at Prairie Heights, still not at full strength as we had Bailey back but lost Matte to illness. Once again, it didn't really matter as we found ourselves up 29-2 at the end of the first quarter and finished with five girls in double figures in the 87-41 win. There were a few PH fans who were less than hospitable throughout the day, so it was nice to listen to the relative silence coming from their fairly large Saturday afternoon crowd.
Two games ahead - Senior Night with Heritage and a road trip down to Bluffton. We should finish the "preseason" 18-2 and begin setting our sights on another great tournament run.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
A defensive gem
Last night, we beat Central Noble 66-27.
I have been coaching high school basketball for nearly 25 years. In all that time, I have never had a team come out and dominate defensively the way we did last night. Maybe I should temper my enthusiasm a little bit, but it's hard after witnessing what I did last night. It was a total team effort and mostly in the half-court. It was against a team that came into the game with a 10-5 record and a reputation for being a disciplined, ball-control squad. There was no special emphasis on any single player. In fact, I let the girls sort out their matchups before the opening tip. Then, we just exploded on them.
By halftime, the score was 36-5 and our fans were grumbling about another boring game against another substandard opponent. What they don't understand is that they were watching a brilliant game against a very solid and competitive team. We just made it look bad, something that is actually a stated goal of ours. My dad's Columbia City teams play some great defense, so it was nice that he was on hand last night to give his seal of approval on our effort. I never believe that we have played our best game (yet), but I'm not sure how we might have improved on what we did last night defensively. We also were solid at the offensive end and in transition, but the swarming, trapping, harassing defense we played last night was clinic-grade. Replicating it will be tough, but once it happens, it should be much easier to reach that plateau again. I'd like to see it about 14 more times.
I have been coaching high school basketball for nearly 25 years. In all that time, I have never had a team come out and dominate defensively the way we did last night. Maybe I should temper my enthusiasm a little bit, but it's hard after witnessing what I did last night. It was a total team effort and mostly in the half-court. It was against a team that came into the game with a 10-5 record and a reputation for being a disciplined, ball-control squad. There was no special emphasis on any single player. In fact, I let the girls sort out their matchups before the opening tip. Then, we just exploded on them.
By halftime, the score was 36-5 and our fans were grumbling about another boring game against another substandard opponent. What they don't understand is that they were watching a brilliant game against a very solid and competitive team. We just made it look bad, something that is actually a stated goal of ours. My dad's Columbia City teams play some great defense, so it was nice that he was on hand last night to give his seal of approval on our effort. I never believe that we have played our best game (yet), but I'm not sure how we might have improved on what we did last night defensively. We also were solid at the offensive end and in transition, but the swarming, trapping, harassing defense we played last night was clinic-grade. Replicating it will be tough, but once it happens, it should be much easier to reach that plateau again. I'd like to see it about 14 more times.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Lakewood Park and beyond
No problems Saturday night at our Hoopla! event here at Canterbury. We had a full house on hand to witness an 85-25 thumping of Lakewood Park. On its face, one might conclude that we were merciless. However, all 12 rostered players played at least nine minutes each and no one more than 17 minutes - just over half the game. 10 of our 12 scored and we had four in double figures. Thankfully, this is our last game against a 1A opponent until the tournament begins.
Central Noble comes to town tonight. They always seem to give us a tough time. Last year, they held a small lead at halftime, but we came out with some full-court pressure and blitzed them in the second half. They are having another good year, with 10 wins already and an overtime loss last week to Fremont, who went on to win the NECC Tournament. It will be a battle of styles; they like to keep the score in the 40s and we want to be in the 40s by halftime. We'll see who can exert their will on the other.
Unrelated, but the biggest game in the world will be played tonight. #1 Vincennes Rivet vs. #2 Barr-Reeve. Some have written that this game will be for the supremacy of Class 1A. I'm sure it will be an excellent game with ramifications for the tournament beginning next month. If we weren't playing tonight, I would be tempted to make the drive to see the amazing level of basketball on display tonight.
Instead, I'll be stuck here with my crummy team ;)
Central Noble comes to town tonight. They always seem to give us a tough time. Last year, they held a small lead at halftime, but we came out with some full-court pressure and blitzed them in the second half. They are having another good year, with 10 wins already and an overtime loss last week to Fremont, who went on to win the NECC Tournament. It will be a battle of styles; they like to keep the score in the 40s and we want to be in the 40s by halftime. We'll see who can exert their will on the other.
Unrelated, but the biggest game in the world will be played tonight. #1 Vincennes Rivet vs. #2 Barr-Reeve. Some have written that this game will be for the supremacy of Class 1A. I'm sure it will be an excellent game with ramifications for the tournament beginning next month. If we weren't playing tonight, I would be tempted to make the drive to see the amazing level of basketball on display tonight.
Instead, I'll be stuck here with my crummy team ;)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
New Haven
We got just what we expected from New Haven last night. They are an experienced bunch and they came in with a 9-3 record. They play an unorthodox style that mixes aggressive attacks on the basket with in-your-face defense that's just physical enough to keep other teams off balance. We really had trouble finding our rhythm (again!) and while it seemed like we should be gradually easing away from them as the first half wore on, the exact opposite happened. We went into halftime behind 30-26 and wondering why we couldn't get anything going.
Despite the fresh start in the second half, we ended up falling further behind. We trailed by as many as nine points a couple different times in the third quarter and some visible frustration began to set in. Just that quickly, we went on a mini-run and had a chance to tie it up. New Haven scored a couple more times and it was back to six. Then we went on another little push and finally caught them. Once that happened, we exploded, rapidly moving our newfound lead into double digits. New Haven was physically spent and we had no trouble managing the lead from that point forward. The final score was 72-60. We scored 46 points in the second half alone, but gave up way too many in doing that.
I was pleased to win two of the three first games back from Christmas. Given the long layoff and the strength of our competition, that seemed like a fair goal. the only real disappointment came in the form of Concordia's win 59-53 over Elmhurst last night. I have trouble understanding why Elmhurst is so inconsistent, but they played awfully well against us! That loss still gnaws at the girls a little bit, but we gained some things from the experience and we'll use those lessons as we move forward through the season.
Despite the fresh start in the second half, we ended up falling further behind. We trailed by as many as nine points a couple different times in the third quarter and some visible frustration began to set in. Just that quickly, we went on a mini-run and had a chance to tie it up. New Haven scored a couple more times and it was back to six. Then we went on another little push and finally caught them. Once that happened, we exploded, rapidly moving our newfound lead into double digits. New Haven was physically spent and we had no trouble managing the lead from that point forward. The final score was 72-60. We scored 46 points in the second half alone, but gave up way too many in doing that.
I was pleased to win two of the three first games back from Christmas. Given the long layoff and the strength of our competition, that seemed like a fair goal. the only real disappointment came in the form of Concordia's win 59-53 over Elmhurst last night. I have trouble understanding why Elmhurst is so inconsistent, but they played awfully well against us! That loss still gnaws at the girls a little bit, but we gained some things from the experience and we'll use those lessons as we move forward through the season.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
A tale of two polls
The latest state rankings are out and they paint an unusual picture. The coaches' poll places us a step down this week at #3, behind Vincennes Rivet and Barr-Reeve. We started the season at #1, fell to #2 after losing to Mooresville (currently the 2nd-ranked team in all classes), then slipped again this week after losing at Elmhurst (the reigning 3A state champions).
Contrast that decline to our move upward to #30 in the entire state in the objective Sagarin computer rankings. That is our highest appearance ever in that particular ratings system. We are ranked above all schools in both 1A and 2A. We've played the strongest schedule of any 1A team and are 2-2 against teams ranked in the top 64. The two teams above us in the coaches poll haven't even played a team in the top 64, much less beaten two of them. So, we continue to trust our schedule and chuckle quietly about the relative lack of respect we receive from the 1A coaches on the weekly poll.
The past two years we were ranked #9 and #7 coming into the tournament and carried home that big hunk of trophy from the state championship game. That's our goal again and it doesn't really matter if we're even ranked at all. We'll let the others continue to pad their records by beating up on inferior competition while we try to identify and address our weaknesses as we go toe to toe with some of the really good teams in the state.
Contrast that decline to our move upward to #30 in the entire state in the objective Sagarin computer rankings. That is our highest appearance ever in that particular ratings system. We are ranked above all schools in both 1A and 2A. We've played the strongest schedule of any 1A team and are 2-2 against teams ranked in the top 64. The two teams above us in the coaches poll haven't even played a team in the top 64, much less beaten two of them. So, we continue to trust our schedule and chuckle quietly about the relative lack of respect we receive from the 1A coaches on the weekly poll.
The past two years we were ranked #9 and #7 coming into the tournament and carried home that big hunk of trophy from the state championship game. That's our goal again and it doesn't really matter if we're even ranked at all. We'll let the others continue to pad their records by beating up on inferior competition while we try to identify and address our weaknesses as we go toe to toe with some of the really good teams in the state.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
