Practice Wednesday and Friday!

Hi Girls,

Practice for Wednesday December 30, 2009 is 3:00pm to 4:30pm.

Practice for Thursday December 31, 2009 is 10:00am to 12:00pm.

There is no practice for New Years Day, Friday January 1, 2010.

We do not have practice scheduled for the weekend but I might consider doing so if I find out there is an open time that works.

We are back at school Monday Jan 4, 2010, so practice is at the normal time 3:15 to 4:30pm.

We play Fayetteville Academy on Tuesday, Fayetteville Christian on Thursday, and our first Conference game of the year Friday vs. Kerr Vance Academy, all at 3:15pm Tip Time.

It would be great to win all 3 games plus get off to a good start in the conference.

We have exactly 3 practices before the Fayetteville Academy Game on Tuesday unless we add a weekend practice.

BTW: Fayetteville Academy is the team that had #12 Poulus who liked to drive to the middle of the paint and drop the ball off to one of her two very large post players. We won the last game something like 21 to 14 right before exams. We will work on trying to do somethings that might make them less effective.

Team Motto: Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together.

Thought: Good teams have good players, Great Teams have Great Teammates. R. Wms, UNC.

Second Thought: The fastest way to improve the team is to improve your own play. J. Wooden, UCLA winner of 11 National Championships.

Always: God, Family, Education, Basketball (or whatever sport you are working on at that time) In that order.

Coach May

Team Stats thru JV Tournament

Hi Girls,

Thought you might like to see our team stat leaders. I listed the top 4 in each category and at the end I am listing some conclusions based on the stats. The first game vs. NEA stats are lost so they are Not included. (Edit: I found the NEA Stats and have added them in.)

1- Team Field Goal %: 38.8%. 33.3% is the minimal winning score. We are doing pretty well but we have to remember that most of our scoring is lay ups so we need to spend more time improving our shooting and continue to improve our pressure defense and spread offense to get even more lay ups. I would like to see this go in the 40's, we are close.

2- Team Free Throw %: 35.6%. 50% is the minimum here and we are way off.

3- Individual rebounds: Defensive: Lindy, 36,Mer 16, Emily and Jamie 15

4- Individual rebounds: Offensive: Lindy 20, Jamie 11, Emily and Jesse 10.

5- Steals: Jamie 42, Jesse 39, Lindsey 27, Lindy 15 and Emily 13.

6- Assists: Lindsey 17, Jesse 10, Jamie 8, Lindy 6.

7- Blocks: Jamie 5, Lindsey 4, Jesse 2, Lindy and Emily 1.

8- FG%: Lindy 52%, Caroline 44%, Mer 38.1%, Jamie 37.7 % Basically as I said 33.3% is the minimum for a winning performance.

9- FT%: Lindy 80%, Caroline 66.6%, Mer 57%, Jesse 42.8%. 50% is the minimum winning FT shooting percentage. We need to improve and we will try to give it more time in practice.

10- We are averaging scoring for 9 games 29.1 points per game(ppg) Our opponents are averaging 21.3. Take out the first game vs. NEA that we won 47 to 4 and it is 23.5 for us vs. 21.3 for our opponents. That is a winning margin of 2.2 ppg. 4 points more per game on foul shooting and lets say 6 points more per game on better 1/2 court offense better offensive rebounding and less turnovers would raise our ppg by 10 points. That would be huge. As a matter of fact if we can keep our opponents down defensively 10 more points per game would probably make us win the conference title. Let's try to get there.

Some Conclusions:

1- We need to improve our Foul Shooting %. That is why they are called FREE throws.
2- We need to improve our individual shooting skills. We will devote more practice time to this.
3- We need to work on getting more offensive rebounds. Basically 2 out of every 3 does not go in, we are not getting our share of putbacks. Rebounding is mostly effort and determination and positioning.
4- We need to improve our 1/2 court offense to give us easier shots, thus improving our shooting percentage. Hopefully our new Viking offense will help.
5- If we can cut down on turnovers which is over 11 per game, that would give us more chances to score and less chances for the other team to get an easy shot. I would like to see us get this number down to maybe 7 per game. Zero would be better but 7 is a good realistic improvement that is attainable.
6- Never ever forget that our pressure Defense is still our best offense, we need to work to get even better at it. A steal and a fastbreak layups is the easiest way to score points. We will devote more time to somethings we can do.

We practice tomorrow (Monday the 28th) at 10:00am to 12:00pm. We need all of you there that can be there.

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together and when possible Play Fast!

Go Vikings

Coach May (Edited 5:00pm 12/28/09)

Viking Girls JV Tournament Champions!

Hi Girls,

We played a good game against a tough opponent to win the Championship Trophy for the second year in row. Be proud of yourselves, I am proud of you. We played with alot of heart tonight and I appreciate your effort and focus.

I know I push you all pretty hard, but I know we can really play when we are focused and everyone is playing at 100% effort. If I did not push you to play your best, it would be giving up on you and I would not be worthy of being your coach. I am not going to ever not push you to be your best and you don't pushing to be The Best. We are a very young team, we are good right now and can be become a special team.

We won the game tonight 30 to 21. We did a very good job of executing our game plan and guarding Taylor Norris #11(She had 9 points with 3 of them coming late on a desperation 3).
As usual our pressure defense was our best offense. Our 4 corners offense and spread offense sealed the victory for us and I loved the way we played cat and mouse and lulled them to sleep only to attack when they overplayed. That is great basketball and that is Winning Basketball.

I love the style we play, its the most fun style of basketball but it is hard work and requires great focus and heart to play that hard that long. We will concentrate on shooting the ball much more of our practice time a good % of the year and also try to improve our 1/2 court offense. Of course we cannot let any other part of our game slip, especially our tough defense. Remember the Thought for the day that goes: There is no in playing great defense Just Championships.

If we had selected an all tournament team made up of 6 players like we do at some tournaments, the 5 best and the Most Valuable Player for this tournament, I would have voted for Lindy, Jesse, Lindsey, Emily and Taylor Norris and Jamie as the top six players. I would have voted for Jamie as the Tournament Most Valuable Player.

1- Scoring Totals: Jamie 12, Lindy 4, Jesse 4, Emily 4, Lindsey 2, Alex 2, Caroline 2.

2- Rebounds: Lindy 5*, Jesse 4*, Jamie 4*, Caroline 3*, Emily 2, Alex 1, Mer 1. (5 is the minimum for a winning effort star if you are a post player, 4 if you are a perimeter player. Caroline got only 3 but in limited time on the court.)

3- Steals: Jamie 10**, Lindsey 5*, Jesse 3, Lindy 2, Caroline 2, Alex 1. (4 and up is great)

4- Assists: Jamie 3*, Jesse 3 *, Lindsey 1, Lindy 1.

5- Blocks: Jesse 2*, Lindsey 1, Jamie 1, Emily 1.

6- Turnovers: Lindsey 3, Jesse 1, Jamie 2.

7- Foul Shooting: Jamie 4/9, Lindsey 0/2, Caroline 0/1. Team % 33%

8- Shooting %- Caroline 1/1*, Emily 2/3*, Alex 1/2*, Lindy 2/5*, Jamie 4/12*, Jesse 2/7,
Lindsey 1/6, Casey 0/1. 50% for Individual equal star quality. Team %- 35.1%* 33.3% for Team = Minimum Winning performance.

9- Cornerstone Scoring: #11 Taylor Norris 9, #23 Nichole Walker 6, #44 Kali Shaw 4,
#15 Scarlett Harris 2.

10- Scoring by Quarters: 1st- 8-2, 2nd 6-9, 3rd 8 to 3, 4th 8 to 7. Good Work!!

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together! Doing those three things we wear on the back of our team shirts plus EXECUTING well wins Championships!


Have a very Merry Christmas, take time to show your family you love them an appreciate all they do for you. Never forget the real reason for the celebration of Christmas is it's Jesus Christ's Birthday, God's only son! We celebrate in honor of him!

Next Practice is next Monday the 28th of December 10:00am to 12:00pm. Be there ready to get even better both as a team and as an individual.

Coach May

PS- Renee is sick with the Flu and says she might be out awhile.
Coach May

First Round JV Tournament vs. Northeast Academy

Hi Girls,

Not a very good game for us. Basically we were rusty and played down to our competition a little. Still an ugly win is better than a pretty loss. Plus by winning we get to advance to the Championship game with a chance to win redeem ourselves and win our second JV Tournament in the past two years. We did not have one 3 years ago.

1- Scoring totals: Jamie 8, Jesse 6, Lindsey 4, Lindy 2, Caroline 1, Jordan 1.

2- Rebounds: Lindy 7*, Jamie 4*, Emily 4, Alex 3, Mer 3, Jordan 2, Jesse 1, Lindsey 1, Megan 1, Casey 1.

3- Steals: Lindsey 13***, Jesse 8**, Jamie 4*, Emily 3, Caitlin 3, Megan 3, Alex 2 , Mer 2, , Jordan 2. Lindsey set a team JV record for the teams I have coached with 13 steals. Great work!

4- Assists: Lindsey 2, Jordan 1*

5- Blocks: Lindsey 2*

6- Shooting percentage: Team- 24.3% (Poor) 33.3% is the minimum winning performance.

7- Individual Shooting: Lindy 1/3*, Jesse 3/11, Lindsey 2/8, Jamie 3/13, Megan 0/1,
Caitlin 0/1, Caroline 0/2, Jordan 0/2, Alex 0/3, Emily 0/4. 33.3% is the minimum winning percent for shooting. We only had one player Lindy who met or exceeded that, we need to meet or exceed that as a team.

8- Foul Shooting: Jordan 1/2 *, Caroline 1/2*, Lindsey 0/2, Jamie 0/3, Jessie 0/4. 50% is the minimum winning percentage in foul shooting. We had only 2 players meet that today.

9- Team Foul Shooting: 2/13 for 15. 4%

10- Northeast Scoring: #11 Taylor Moms 5, #25 Madison Burch 2, # 33 Mollie Cocke 1.

Of note: We beat this same team in the first game of the year 47 to 4. We won today 22 to 8.
By Quarters H.A. score first: 10-0, 4-0, 7-3, 1-5.

Coach May

Practice 12-22-09 1:00pm until 2:30pm.

We will practice after the Varsity girls (11:00 to 1:00) Tuesday at 1:00pm. We will play Cornerstone for the tournament Championship at 6:00pm I think. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to prove to ourselves we can play better than we did in the first round.

Stats to follow after tomorrows game for both games.

We will wear white uniforms.

Coach May

PS- Call Jamie and Jordan and let them know! Be Focused!!

Friday Practice Cancelled, Next Practice Sunday!

Hi Girls,

Sorry we could not practice today (Friday) but it would have been bad if we had to have a sleepover in the gym or someone got hurt getting home. By the time I got home from practice it was mostly light rain here. We have about 1 inch of snow on the ground.

JV Girls will practice Sunday night at 7:00pm until 8:30 pm or so. We have not practiced since Thursday a week ago, that will be 10 days by Sunday night. I have some new things we need to talk about for the upcoming JV tournament.

Be there and be ready to practice by 7:00pm sharp! Let's try to make it a Halifax Academy sweep for the boys and the girls. Get focused! I think our boys will be favored in their division and Hobgood will be favored in the Girls based on them defeating us by 9 points a couple weeks ago.

We play Northeast Academy Monday at 5:00pm. Be at the gym by 4:00pm. Get your uniforms on during halftime of the first game. We will have Pre-Game starting by the end of the 3rd Quarter in the weight room.

Spread the word to those who do not use this blogpage about Sunday's Practice @ 7:00pm. We have gotten our record back up to 4 wins and 3 losses. Lets not backtrack!

Coach May

Practice for Friday!!

Hi Girls,

We need to practice!! We have not practiced since Thursday 10th of December due to exams. Thats 8 day ago! As of right now I still plan to practice @ 4:00pm until 5:15pm as scheduled. We could just have rain, at this point no one knows. I will get the word out as quickly as possible it there is a change by way of this blogpage, school announcement if we know by 12:00, or by telephone call a friend.

You may call me at 308-2863(cellular) for updates as I know them. We might not know until it actually starts snowing or sleeting a substantial amount what we will do. It could be a late decision on cancelling. As of right now practice is as scheduled.

1- Here are some things you need to consider and I will also. If the Octagon club cancels their Christmas event in the Gym(no idea if they will) from 12:00 to 4:00 we could if possible move our practice up to say 1:00 to 3:00, this would allow us 1 hour to eat lunch and then we would be finished with practice earlier.

2- If your parents feel you are in danger or are afraid you might be in danger I will excuse you from practice, just let me know by calling me at 308-2863(cell). This is always true but it is mandatory you let me know before practice.

3- I do have some things that are new we need to practice for the upcoming tournament next Monday and Tuesday. I plan to teach it Friday and practice it Sunday. I am not sure there will be enough time to re-teach this until during Christmas break after the JV Tournament so you need to practice if possible.

4- As of this moment I plan to have practice at 4:00pm to 5:15pm as previously scheduled.

Coach May

JV Girls Upcoming Schedule of Events.

Information last edited 12-17-09


Hi Girls,

Times you need to know! Christmas Break is a good time for us to work on getting better, the conference season starts up soon after. We play Fayetteville Academy Tuesday and Fayetteville Christian on Thursday and our first conference game with Kerr Vance on Friday all in the first week back at school after Christmas break. So write these times down and plan to be at practice. We cannot get better without investing some time and effort in it.

Friday Dec 18, 2009 Practice @ 4:00pm to 5:15pm

Sunday Dec 20, 2009 Practice @ 7:00pm to 8:30pm (We play Monday and Tuesday)

Monday Dec 21, 2009 Game with NEA 5:00pm be at the gym by 4:00pm

Tuesday Dec 22, 2009 If we win we play @ 6:30 pm if we lose 4:00pm, 1 hour early in gym

Wed. Dec 23, 2009 Practice 10:00am to 12:00pm

Monday Dec 28, 2009 Practice 10:00am to 12:00pm

Tuesday Dec 29, 2009 Practice 3:00pm to 4:30pm

Wed. Dec 30, 2009 Practice 3:00pm to 4:30pm (changed due to conflicting times)

Thur. Dec 31, 2009 Practice 10:00am to 12:00pm

Thought: Good, Better, Best, never let it rest until Good becomes Better and Better becomes the Best. This applies to every skill we use playing basketball as an individual and as a Team.

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together.

Coach May

Next Practice!!

Hi Girls,

Just so you can plan, our next practice is next Friday from 4:00pm to 5:15pm. JV Boys will practice after us.

Monday Dec. 21 we play Northeast @ 5:00pm, Hobgood plays Cornerstone @ 4:00pm.

The winners meet Tuesday night @ 6:30pm. Losers will play Tuesday at 4:00pm.

Be at the gym one hour before tip off for any of the Halifax Academy JV Girls games.

Coach May

Victory@Fayetteville Academy

Hi Girls,

Just an early post on our win at Fayetteville Academy. It was an ugly win but nonetheless it was still a solid win. Fayetteville Academy is one of the better girls programs in the state. They are currently defending NCIHSAA Champions. Girls we beat 2 years ago were on the State Championship team last year and girls that we beat last year are regular players on this years Varsity Team. A win over their program is a nice accomplishment. Just because you are our girls and we all love you does not make you automatically better basketball players than other teams. Its hustle, scheme and execution that makes a team win.

For a team that only has 2 of the top 10 players back from last years team at this time of the season, three 8th graders and 1 first year 10th grader in the starting 5 we are doing darn good. If we could have played with a little less nerves and a little more execution we could be sitting here undefeated. Give yourselves a big pat on the back for how we are doing.

The good news we have not even come close to playing our best game yet. Stick with me and this team, give me 100% effort and focus and lets see how good we can be. Its there for the taking. We are going to get better as a team and we are going to get better as individuals.

1- Scoring totals: Jamie-5 pts, Lindy 4 pts, Emily 4 points, Jesse 4 points, Lindsey 2 pts, Mer 2 pts, Alex 2 points. Final Score 23 to 14.

2- Team Shooting %- 10/29 34.5%* (above 33.3 percent is the benchmark, 50% would be great)
3- Individual Shooting- Alex 1/1*, Lindy 2/4*, Emily 2/4*, Mer 1/2*, Lindsey 1/4, Jamie 2/6, Jessie 1/8. 50% is our bottom percent for getting a star in individual shooting. * equals good performance, good enough to win. ** equals superior performance.

4- Foul Shooting: Jesse 2/4*, Jamie 1/4, Lindsey 0/1, Mer 0/2. Team: 27.3% (50% is our minimum % for good in foul shooting, 60% is within range). I hope for better.

5- Rebounds: Jamie- 8**, Lindy 5*, Emily 5*, Mer 1, Lindsey 1, Jesse 1 (Rebounding equals Heart, effort, skill and opportunity)

6- Steals: Jesse 6**, Lindsey 2, Jamie 1, Lindy 1.

7- Assists: Lindsey 2, Jamie 1

8- Blocks: Lindy 1, Lindsey 1*

9- Turnovers: Jamie 6, Lindsey 3*, Jesse 1*, Emily 2, Lindy 2, Casey 2. (3 Turnovers for a PG in a pressure game is good, 1 Turnover for a 2 guard as much as Jessie handled the ball is good)

10- Opponents: #12 Elizabeth Poulos PG- 6 pts., #21 Jasmine Matem PF-4 pts., #35 Sarah Reavis C-2 pts., #11 Pratiksha Singh, G?? 2 pts. All else 0.

11- Score by Quarters: 1st. 8-2, 2nd 7 to 8, 3rd. 2 to 4, 4th 6-0. It was big we shut them out in the 4 quarter. It was a 3 point game at the end of 3 quarters. We did a good job of gutting it out.
Our 4 corners was instrumental in another win.

Next Practice is Friday December 18 at 4:00pm until 5:15pm. We might also practice on Sunday, time yet to be decided but probably around 6:00pm.

Work hard on your exams. Remember: God, Family, Academics and Basketball in that order.

Its was a good win. Even an ugly win is better than a pretty loss. Our style of play is difficult to play against. When executed properly it creates its own offense. It gives us a great opportunity to win against most teams. It is also the most fun style of basketball to play, if you don't believe me just ask Roy Williams and Dean Smith. It is high risk but the rewards are victory. Buy into it with 100% effort and focus, believe me, its our best chance.

We play again Monday and Tuesday the 21st and 22nd of Dec, in our very own Christmas Tournament. A championship would be sweet. We play Northeast Academy in the first game I think @ 5:00pm and the winner of Hobgood and Cornerstone in the second assuming we can defeat NEA. We won this tournament last year.

Don't take NEA lightly, I am sure they have been working hard to prepare for our pressure defense, its going to take alot more than just showing up at the gym. Their coach will have them ready.

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together.

PS- Some of you girls played yourself almost sick(Jesse especially) and others. I don't want anyone sick but do not think I do not recognize the effort and intensity you play with. Without it we would be nowhere. We have been 100% on Playing Hard and I am proud of you for that.

On Playing Together I think we would have to get a 99 or a 100% for that also. On Playing Smart I think we are trying to Play Smart and I think we do a pretty good job of it but thats where we need to make our most improvement.

You can always control Playing Hard and for the most part Playing Together. Playing Smart requires experience and everyone being on the same page about what to do and when to do it. We are getting there and we will continue to focus on that and getting better individually in practice.

Do good on your Exams!!!! We do not need any of you unable to play in the second semester. Remember, you have to be passing 5 courses and have a 77(I think) average overall. If you are taking a study hall you cannot fail any course and be able to play second semester.

Coach May

@Ridgecroft

Hi Girls;

1- Congratulations Girls! It was a hard earned victory at Ridgecroft. In the 4th quarter we finally adapted to the poor officiating on defense and quit fouling and by spreading the court on offense we exposed their weakness which was lack of size in the post.

It was a great team effort and the 5 starters had to play alot of minutes and dig deep in the 4th quarter facing foul trouble, unreal officials and rowdy fans. I am very proud of the heart and effort you showed down the stretch. I was also very proud of the execution we played with when the chips were on the table both offensively and defensively. We need to focus on doing that for 4 quarters instead of just the 4th quarter.

I want to single out a couple of players who had excellent stat lines for this game. Lindy Clark had her best game yet as a Viking, 14 points on 5/6 shooting, 16 rebounds (10 defensive,6 offensive), 2 steals, 4 out of 5 from the foul line and 0 turnovers. In addition she played much of the second half with 4 fouls and managed to not foul out.

Jamie Harris, 6/9 from the floor for 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals and only 3 turnovers. Plus she had to sit alot in the 2nd quarter with 2 early fouls and was able to play the rest of the game with only 1 more foul. She picked up her game in the 4th quarter offensively when the chips were on the table and our team needed it.

Remember however, there is no way we win this game or any game without the contributions of the rest of the players. Especially in this game Jesse who took #11 defensively for a good portion of the game and almost made herself sick by playing so hard, Lindsey with 7 assists over half of which came during the critical 4th quarter, and she had to do the bulk of the ball handling against a very quick defensive player and a team that overplayed the passing lanes and were allowed to foul without it being called everytime down the court. The PG has the toughest job on the court and without good play from that position your team has no chance. Also, Emily who played tough around the basket and scored 5 points and had 6 rebounds and 3 steals and 1 assist, maybe her best game yet as a Viking.

So we have some good things to build on. We are a good team and when we play like we are capable we can be a great team. You players keep chasing it and I will keep pushing you for your best.

We win as a team and we lose as a team. We are no better than the weakest link on the court at any given time, everyone has to do their job and do it to the best of their ability every possession offensively and defensively. We also have to focus on doing it right and doing it consistently in practice. Remember, Practice alone does not make perfect, Perfect Practice makes Perfect.

* (Star Symbol) Means outstanding for their position or outstanding for the amount of time played!

2- Scoring totals- Lindy 14*, Jamie 12*, Emily 5, Jessie 5, Lindsey 4.

3- Shooting percentage: Team 45.7%** (Best of the Season)

4- Individual shooting: Lindy 5/6*, Jamie 6/9*, Jessie 2/4*, Lindsey 2/5, Emily 1/6, Alex 0/5

5- Rebounds: Lindy 16**(Tied with Ashton for the most ever coached by me), Jamie 3, Emily 3, Mer 3*, Jesse 2, Alex 2, Lindsey 1.

6- Assists: Jesse 4*, Lindsey 1, Casey 1*, Emily 1*.

7- Turnovers: Lindsey 8, Jesse 5, Jamie 3*, Emily 2, Casey 2, Mer 1, Alex 1.

8- Steals: Lindsey 7*, Jamie 5*, Emily 3*, Lindy 2*, Mer 1*, Casey 1*.

9- Foul Shooting: Lindy 4/5*, Jesse 1/2*, Emily 3/7 and Jamie 0/2. Team 50%*

10- Blocks: Lindsey 1*

11- Opponents Scoring: #11 Hennie Larabee 22 pts. 7 FG's, 8/13 FT's, #23 Nichole El-Khoury 3 pts. 1 FG, 1/2 FT, #13 Mary-Joe Harrell 7 pts. 0 FG's 7/9 FTs, #14 Katie Blowe 3 pts. 0 FG, 3/5 FTs.

As you can see they basically except for #11 could not score from the floor(1 other FG early in the game). They had to go to the foul line to have a chance. They are obviously taught to draw contact and kind of jump into the defender. Having a hometown bias official made their offense work real well for them and us reaching and dropping our arms made it worse.

In games like this you have to adapt. I was not saying keep your hands up just to hear myself holler, every time we swatted down it was a foul. That is simply a case of you need to pay more attention to what I say. When we finally did late in the game we pulled away. We will do better if we play them again.

We play hard but we play with class, sportsmanship is essential if we want to call ourselves a classy team. I am proud of the way we play. Keep it up. The behavior of the parent after the JV boys game will be a black eye for their school for a long time. Shameful, and I know for a fact their school is embarrased because of it but you cannot undo what is already done so always think before doing something foolish.

Basically in my opinion the officials that called both JV games, one in particular basically incited these hostile actions from the crowds of both teams with their poor or biased officiating.

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together.

Coach May

vs. Village Christian

Hi Girls,

I don't have time to post much. I just wanted to tell you what a gallant effort you made in coming back and tying up the game against VC tonight. It took heart and we played with a lot of it. Be proud of that.

Got to bounce back quick. Its a huge game tomorrow vs. Ridgecroft on the road. Game time is 4:00pm, we leave at 2:10.

1- Scoring: Jamie 8, Lindsey 5, Lindy 4, Jessie 4, Mer 2, Caroline 1.

2- Rebs: Lindy 7, Jamie 3, Lindsey 3, Mer 2, Caroline 2, Jessie 2, Emily 1.

3- Assists: Jessie 2, Lindy 2, Lindsey 1, Emily 1

4- Steals: Jamie 7, Emily 4, Mer 3, Jessie 2, Lindsey 1, Lindy 1

5- Blocks: Jamie 2

6- Team Shooting %- 32.25% 10/31

7- Team Foul Shooting %- 36.4% 4/11

8- Individual shooting %: Mer 1/1, Lindy 2/4, Lindsey 2/4, Jesse 2/7, Jamie 3/10,
Caroline 0/3, Emily 0/2.

9- Individual Foul Shooting: Jamie 2/3, Caroline 1/2, Lindsey 1/4, Emily 0/2

10- Opponents scoring: #32-9pts. #20 -5pts. #5 -4 pts. #24-3pts. #30 &#22- 2pts.

11- Turnovers: Lindsey 4, Mer 2, Jamie 2, Jesse 1.



Thoughts: We played with great hustle and heart(Play Hard). We played unselfish(Play Together). We did not execute our situational plays very well (Play Smart) We will get better. Think about how important it would have been to have those blown chances back where we lined up impropertly or executed poorly. 2 points and we win the game.

This was a very good team. It was also well coached. I would say they are very similar to RRHS. We came up 1 point short and we had a chance to win the game. We have just got to become more focused at executing our play as well as we can each and every time . When we go some execution at the end we scored and scored quickly. Get some rest and lets get after it again tomorrow.

Each new day brings hope and new opportunities to those that look for them.

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together

Coach May

Post edited to add some information 12/10/10

Victory @ Fayetteville Christian

Hi Girls,

Stats: * beside a stat means very impressive!

1- Final Score 32 to 15*. A very nice win.

2- Scoring Totals: Lindy 10*, Mer, 6, Lindsey 4, Caroline 4, Jamie 3, Jesse 2 , Emily 2.

3- Rebounding: Lindy 4, Emily 4, Jamie 3, Jesse 3, Mer 3, Caroline 2, Alex 1. For a total of 24 rebounds. 18 defensive, 6 offensive.

4- Steals: Jamie 7*, Lindy 5*, Em, Jess, Lindsey, Mer, Casey 1 each. Total 17.

5- Assists: Lindsey 6*, Jamie 2, Lindy, Jesse, Caroline 1 each. Total 11.

6- Blocks: Jamie 1 *

7- Free Throws: Jamie 1 of 2, Alex 1 of 2, Mer 0 of 2.

8- Shooting percentage: 15 out of 48, 31.3%. Free Throws 2 out of 6 33.3%.

9- Scoring by Qtrs: H.A. first: 6 to 4, 16 to 4*, 8 to 7, 2 to 0.

10- Defensive stats: Fay Ch. scoring: #15 K Sawyer 8 points, #51 C Walker 7 points. No one else scored.

11- Turnovers: Mer 5, Jamie 3, Jesse 3, Lindsey 3*, Caroline 2, Emily 1, Casey 1.

12- Individual shooting: Lindsey 2/4*, Em 1/2*, Mer 3/7, Caroline 2/5, Jessie 1/6, Jamie 1/8, Caitlin 0/1, Alex 0/3 Team % 31.25

Thoughts: Winning is a lot more fun than losing. From the looks of the other games, F.C. has a good basketball program so take pride in the win. I thought our TEAM defense was better today than it has been since the first game. When someone got beat our post players and other players did a good job of helping off their man and making the competiton make a play.

I thought our post players did a good job of posting up and getting good shots in the low post, I think our perimeter players did a nice job of getting the ball to the low post on timely passing and moving the ball around their zone.

We dominated the rebounding and our pressure defense made it hard for them to run their offense, these are the two main reasons we won.

We did not exploit their weakness in the high post at all. That will be worked on in practice next week. They had a hole there that we never got the ball in.

We made too many unforced turnovers (18 total). Basically we did a good job of playing winning basketball, but we all know we can still play better. I was disappointed we only scored 2 points in the final quarter. I think that was simply a case of losing our focus, kind of like at the end of the chaos drill when everyone is tired.

Our first objective in a game is to pressure the ball and get points from making steals and running the fastbreak.

Our second objective is to keep the other team from getting any easy shots. Especially no lay ups or short follow shots.

Our third objective is to try to get the ball in the low post or drive the ball to the basket, as you can see thats where our points come from. If the low post players can get a good shot thats great if they cannot they pass back outside and the wings might get a good look or we can swing the ball and look for something good on the other side and give their defense a chance to make a mistake by making them shift.

As a team we have to focus on learning to make the shots our offense presents us. That means we have to spend more time on our individual skills and make sure we are doing them correctly.
More emphasis on proper shooting form and low post and high post movement and scoring is on our agenda.

Also more emphasis on boxing out and weakside offensive rebounding.

We have Village Christian at home on Tuesday, Ridgecroft on the road on Wednesday and Fayetteville Academy away on Friday. Next week will be a busy week. Try to find time to work on your game some this weekend. 100 shots with the proper form would be a good start.

We will be putting in a man to man offense and overload offense on Monday and maybe a new inbounds play called Carolina. Be on the court early if possible.

We were the best prepared team on the court Friday, lets work to make sure we are the best prepared this week both as a team and as an individual.

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together

Coach May

vs. Hobgood

Hi girls,

1- Final score: Hobgood 33-Halifax Academy 24

2- By Quarters: HA Scores First, 1st qtr: 4 to 7, 2nd qtr: 3 to 9, 3rd qtr: 8 to 9, 4th qtr:- 9 to 8

3- We played even in the second half and lost by 9 in the first half.

4- Scoring totals: Lindy: 4, Emily 4, Jamie 5, Jesse 6, Lindsey 2, Alex 2, Mer 1.

5- Rebound totals: Lindy,Jamie,Jesse, Lindsey, Alex, Mer all had 2. Casey,Emily had 1.

6- Shooting percentage: Team- 11 out of 41 26.8% Individuals: Jesse: 3/6, Lindy 2/4, Em 2/5, Jamie 2/11, Lindsey, 1/3, Alex 1/6, Mer 0/3, Casey 0/3

7- Foul shooting: Team:2/8 25%. Jamie 1/2, Mer 1/2, Lindsey 0/2, Emily 0/2

8- Rebounds 9 defensive/ 6 offensive.

9- Turnovers: 13 as a team (seems low)

10- Steals: Jessie 2, Jamie,Alex,Mer,Casey 1 each.(seems low)

11- Assists: 2 One each for Emily and Jamie

12: Our defense: Hobgood points: # 15- 13pts., #31-13 pts.-#45-4 pts., #42-2 pts., #1- 0 pts #10- 0 points. (Two girls beat us, the rest hardly scored).

13- Blocks- 0

14- Thoughts: Less traveling, Less foolish passes leading to easy baskets, better at making lay ups, a little better at FG's and FT's and better at getting back on defense to stop the easy basket and we win this game easy. Learning how to play winning basketball is sometimes tough. We need to buck it up. We need to stay focused during the games. We still have the making of a good team. Come to practice ready to work on it.

15- Happy to announce Nancy Fleming Morris retired #14 jersey in the cafeteria is coming to be my assistant coach. She is going to work mainly with the 4 and 5's. We can spend time each practice on getting better in the post and I will spend more time with the perimeter players on moving and cutting and getting open. Also we will work hard on getting the ball down low and making the shot or passing it back out for a easy shot. By dividing up some drills it will allow us to speed up the learning curve.

Do not get down on yourself's, we are a young team. We only have 2 players back from the top 10 players we had at this time last year. I think we are trying too hard on offense. Lets relax and let the game come to us. We will be good, I know we can play. Stay focused and work on making your shots and making the easy pass.

Thought for the Day: The fastest way to improve the team is to improve your own play. John Wooden UCLA

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together

Coach May

Not a good Day!

Hi Girls,

1- Final score RRHS 37- Vikings 20

2- We played terrible and we shot terrible, thats each players fault. Worse than that we did not know where to go half the time it seemed we played scared, thats my fault. We will never win a close game if we do not each know our jobs in each situation. As much as we practice the same thing over and over I was shocked to see players all over the map out there tonight. Sometime shots just do not go in but defense can always be there, so can playing hard, playing smart and playing together.

3- I do not want to see post players shooting anything in practice but layups and short shots in the paint and foul shots. I want the wings to forget shooting 3's and learn to make 15 foot jumpers and runners going to the basket and layups at speed.

4- Our stats: Mer- 8 points 5 rebounds. Jamie- 6 points, 0 rebounds. Lindy 0 points 6 rebs.
Emily 0 points, 2 rebs. Jesse 0 points, 0 rebounds. Alex 4 points 0 rebs. Casey 2 points, 2 rebounds. Caroline 0 points, 0 rebounds. Everyone else 0 and 0 in limited time.

5- We shot 22 percent from the floor, not good enough to win. Mer made 2 of 3 from the line. Alex Darnell made 2 out of 2 from the floor, Mer made 3 out of 8.

6- Turnovers: Jamie 5, Lindsey and Jesse 3. Mer 2, Emily and Lindy 1. I really doubt this all we made but since I do not have film of the game I will accept it as fact.

7- RRHS Stats: #3 Whitloe 10, #22 Moss 9, #14 Abernathy 7, #32 Murray 6, #4 Burgess 4 pts. They shot 10 foul shots and made 6. Most of their baskets were short shots and layups.

8- We had a chance to jump out to a good lead early in the game and either missed the layup or turned the ball over going for the lay up basically every time down the court in the first quarter. The score at the end of the first Quarter was 3 to 2 them. In the second quarter they outscored us 13 to 4. 3rd quarter 15 to 6 and the 4th we won 8 to 6.

9- There are certain things you have to do as a team to give yourself a chance to win. Know where to go and what to do, Play great defense without fouling and don't give up layups , make Layups and foul shots and little chippies around the goal, not turn the ball over and boxout and work hard under the goal. Remember most points in girls basketball are scored on weak side follow shots under the goal. Most of the time they are the results of hard work by the post players.

10- Each day is a new day and each day gives us another chance to improve and rededicate ourselves to the list of things in line 9. Think about what you could have done tonight to make us a winning team.

11- Only 3 girls had the type of games that I would call winning basketball tonight. Mer, Alex and Casey.

12- We have a big game Wednesday vs. Hobgood and a chance to prove we can play. It's all in front of us and we have to decide if we are going to bow up our backs and make ourselves a good team or play like we did today. Its your choice. Come ready to play tomorrow.

Coach May

Hi Girls,

1- Had a good practice Wednesday. Had 10 girls there.

2- Will practice again Friday 10:00 to 12:00. I plan to stay at the gym until 12:30 if any of you girls want to work on your shooting or post moves or need help with either. Remember now is the time to develop this part of your game, not after you get on the varsity.

3- We have lots of preparation to go over to get ready for RRHS. Its a huge game for us and a great opportunity to show how good we can be. We need to be focused.

4- It was fun having Caroline back at practice and able to play a little.

5- Emphasis for Friday is making good decisions with the ball. Every pass has a risk reward to it. We need to make the easy passes or the ones that we have a good percentage of completing that will lead to an easy shot.

Thought: Great opportunity comes to those who make the most out of small ones. Roy Williams

A lot of the time our small opportunities are those that allow us to get better. As we continue to get better we can use what we have learned to accomplish great things. The fastest way to improve your team is to improve yourself.

If each player can improve their game a little it will improve this team a lot. Remember, what earn each player playing time is proving to me in practice I can trust you to play your position consistently well in practice. If you cannot then it just tells me you need more practice time.

Thought: "I will prepare my skills well so that when my opportunity comes I will be ready" John Wooden, UCLA.

I will always to the best of my ability: Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together.

One of the things I have been the most proud of with this team and last years team is they have always Play very Hard for me. That is the ultimate compliment to your coach and your teammates. Without this we would be no where.

Have a Great Thanksgiving and tell you Mom and Dad you love them for all they do for you. Let them know you appreciate them. Thats all the reward they ever need.

Coach May

JV Girls Win Season Opener.

Hi Girls,

1-We got off to a great start for the season by beating Northeast Academy tonight 47 to 4.

2- As a team we made 23 out of 40 shots for 57.5%. A Team record for JV teams I have coached. We were 1 for 1 from 3 point range included in the 23 made shots. Our Starters in about 6 minutes of playing time made 15 out of 19 shots for 31 points and a shooting percentage of 78.9%. If we continued at that pace and the starters had played all 24 minutes we would have scored 124 points.

3- We had a total of 22 steals with the top 8 players making 20 of them. Individual leaders were Jamie and Jesse with 5 and Alex with 4.

4- We had 12 assists Lindsey had 4, Lindy, Jamie and Caitlin all had two.

5- We had 28 Rebounds with Lindy and Mer and Renee leading with 4 Reb's each, Renee had 3 in one possession on the offensive glass. Caitlin had 3 and Emily, Jordan and Alex all had 2.

6- Mer, Casey and Renee all had 1 block each.

7- Scoring Totals: Jamie 8, Jesse 8, Lindy 6, Alex 5, Lindsey 4, Emily 4, Caroline 4, Casey 2, Mer 2, Caitlin 2 and Renee 2. Eleven out of our 13 players scored. It is a team goal to have everyone score during the season. We will focus on Jordan and Megan scoring next time we have the opportunity. As a team we are shooting 100% from 3 the three point line, Alex shot one and made one.

8- It is also one of our team goals to dominate the Local Private Academies. We are off to a good start. We can accomplish another goal next monday by beating RRHS.

9- We played with great focus today. It was fun playing someone besides ourselves. We can be a great team if we continue to improve but we have to keep getting better because everyone we play will be getting better each day of practice. Enjoy this game until tomorrow at 10:00am. We will start getting ready for RRHS then.

10- By quarters we score from 1 to 4. 20, 13, 6 and 8.

Thought: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then becomes not a random act but a habit." Morgan Wooten all time winningest High School Coach:Dematha High,Md. Lets build on this great start by focusing on being great everyday.

I saw alot of hustle and heart out on the court today, be proud of yourselves, your coach is.

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together

Coach May

PS-I think all of your T-shirts and hoodies should be in by early next week. Check down on the previous post and the final pricing has been posted in the edited post. Add up what you got and bring me a check made out to Halifax Academy with the bottom coded for what you are paying for. I will need the money by next Monday.

Practice 11-12-2009

Hi Girls,

Some notes:

1- Our uniforms look nice, remind me to get a thank you note for all of you to sign to send to the Athletic Council. The uni's are your responsibility to take care of, they cost $100.00 per uniform.
Pay special attention to the washing instructions. Use cold water, delicate cycle and tumble dry on air or low heat. Don't lay them out wet since the colors can bleed through or hang on the line. Tell Mom!!!!

2- I will try to get Megan's sizes this weekend for Warm ups, T-shirts and Hoodies and I will hopefully order the Warm ups and Hoodies Monday and the T-Shirts no later than Tuesday. Pricing is and is $38.00 Warm ups, $22.46 T- Shirt and $18.24 Hoodies and Practice Jersey's are $15.00. Make all check to Halifax Academy, code the checks for what you got and give them to me. All your stuff should be in by next week. You have to buy the Warm ups, the other things are optional but most girls wear Warm up Pants, T-Shirt and Hoodie on travel days. On home games we dress nice.

3- We need to have a team meeting and discuss team goals for 2009. Maybe after practice in the cafeteria soon. Here are some I thought of: You can add or change.

Team Goals 2009/2010

a- Every player scores in a game
b- Win all games against the local academy's
c- Beat RRHS at least once
d- Improve more from the start of the season to finish than any team I have coached
e- Qualify to host a conference tournament game.
f- Make a run for the EPIC Conference Championship
g- Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together and Have Great Fun working to accomplish our goals.
h- To know no team works harder than us in practice or in games.
i- Win the JV Christmas Tournament we host this year.

4- Practice Notes:

In my opinion the most dominate player in practice so far has been Jamie. The most pleasant surprise has been Emily and the two players that have shown flashes of the talent necessary to be dominant in their position are Lindsey and Jesse. Both with their speed and quickness and Jessie with her ability to pressure the ball. Honorable mention goes to Alex for her court game and shooting ability and Lindy for the steady good play and leadership and overall game she brings to the team.

I see lots of girls that have talent and if they can eliminate turnovers and make a few more plays they would help themselves and help this team a lot. Keep working on getting better, its a long season. If you show me you can help this team you will get some time on the court.

We never want to forget we have to continue to improve every week in practice. Every team we play is going to improve, if we don't teams we can beat now might be beating us later in the year.

Our calling card has to be playing smothering defense, 22 and 24, getting fastbreak lay ups and making them and not turning the ball over. Always remember when you turn the ball over that is two points you do not have a chance to score and 2 points the other teams gets a chance to score. So a turnover potentially costs your team 4 points. Six points if you count 3's.

A typical JV Girls team will be around 30 points. Some games we won with less than 20. Every basket opportunity and every basket given up is important.

We have covered an unbelievable amount of information so far in practice. However, it is my job as coach to have us prepared for things we will see in games. It is not as simple as pick up basketball, every school we play has good coaches, they are working on wrinkles to give their team the advantage. If we do not prepare well we will be preparing to fail.

We have exactly 2 players back from the top 9 players from the start of last season. Making life simpler then we had quite a few players last season in their second year of playing under me and several of them basically already had a good understanding of what to do and these players made it easier for the newcomers. Plus the Jenn's and Kaela's and Kimberly's and Ashton's of the world almost always were in the right place at the right time taking care of their responsibility. Offense, defense, called plays, out of bounds plays, press offense, it goes on and on.

This team has to push itself to get to that same level of consistency. Know what to do and where to go and do it everytime.

All that said, we have the potential to be good, possibly real good if we want it bad enough and work hard for it. It is going to be hard for teams to match our speed and overall athleticism. Cut out the turnovers and make the lay ups and chippies and make sure you do you job on the court and the sky is the limit.

Let's have a special year. I didn't return this season to coach you girls expecting to do anything less than have a special year.

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together!

Thought: Good things come to those who expect good things and are willing to work for them.

Second Thought: We represent Halifax Academy, our parents, our team and ourselves. Lets do our very best on and off the court.

Coach May

Practice 11-06-09

Hi Girls,

We were missing 6 girls yesterday at practice. We did have Jamie, Lyndsay, Casey, Meredith,Emily, Caroline and Meghan and one coach. Our goal was to work on our individual games as it related to our positions on the team. I think we made some progress. I liked what we were able to do in the Passing Game. We also worked on Posting up and slot shots and we made so good progress at that.

Winning T-shirts yesterday were Lyndsay and Caroline each making 6 out of 9 foul shots. As a team we should shoot over 60% for the year. A great foul shooting team will shoot over 70%. Casey made 5 out of 6, she got run off the court (ran out of time) before she could finish. So far this year Casey has led the team in foul shooting making 14 out of 15. If there is a technical foul called and she is in the game she will get to shoot. Of course you other girls could catch up, just make lots of foul shots.

Next week we will be working on our Press Offense both full court and half court. We will also try to work on our 4 corner offense and our full court defense. I have a surprise planned for us probably Tuesday at practice.

Some other things we need to get installed is our other OB plays, our sets plays both for zone and man to man, our zonebuster offense and our bandit defense. Its going to be a busy next 10 practices. Of course thats nothing new, all of our practices seem full of things to do.

Right now I plan to have practice on Wed., Probably the same time. You girls are doing great keep it up.

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together

Coach May

Practice Nov 5, 2009

Hi Girls,

Nice practice today. We are showing some good signs. Making my most impressive list for practice today was Jamie and Meredith. Honorable mention to Lyndsay and Lindy. Actually all you girls did well.

Do not take it personally when I point out something you or we as a team does not or did not do well. It is my job to push you to reach the limits of your full potential. I have not seen anyone on this team that I do not think can play alot better than we are playing right now. As a matter of fact we will have to get better, , both individually and as a team. Our competition is working everyday to get better and if we do not continue to improve everyday we will be losing ground.

Focus hard on making layups and short shots going to the basket. Also focus on the foul line and the shots you might get from our offense. Work on shooting them in practice.

I have been working on our Zonebusters team and our all out pressure team called Bandits. Right now the Zonebusters are:

Jamie, Alex, Casey, Lindsay on the perimeter and Lindy or Meredith down in the post.

Our Bandit team:

Jamie, Jessie, Lindsay, Lindy someone yet to be named. These team are not written in stone but if I had to use them today this is who would be on the court.

You girls are tearing up the points game. Next time it is 45 points.

I have some very simple plays to use in the Passing offense, I will tell you about them later.

All you new girls talk to girls from the team last season and figure out what size pants and what size shirt you need for our warm up uniforms.

I will also start a list for Practice jerseys and I will try to find out what numbers are available in what sizes so we can see who needs hoodies. Until we all have practice jerseys please wear a basically white shirt to practice, beleive me it will help this team practice better if we can tell who is on each squad.

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together.

Thought for the day: An investment in knowledge always pays the best dividends. Benjamin Franklin.

Coach May

Practice November 4, 2009

Hi Girls,

I thought we had a very good practice today. Much better than yesterday's. I am very thrilled at the progress some of you girls are showing in your game from last year. You girls that are new to our team this year are also showing signs of good things.

It seems at this point that we will have lots of depth. I liked the way we shared the ball today in the scrimmage. We will have a similar practice tomorrow but we need to put some time in our offense half court game. This year we will try to install the Carolina Passing Game. I think you will find it is similar to what we have been doing in the past with a few minor changes that should make it more effective or at least different enough to give another look.

The winner of the foul shooting contest and the first T-Shirt of the year was Casey who made a perfect 9 out of 9. Jamie made 7 out of 9 and also won a T-Shirt. Everyone needs to make it a goal to make 5 out of 9 on a bad day.

In the points game drill tomorrow it will be 40 points in 3 mins. You did good today.

Our roster I think is now set, this is how I see it and the positions I see you all playing. Remember positions are always subject to change, based on need or I see a talent developing and need to get you more time on the court. Listed as primary 1st and alternate position 2nd.

L. Pulley PG/2G
J. Jones PG/2G
C. Dickens 2G/PG
M. Kessinger 2G/PG
A. Darnell 2G/SF3
J. Jean SF3/2G
J. Harris SF3/2G equal
C. Ewers SF3/PF4
C. Morris PF4/C5
L. Clark C5/PF4 equal
R. Reid PF4/C5
E. Conner PF4/C5
M. Stephenson C5

BTW: Positions 2 and 3 are interchangeable except for their responsibilities in plays. Basically the 3 position plays on the right in the offense and the 2G plays on the left.

Positions 4 and 5 the same as above. Both play in the paint and work together as a team screening and posting up both high post and low post.

PG is a stand alone position. They are the Quarterback of the Team. They should be an extension of the Coach on the Court. It is the most challenging position to play on the team and they are the primary ball handler. Their goal is to distribute the ball to their teammates in positions on the court they can score from. I will send instructions to the PG for them to call it out to the other teammates from the bench during play.

Some tidbits: The 2G takes the ball out of bounds on made baskets and sideouts. The PG takes the ball out on under the basket inbounds plays.

The proper way to stop a fastbreak is to beat them down the court and turn around and make that girl make a pass with someone jumping out at her. Just like we do in the Rabbit drill and the Carolina Fastbreak drills.


Priorities: Never forget them: God, Family, Education and Basketball in that order.

If you need to miss practice for school work give me as much notice as possible.

Girls if we work hard we can be a special team. Keep getting after it. It could be a fun season. We are nowhere as good now as we will be by the time conference play begins. Lets make it a fun year.

Things needed to do:

Windsuits- came from Johnson Lambe. Warm up pants and shooting shirts, we will try to match last year if possible so only the one that need them will have to order them.

Hoodies: Same as above.

Shoes: Black if possible so they will match the girls that already have them

Practice Shirts: I will try and get prices. The yellow pullover mesh will work if necessary. The one's will always wear White and be Home on the scoreboard. The Blues or Yellow mesh will be made of the 2's and will be visitors on the clock.

Team Motto: Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together.

Coach May

Measurements and Times 2009

Hi Girls,

Here are some of the data and other information you either need to know or might find interesting,

Some Heights:
These are the 6 tallest on the team.

Lindy- 5'10"
Renee- 5'91/4"
Meredith- 5'8"
Emily- 5'73/4"
Kaitlin-5'7"
Caroline- 5'61/2"

Full Court speeds without Dribble.

Jamie 4.2
Lindsay 4.2
Caroline 4.5
Jesse 4.51
Jordan 4.5
Meredith 4.6

Full Court with Dribble.

Jamie 4.6
Lyndsay 4.8
Jesse 4.81
Caroline 4.99

Almost all the girls on this team can get their hands on the net with their jumping.
We will try to measure Verticals and Reach at a later date in the season.


Things we have to put in before the season starts:

The 21, 22 and 24 Defense.

Passing game offense

Primary fastbreak

Secondary break

Full court press offense

Half court press offense

Inbounds plays

4 corners

Pregame Lay up drill



Our top Challenges:

1- Learn to play great Defense

2- Learn to make the easy shots

3- Learn to limit our turnovers

4- Learn to run the Primary and Secondary fastbreaks

5- Learn each positions jobs at all times and responsibilities.

6- Learn to value the ball. No foolish turnovers.


Food for thought: Talent alone is not enough, to be really good it takes talent, persistence and determination. John Wooden UCLA, Winner of 11 National Championships


First Game is Monday Nov 23 @ Roanoke Rapids High School

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together

Coach May

2009 Sign Up Sheet Going Up Soon!

Hi Girls,


The sign up sheet for Girls Basketball is going up soon. It will be one list, grades 7 thru 12. The players will be sorted Varsity or JV most likely at the first day of practice. Then if we have more players than uniforms we will conduct try outs then cuts.

Some Thoughts:

1- You are required to have a physical on file with Coach Herman to practice. See him and go have it done.

2- Those of you not involved with the Volleyball stretch run (Volleyball players stay focused on Volleyball) need to start sharpening your game. I would suggest reading over the blog titled Summer Improvement and working on your game and the skill set for your position or positions.

3- Get in shape. Basketball requires you to be able to run, speed and endurance are coveted skills in basketball, get your legs and wind ready.

4- It should be a fun year both Varsity and JV, come ready to play, we have a fun and challenging schedule in the works.

5- The first day of tryouts is Monday, November 2nd.

6- Wear your reversible jersey or both a white and Navy blue T Shirt so you can switch side's when we scrimmage and practice. We always are either Navy Blue or White on the JV's.

Prepare yourself to perform your best, if you only touch a basketball during basketball season you are cheating yourself because you will never play to your full potential that way.

Coach May

2009 Sign Up Sheet Going Up Soon!

2009/2010 JV Girls Basketball

Hi Girls,

Our first practice will be November 2nd at 3:15 pm. Be on the court ready to practice no later than 3:20 pm. Unless I post different practice will end at 4:30 each day, the same as last year.

We have lots of preparation to get done once our roster is set. Our first game is Monday November 23rd at Roanoke Rapids High School. Yes, they have a JV Girls teams this year.

The sign up list will be going up soon. If you are going to miss day one of practice you need to contact me @ 586-5191. If I am not at home leave a clear message with you name and telephone #'s.

We will make cuts a quickly as possible if we have more players than we can carry. Do not forget you are required to have a physical turned in to Coach Herman in order to practice.

Coach May

Summer Improvement by position.

Hi Girls,

Here are some things to think about working on over the summer.

Important thought: The simpliest way to improve the team is to improve your individual game. John Wooden, 11 National Championship's, UCLA Bruins.

Things every player needs to be able to do.

1- Make lay ups from both sides of the goal.
2- Make foul shots. 6 out of 10 is good more than 6 is great.
3- Make shots from the spots on the court the position requires.
4- Pass the ball accurately and fundamentally sound. Chest pass, bounce pass, two handed overhead pass, hook pass, baseball pass (used for long half court passes)
5- Dribble effectively with both hands.
6- Box out, rebound, pivot to get free and make accurate outlet passes.
7- Know the plays required of their position.
8- Run the fastbreak lanes properly and make the pass or catch and shot.


Point Guard Position: (1) The hardest position to play on the court. Needs to know what each player does on each play that is called. An on court extension of your coach. Should be your best dribbler and one of your best passers. Has to be able to defend the other teams perimeter players and it is really helpful if they have the ability and lateral quickness to pressure the other teams primary ball handler and force them to pick up their dribble allowing steal opportunities by the defense.

Point Guard Practice:

1- Dribble with each hand without looking at the ball. Develop a crossover dribble in each direction. Learn to see the entire court by looking down court quickly once the ball is received to see if a player is breaking open. Basketball is a very quick game, if you have to dribble the ball twice before looking down the court the player that was wide open for a lay up is now probably covered.

2- Learn to make Lay ups with either hand, make foul shots, make shots from the top of the circle and either side of the foul line (elbow). Learn to make a shot on the move right and left of the lane, this shot is called a runner or a floater. Many times you will have to drive to get past your defender but will not be able to drive all the way to the basket, this is where the runner comes into use.

3- Perfect making the 3 from around the top of the circle and slightly to either side. Learn to step up to around the foul line and make that shot both off the dribble and on the catch and shoot. Have your feet set so when you make the catch you can shoot without taking the time to reset your feet.

4- Work on driving to the lane and drawing the defense and dishing the ball off to open teammates.


2 Guard position (Swing Guard) (2):


1- Wing shots: Learn to make outside shots and score on basket cuts, corner shots, slot shots and runners going to the goal. Work on shooting from the 3 point line. Part of the shots should be off the dribble and part after catching a pass with no dribble, learn to set your feet on the catch and shoot . Use jab steps and pump fakes to get past a defender before stepping in for closer shots.

2- Needs to be a good dribbler, usually the second best dribbler on the court.

3- Passing the ball, especially post entry passes and skip passes across the court. The best way to enter the ball into the post area (on the low block) is from the sides. The 2G and 3F need to be able to make these passes in order for the team to get easier shots at the basket.

4- Deny the ball defender: In an overplaying man to man (22/24) playing the passing lanes tight while still seeing the ball allows a team to disrupt the other teams offense and it also creates offense for the defense by creating steals and fastbreak opportunities.


Small Foward (3): The 2 and the 3 positions are interchangeable: the 2 is usually the better dribbler and the 3 usually is a better rebounder.

Power Foward (4): and the Center position (5) are basically interchangeable:

Both low post position (4 and 5) are interchangeable. Normally the 5 will be the least mobile of the two and have more responsibility defensively in the low post area.

1- Learn to score in the paint and from the short corner (10 ft out towards the corner) do not much time working on 3 pointer and long shots. Your chance to score will be often if you can catch the ball well and shoot the ball effectively in the low post area.

2- Learn to have at least two low post scoring moves: One of a turn around face up jumper, a drop step, jump hook, dribble drive to the goal. Each low post player needs 2 go to moves. A primary move and a counter move . Being able to go left or right makes it easier to get off a shot. Work on making your offensive more quickly. try to focus on shooting the ball from as high over your head as you can reach and still shoot effectively. If you bring the ball down below you head it allows shoter player the opportunity to block the shot or tie you and up.

3- Work hard on getting rebounding position and putting the ball back in without having to dribble or bring the ball back down. remember more points are scored on weakside rebounds in girls basketball than any other spot on the court.

4- Learn to make foul shots, low post girls get fouled more often than any other players, learn to cash in.

5- Learn to make shots around the foul line off the catch and without the dribble. If you need to dribble to get open, dribble with a purpose and learn to make a quick move and make a shot.

6- Learn to pass back out from the post with quick accurate passes that hit your target in the chest, allowing your teammates to cahtch and shoot in one motion before the defense has reacted and recovered.

7- Learn to pass to cutters cutting through the lane.

8- Work on getting position, boxing out and rebounding with two hands. Perfect your pivot step to get yourself free after getting a rebound and making an accurate and precise outlet pass.

9- Study how to flash to the open spot to get open. Ever notice how Ashton could always find an open spot to step into to receive the ball. That is a talent(instinct) and it makes passing the ball into the paint a lot easier for all the perimeter players and puts the low post player in position to score or make a play.

10- Learn to think one pass or shot ahead. Know what you are going to do with the ball before you catch it. Have 2 choices if possible.


You are all a special group of young ladies. Have a great, healthy, fun and safe summer. Work on your game as much as you can find time. Remember the thought that talent alone is not enough, persistence makes the difference. It will be basketball season again before you know it.

Always have something to work for, something to dream of and be thankful for the good things in life the Good Lord has given us.

God, Family, Education and Sports (hopefully some basketball) Keep your priorities in the right order.

Stay Safe,

Coach May

JV Girls End the Season.

Hi Girls,

We always want to win but sometimes it is just not in the cards. St. Davids is an excellent team with just one loss this entire year. We gave it all the fight we had, we played every player as a reward for their hard work during the year and we represented our school and our team well. Be proud. 13 wins is a great accomplishment, especially in this conference and having to make the adjustments we made right before the conference season began. You are a great group of girls. I have been proud to be your coach both during the season and now that the season has ended.

Some Notes:

1- We lost the game 43 to 23.

2- Leading Scorers: K. Kessinger 8, A. Bradley 7, J.Harris 5, K. May 3 and Lindy Clark 1.

3- Leading Rebounders: A. Bradley 10, K. Kessinger 5, J. Harvell 2, M. Stephenson 2,
K. May 1, L. Clark 1, J. Harris 1, K. Dickens 1.

4- Steals: K. May 2, J. Harris 1, K. Dickens 1

5- Assists: K. May 2, J. Harvell 1, K. Kessinger 1

6- FT %: Team; 6/11 56% Individual: A. Bradley 3/4 75%, K. Kessinger 2/4 50% ,
J. Harris 1/2 50%, L. Clark 1/2 50%

7- FG%- 27.5% Individual leaders: K. Kessinger 3/4 75%, J. Harris 2/3 66.6%,
K. May 1/3 33.3% (a 3 pointer)

8- St. Davids Leading Scorers: #22 Taylor Dickens 20, #30 Katlin Dunston 9,
#14 Katherine Boliek 6, #25 Jamie Parks 4, #15 Caroline Garrett 4

9- Score by Quarters: 1st. 7 to 14, 2nd 4 to 10, 3rd 6 to 10, 4th 6 to 9

10- Some thoughts: If we had not started off so slow spotting them 10 points out of the box
on their first 5 or 6 possessions it would have been a different game.

11- Even with a bad start we still stayed closer than all but about 3 other teams that have
played St Davids this year. We were one of the other three losing by 17 one time.

12- A terrible downer for me as your Coach is to have to lose Ashton, Kaela and Destiny our 3
seniors. As a group you have been great leaders on and off the court and great
contributors to our team. I am going to miss having you with me but expect you to have
great careers on the varsity next season and I plan to return as your assistant coach so I
will be seeing you there.

13- I will be posting a suggested summer workout program for the different positions for you
girls that want something to work on for next years team. It will be easy and will give
those that put some time into it a chance to be much better players for next years team. I
expect us to have another good team next year and hopefully some of the really good jv girls
like #22 of St. Davids will have moved on to the Varsity Level.


Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together, Go Vikings.

Coach May

New JV Tournament Game Date @ St. Davids!

Hi Girls,

Just got word from the conference meeting that our JV Game with St. David's has been moved to Thursday afternoon at 5:00pm. That will be February 19th. Just guessing that we will leave school around 1:30 pm. Coach Herman says we will leave school about 2:10pm.

This will give us an extra day to prepare since we are missing out on Monday due to being out of school and missing the girls that are going to the Jr. Beta Convention in Greensboro.

1- Thursday's game will be Green uniforms and warm ups.

2- The winner advances to Rocky Mount and plays for the JV Girls championship Saturday.

3- As good as we have competed I do not believe we have played our best game yet. We can play better. Every girl on this team has seen it in practice. Maybe our next game will be our best game of the season. Be ready, be focused, be prepared! The chance to get better and the opportunity to compete is what makes sports fun. Let's enjoy the ride.

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together.

Thought for the Day! "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

In basketball for instance you might be having a bad day shooting the ball but it does not mean you can't hustle, play great defense, do you part in the offense to perfection and contribute to your team having success. From: John Wooden, Legendary Coach of the UCLA Bruins winner of 11 National Championships.

Coach May

JV Viking Girls Win Final Regular Season Game!

Hi Girls,

Halifax JV Girls 22, Parrott Academy 16!!

Hope everyone enjoyed this one. 14 and 9 is our final record for the regular season. Considering we had to make some big adjustments after Hayley and Courtney went up to help the Varsity I think we did just great.

Right now we are playing our best basketball of the year. Be proud of yourself and what you accomplished as a TEAM. I am proud of you all, you have been a joy to coach. I consider myself a lucky man. We have now won 71% of our game over the past 2 seasons. Of course I still remember a few close one's that got away.

As a coach the #1 thing you can ask for is for your player's to play hard for you, Second you hope they play smart and know how to play and what to do in each situation, Third the team has to like each other and make a committment to play unselfishly. Last you hope they have the skills to make the first three things important. You girls have surpassed these important goals.

It has been a fun season. Basketball should be fun, I have tried my best to make learning how to play winning basketball both fun and educational. We learned a lot of basketball and I think we all had fun.

Some Notes:

1- Scoring leaders: Ashton Bradley 10 points, Jennifer Harvell 7 points, Jamie Harris 4 points, Kaela Kessinger 1 point.

2- Rebounding: Ashton Bradley 16, Jamie Harris 4, Jennifer Harvell 4, Kaela Kessinger 3, Lindy Clark 3, Meredith Stephenson 1, Kimberly May 1.

3- Steals: Ashton Bradley 6, Jamie Harris 2, Kaela Kessinger 2, Jennifer Harvell 2, Kimberly May 2.

4- Blocks: Ashton Bradley 4, Jennifer Harvell 1.

5- Assists: Lindy Clark 3, Jennifer Harvell, 2, Kimberly May 2, Ashton Bradley 1, Jamie Harris 1, Kaela Kessinger 1.

6- FT's: Team; 8 out of 22 for 36%. Individual: Ashton Bradley 2/5, Kaela Kessinger 1/2, Jennifer Harvell 1/3, Jamie Harris 4/11, Lindy Clark 0/1.

7- Team FG %: 8 out of 29. 27.5% Leader Jennifer Harvell 3 out of 5 60%.

8- Scoring by Quarters. 1st: 4 to 6 2nd: 7 to 4 3rd: 1 to 4 4th: 10 to 2. Final 22 to 16.

9- Parrott scoring: #4 K. Wilkerson 6, #12 Maddie Barker 6, # 5 Margaret Edwards 2, #2 Emily Buffloe 1, #22 Danielle McLaughlin 1, #3 Madison Mauck 0. The two girls that led them in scoring last game #3 and#5 were held to a total of 2 points. Great Work! Also, we kept them off the foul line this time they made 4 out of 7. Last time 11 out of 20. Two goals accomplished.

10- The box worked good but our old staple #24 defense probably won the game for us defensively. We are really a race horse pressing type of team by our personality. It is more fun to play that way. Our press offense was very important and worked well and we put the game away late again with our 4 corner offense. We prepared well and even on a off day we had enough heart and were prepared well enough to win this important conference game on their Senior night.

11- Due to school being out and so many girls being away to the Jr. Beta Club Convention Monday we will not practice. Tuesday we will practice, 3:15. Wednesday we will travel back to Raleigh to play St. Davids in the first round of the tournament. Enjoy your long weekend!

12- BTW, heard it might snow Monday!

13- Ashton had one of the great stat lines I have ever seen in JV Girls Basketball. It deserves some special recognition. Stat Line: 10 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocks, 6 steals, 1 assist. Under the goal she played like a great athlete against children. She played with heart. We don't win without her effort yesterday. Of course she can't win by herself as good as she is playing either. We are a TEAM in the biggest sense of the word, somebody is going to step up and make the plays, everyone does their part to get the job done, you can count on your teammates making great effort. That has become this teams trademark.

That is what has made this TEAM Special!

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together!! Go JV Viking Girls!

Coach May

Great Win over Cary Christian.

Hi Girls,

A Great Win over a tough Cary Christian Team 23 to 22! Parrott coming up! Some notes:

1- We had a great win over Cary Christian the same team that defeated us 42 to 19 a few weeks ago. Seeing you girls execute at such a high level made this Old Coach very proud. You have been such a Great Team to Coach and I am very proud of all of you.

2- Remember our Thought for the Day on Monday: "One of the great pleasure's in Team Sports is doing something everyone says you cannot do. Especially when it takes Great Team Effort, Team Unity, Focus and execution to accomplish the goal." Roy Williams UNC.

3- Anytime a team has a player that is 90% of their offense if you can take that player away then you have a great chance of beating that team.

4- You girls executed the game plan to perfection. We took #24 out of the game to the tune of holding her to only 7 points. It was a great team effort and a great individual effort on defense by Kaela #1 and by Ashton and Lindy for battling her from behind #2.

5- We were well prepared for their press and you girls showed tremendous poise in handing their pressure. A big round of applause goes out to Jennifer, Ashton and Kaela #1 and #2 the rest of the team for their parts in breaing the press.

6- Ever wonder why we always close practice with running the 4 corners after scrimmaging? Exactly the reason you saw tonight. Ahead by 1 point with about 1minute and 30 seconds to go we spread the court. Everybody knew where to go and what to do. We played the cat and mouse game until they turned their heads and Ashton made a great pass to Jennifer breaking to the goal for a lay up and got fouled giving us a 3 point play and the final margin of victory. It was just like we drew it up in practice. Great Work! That is being prepared and then being able to execute.

7- Another round of applause goes to Lindy for 3 great assists on the end of the fast break. One on the game's first play to Kimberly and two to Jamie. I think the second one to Jamie was the basket that gave us a one point lead allowing us to go into the four corners. As far as the passes go it was just like the passes we make in practice everyday on the rabbit drill and on the Carolina Fastbreak drills. That's the point of being good at drills.

8- Scoring Leaders: Ashton Bradley 14 points, Jamie Harris 4 points, Jennifer Harvell 3 points, Kimberly May 2 points. Cary: #42 Joy Jackson 8 points, #24 Amy Vandeventer 7 points, Lyndsey Hylmsa 5 points, #3 Caylie Robinson 2 points.

9- Scoring by quarters: 1st- 8 to 4 HA. 2nd- 4 to 7 CCS, 12 to 11 halftime. 3rd- 4 to 8 CCS, 16 to 19 CCS. 4th- 7-3 HA, Final Score 23 to 22 JV Viking Girls. If not for the miracle 3 they made we would have won by four or more.

10- Rebounding: Ashton 8, Kaela 4, Lindy 3, Jamie and Jennifer 2 each. Assists: Lindy 3, Ashton 2, Jennifer 2. Steals: Jennifer 3, Kaela 2, Ashton 1. Field Goal %- Ashton-5/9 55.5%, Jennifer 1 /1 100%, Jamie 2/5 40%, Kimberly 1/3 33%. Team: 9/25 36%. Great Job!!

11- Foul Shooting: Ashton 4/4 100%, Jennifer 1/1 100%. Team: 100%. I cannot remember ever having a team do this, especially in such a pressure packed game.

12: A few Thoughts: Great Team efforts are always spearheaded by a good gameplan, great effort, great execution and great individual efforts. There is no way we win this game without each and every players contributions, Just no way. However I would be remiss if I did not recognize the great game Ashton had offensively with 14 points, plus 8 rebounds and great defense plus she was a major contributor in breaking their press.

Defensively I just have to point out the Great Job Kaela did denying the pass to #24 who scored 30 on us last time we played. Plus she had a great floor game and did a wonderful job in helping break their press.

Transition Game, you never can do anything without great Point Guard play. I think Jennifer had her best ever game today. She was instrumental in breaking the press, running the offense and taking the lead role in the 4 Corners and her points were the final difference in the game. Also in the transition game Lindy did a great job making some assists that led to baskets and Jamie and Kimberly finished the plays nicely on the end of the break.

In addition we got great support from Destiny and Meredith off our bench that was missing Kaylee who was sick for this game.

13- A special Thank You to all the parents who had a pizza party for the Team after the game. Girls always remember, without the parents we don't go anywhere. Take time out of your busy schedule and tell your Loved One's Thank You sometime soon and that you Love Them. They work each and everyday to make your day, take a minute and make theirs. They deserve it.

14- Congratulations to the three 10th graders, I loved the signed balls you all got from the team. I am kind of sentimental so I will wait until later to tell you all how much coaching you means to me. We do have some unfinished business to take care of first, so let's not think this season and all the fun we have had is over yet.

15- Finally, Congratulations to Destiny on winning the cake eating contest. All I can say is who would have ever thought it. I was betting on The Merenator myself.

See you at practice tomorrow to start getting ready for Parrott. Last time we defeated them at home 33 to 29. Their leading scorers were #3 Madison Mauck and # 5 Margaret Ellen Edwards both with 8 points. 8 of which were on the foul line. Jamie and Lindy led us in scoring with 9 each and Jennifer had 8. We pressed in that game and committed 16 personal fouls. Let's Get Ready!!

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together

Coach May

St. David's Notes

Hi Girls,

Hope you all got home ok. Here's some stat's from the St Davids Game and a few observations.

1- We lost the game 34 to 10. 7 points worse than last time we played them.

2- We were tied 2 to 2 after the first quarter. It was 12 to 2 after the second quarter. 23 to 6 after 3 quarters and 34 to 10 after 4 quarters.

3- If we had kept it a little closer in the second quarter maybe we could have kept it close. Of course in the third quarter we got out scored by 17. Mainly because we lost our focus on beating their press and playing the triangle defense as solidly as we did early in the game. The fact that one of the official only saw fouls when we made them did not help our cause. I for one cannot wait until the day that games are officiated by a computer driven overhead camera and all calls are called correctly. I think that would be great for our program.

4- Scoring leaders were: Kalee Dickens with 4 on 2 of 3 from the floor. Ashton Bradley with 4 on 4 of 4 from the line. Meredith Stephenson with 2 on 2 of 2 from the line. We made 6 out of 7 foul shots and 2 out of 16 from the floor.

5- St Davids scoring: #22 Taylor Dickens 16 points. #30 Kaitlin Dunston 4 points, #25 Jamie Park 4 points no one else had over 3.

6- Rebounding: Kaylee Dickens 3, Ashton Bradley 2, Meredith Stephenson 2, Kaela Kessinger 2, Lindy Clark, Jamie Harris , Jennifer Harvell, Kimberly May all 1 rebound.

7- Steals and Assists: Kaela, Jennifer and Kimberly 1 steal each. Assists: Kimberly 1. Turnovers: we made 19 as a team most against their press and traps.

8- Observations: Winning is a lot more fun than losing, the fact we played this team closer than most is not much consolation. We lost by 24, the JV Boys by around 40 and the Varsity Girls by 34. I came home before the Varsity Boys played. Our conference is just super tough, especially those teams in Raleigh. We might not ever be small enough as a school to be 1A again at least not in the forseeable future so outside of someone deciding to let us join another conference(hint) we will just have to suck it up and become more committed to basketball and the other sports.

9- We have not lost to a 1A school this year. We have beaten some good 2A schools. We have a good chance to win both of our last two games. We need to step it up and end this year on a high note. Our record is now 11 and 9. It will be 12 if we count Ridgecroft backing out as a forfeit and 14 if we win out.

10- Tuesday night is our last home game this season. After the game with Cary I understand there is going to to be a team pizza party in the cafeteria. Plan to stay and eat and be sure to thank the parents that are putting this together for you.

11- You have been such a great group to coach. We have learned so much basketball this season. If we were still a 1A team I doubt we would have lost. We would be looking for a place to hang a banner or to put up a trophy. Keep your heads up high, losing is demoralizing but we still have alot to be proud of, we are a good team and one day soon it will show again. Maybe we can get lucky and someone 6'2" tall will come along one day that like's to play basketball and is in the 7th grade. All these big city seem to get lucky, maybe its our turn.

See you at practice Monday 3:15pm.

Coach May

St. David's Trip

Hi Girls;

1- We leave Friday at 12:00. You may eat where ever your Driver wants to take you. I would think most will want to eat in town to allow it time to digest plus you will most likely be hungry if you have not had lunch.

2- Green Uniforms and Warm ups and hoodies.

3- Arrive at St. Davids by 2:15 and be ready to get on the court by 2:30pm. Tip time is 3:15pm.

4- We had our best day of practice Wednesday. Thursday was not bad but not quite as sharp.

5- We played defense good enough to have made it a close game last time we played St. Davids. Friday we need to play defense equally as well plus stay out of traps that lead to turnovers and relax, square up and shoot the ball well. Try to think one step ahead. Look to take a good shot as soon as it is open, don't hesitate, just think about making it not just shooting it.

6- As I have said in practice so many times, there is no perfect basketball player. Everyone that plays the game misses shots and makes mistakes. As far as I am concerned the biggest mistake we can make is to be afraid to compete. We need to just bring the same game we show in practice and continue to play hard. If we play hard and play smart and play together we will be a success regardless of if we win or we lose on that particular day. Let's have fun competing.
We have nothing to lose, we have proven we are a good team so lets give it a go.

7- We are by far a better team than we were last season and at the beginning of this season, it is not even close.

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together.

Coach May

RMA results and notes.

Hi Girls,

We played poorly against Rocky Mount, Just no other way to say it. When you cannot score more than one point in a half your team energy gets so low your team has very little chance to recover. One of my favorite Thought's of the Day comes to my mind after a bad nights sleep last night. It is from Roy Williams UNC Basketball Coach, "Don't trip over something that is behind you".

The fact that we have played poorly the last two game on offense is no reason we cannot play good in our remaining 3 games. St. Davids is Friday and that will be challenging on their home court but they only scored 29 points against us in the last game we just did not put up enough points to make it a game. Then we have Cary Christian at home and Parrott on the road. We have beaten Parrott and we match up well with them physically. Cary had one girl score 30 points against us last game, we stop her and we have favorable match up's with their other players.

Get your chins up, we have beaten all 1A teams easily that we have played, we have beaten good 2A teams like Fayetteville Academy, Harrells, Parrott and Fayetteville Christian. We are still a good team, we just need to regroup and play like we play in practice every day. See you at practice.

Some Notes:

1- Scoring totals RMA Game: J. Harris 4, K. Dickens 3, K. Kessinger 1. RMA: #25 R. Brown 7, # 14 H. Fryar 7, # 13 S. Lossay 8, #23 M. Shearin PG 4, #30 M. Griffin 2. 3 other with 2 each.

2- We made 3 field goals out of 37 tries. Most of them were pretty good shots. Girls, that 8.1%.
We made 2 out of 6 foul shots. 33.3%.

3- Ashton led us in rebounding with 4, Meredith and Jennifer and Kaela had 2. Ashton had 2 blocks.

4- We had 13 turnovers and only 4 steals.

5- The good news was we got a chance to give everybody on the team some deserved playing time.
As you should all know it is always a goal of mine to give players time on the court when there is opportunity, I always have and I always will.

6- One of the real problems with JV Girls Basketball is we only play 6 min. Quarters. Everyone else JV Boy's included play 8 min quarters. I wish we had those extra 8 min. per game to use to develop players when there was opportunity to do so. It would have seemed fairer to have both JV teams play 7 min quarters instead of discriminating against the girl teams. Of course it is not my choice to make rules and I understand this rule was made to speed up getting 4 games in and getting home a early as possible. So we just play with the time we are given.

7- Time to move on. If we can win 2 of the next 3 games I think we will absolutely be in the tournament. If we win one of the last 3 we probably will be in the tournament. Time to lace them up and get serious. Next game up is St. David's in Raleigh, Friday. Be Ready!

Coach May

St. Davids Stats and Notes.

Hi Girls;

1- Final Score St. David's 29, Halifax Academy JV Girls 12. On the surface it doesn't look to good but it is the closest game they have had in the conference if I remember their scores correctly. It was 16 to 7 at the end of the 3rd. quarter.

2- Scoring leaders: Jamie Harris 4 points, Ashton Bradley 3 points, Jennifer Harvell 2 points, Lindy Clark 2 points, Kimberly May 1 point.

3- Their scoring leaders: #22 Taylor Dickens 5 points all in the 1st quarter. #30 Kaitlyn Dunston 14 points, 7 in the 4th., #25 Jamie Parks 6 points, 4 in the 4th. #4 and #15 2 points each. We got what we prepared for from our defense we made someone other than #22 beat us. We just did not score enough points to make it competitive in the 4th quarter. #30 Dunston got probably 6 of her points on steals from the trap at the top that resulted in lay ups. Next time we will try to be better prepared for her and their double teams.

4- Shooting percentage: we made 4 out of 26 shots for 15.4%. We have been shooting around 27% and should shoot at least 33% and most of the time 40% would be something we can do.
Individual FG@ leaders were Jamie with 2 out of 5 for 40% and Jennifer with 1 out of 3 for 33%.

5- Foul shooting percentage: a three way tie, Lindy made 2 out of 4 for 50%, Ashton made 1 out of 2 for 50% and Kimberly made 1 out of 2 for 50%.

6- Rebounding was a tie between Ashton and Kaela with 6 each. Jennifer had 3 and Jamie and Kaylee had 2 and Lindy had 1.

7- Ashton lead us in steals with 2 and Lindy had 1.

8- Turnovers: We had 12 turnovers. It seemed like more but when you are playing a slow paced game like we were in turnovers are magnified because each possession becomes more valuable.

9- Their coach said after the game that we played the best defense he had seen all year. That is something to be proud of. We play defense that way against Rocky Mount and Cary and I believe we can win both games. All we need to do is make a few more shots.

10- It is White Uniforms and dress nice for Tuesday vs. Rocky Mount. See you at the gym at 2:30pm. This is a game we can win. we played this same team to 1 points games twice last year and we are a better team now than we were then. We will double #25 Rebecca Brown who had 11 points against us the last game. 9 of those points were in the 4th. We will double #30 Meghan Griffin who had 10 points 6 of them from the foul line. We will keep a close eye on #13 S. Lossau who had 7 points mostly on fast break baskets off steals or run outs. They scored 11 points on the foul line. We scored best from the wings in this game.

11- I love a challenging match and this game has the makings of one. If we play Defense good and work the boards, keep them off the line and make some shots we can get a win against RMA Tuesday and Cary next week. Come ready to play hard like we played today.

St. David's Game;

Hi Girls;

1- We play St David's of Raleigh Monday at 3:15.

2- White uniforms, Game captains are Lindy and Emily.

3- Come prepared to play your best. Make sure you girls on the bench understand what your positions responsibility is on defense. Pay attention to what your position does and who they guard.

4- I will see you at 2:30pm in the gym.

Faith Christian Game!

Hi Girls,

Nice win over Faith Christian tonight. It was an important game and we had to play hard to get the win. Nice work. Final Score 28 to 12.

1- Scoring totals: Ashton Bradley 10 pts, Lindy Clark 5 pts, Kaela Kessinger 4 points, Meredith Stephenson 3 points, Destiny Newsome 2 points, Jamie Harris 2 points, Kimberly May 2 points.

2- Faith Scoring: #15 H. Gurganus 4 pts, #10 Brittany Daniels 2 pts, #20 Elena Butler 2 pts, #21 Kristen Watson 2 pts, #24 Madison Moore 2 pts.

3- Rebounding Leaders: Lindy Clark, Ashton Bradley, Jennifer Harvell and Kalee Dickens 4 rebounds each. Meredith Stephenson 2 rebounds, J. Harris, K. May, K. Kessinger 1 rebound each.

4- Team Field Goal Percentage: 13 out of 50 for 26%. Leaders: Meredith Stephenson 1/1 100%, Kimberly May 1/2 50%, Kaela Kessinger 2/5 40%, Ashton Bradley 5/15 33%, Jennifer Harvell 1/4 25%, Lindy Clark 2/8 25%, Jamie Harris 1/5 20%.

5- Team Free Throw Percentage: 2/10 20%. Leaders: Lindy Clark 1/2 50%, Meredith Stephenson 1/2 50%.

6- Team Steals: 19. Individual Steals: Jennifer Harvell 9 steals, Kaela Kessinger 4 steals, Jamie Harris 2 steals.

7- Scoring by Quarters: 1st qtr.- 7 to 4 Halftime- 11-4 3rd Qtr.- 21-4 Final: 28 to 12.

8- Some Notes and Thoughts: We can be impressive when everybody commits to playing defense hard every second of every possession. There was quite a buzz among our fans about how hard we played on defense and how pretty it was the way we passed the ball. I love basketball when it is played that way. I am so very proud of the way we are evolving as a team.

Think about it Play Hard=Tough Defense/Tough on the Boards. Play Smart= Getting in the right places so good things can happen and making the effort to make things happen once we get there. Play Together= Sharing the ball, making the extra pass, covering our teammates man when they get beat to not give up a easy basket. Our Grades on each section for tonight would probably be, Play Hard 98% (100% in the second half), Play Smart 99%, Play Together 100%.

I left us a little room for improvement. Our next step to improve is even better execution and individual skill improvement. Great Game Girls.

9- We have now won 11 games against a very good schedule. Unfortunately there is no where to hide as all of the rest of our games will require our very best basketball. Our conference is tough.

10- Practice on Friday from 3:15 until 5:00pm. We have to get ready for St.Davids on Monday and Rocky Mount on Tuesday.

11- Destiny has cake duty for Monday.

12- We have improved greatly as a team since the beginning of the year. We have also improved greatly since our mid season make over. Be proud but don't forget that the opposition is probably improving some also.

13- You girls have been a wonderful joy to coach and to teach. I actually enjoy practice more than games, but well played games like today are very rewarding. We are developing a beautiful style of basketball. I see it, you see it, and the knowledgeable fans that follow us see it. Let's keep it on the upswing.

14- According to our stats I think it is possible we did not get credit for a 2 point basket scored by Ashton Bradley put on the scoreboard. Our stats show her with 5 baskets out of 15 shots. This would give us 14 baskets plus 2 out of 10 from the foul line which would be 30 points instead of 28.


Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together. Go Vikings!

Coach May

Great Win over Parrott Academy!

Hi Girls;

We had a great win tonight and I will post it on the Official Halifax Academy site and send it to the Daily Herald.

Some interesting points and stats about tonight's game were:

1- We made 12 out of 45 shots for 27% shooting. We made 9 out of 18 fouls shots and some clutch fouls shooting in the 4th quarter. Good Job. I really think we can shoot 40% really easy from the floor and I am looking foward to seeing us do it. On foul shooting 50% is good but we could and should be able to shoot better than 60%.

2- We had 15 rebounds, 15 turnovers and 15 steals. In the last game we made 25 turnovers so that was good progress. 15 Steals were great, this number would not include the times we hustled and forced them to make a turnover. Again this was a great job. The rebounding number was not up to our expectations but hopefully the high number of steals and forced turnovers means they did not get alot of shots at the basket. We do not keep stats on this area of the game.

3- We had 6 blocks and committed 14 team fouls. The foul number was extremely good seeing we pressed the whole game. Interestingly Jennifer had 4 blocks and Ashton had 2. Of course Ashton and some others had some good blocks taken away by bad foul calls.

4- Individual scoring: Lindy Clark and Jamie Harris both had 9 points. Jennifer had 8 points and Kaela had 5 points and Ashton had 2 points. Jennifer had 6 points in the 4th quarter making 2 field goals and 2 for 2 from the foul line. Lindy had 5 of her points in the fourth quarter scoring 1 field goal and making 3 out of 4 foul shots, Jamie had 4 points in the fourth quarter and made a number of great defensive steals and tips.

5- Individual rebounding was led by Lindy with 4. Ashton and Kaylee both had 3, Jamie and Kimberly each had 2 and Jennifer had 1.

6- Leading the team in steals were Jamie with 6, Jennifer 5, Kaela 3, Lindy, Kimberly Ashton and Lindy 1 each.

7- Field goal percentage leaders were Jennifer with 3 out of 5, Jamie with 4 out of 7, Lindy with 3 out of 9.

8- Again I was happy with the shots we got from our offense. We had great looks at the basket. If we ever make them like we do in practice we could score 60 points in a game.

9- Defensively we play well, which means we hustled as a team. Our press bothered them alot. We did let them go by us a few times too many in the first half but in the second we took that away from them. Good thing we did since if we had not we would not have won. Their leading scorers were: #2 Emily Buffaloe 8 points, #5 Margaret Ellen Edwards 8 points, #12 Maddie Barker 6 points, #22 Danielle McLaughlin 4 points, #4 Katelyn Wilkerson 2 points and #20 Teigha Beth Bailey 1 point. They had 18 points in field goals and made 11 out of 20 foul shots.

10- Final score of the game was 33 to 29.

11- By quarters, 1st when we were giving them lay ups against our press it was 9 to 2 them. 2nd quarter we outscored them 10 to 3 making the score 12 to 12 at half. In the 3rd quarter they out scored us 10 to 6 making the game score 22 to 18 them. In the 4th quarter we out scored them 15 to 7 making the final score 33 to 29 Halifax JV Viking Girls.

12- By everybody playing their girl hard with our 24 lockdown defense and not allowing them to get breakaway uncontested lay ups we created offense for ourselves from our defense plus we wore them down. Be proud and remember what I said at halftime, If every player on the court plays this defense tight and hard without letting the other team get easy shots by hustling back to the paint when a player gets by someone most opponents will melt from the heat. Be proud of the Victory and take a great lesson from what you did tonight. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link in an all out man to man pressure defense. Anything less than all 5 playing hard and covering up when a player gets beat and you can look at the score in the 1st quarter and see what happens.

13- Last point: tonight was our first conference win and it came against a team that if it took one additional student in their high school would be in 3A while we are barely in 2A. We took a big step as a team again tonight and I think anyone who has followed this team since the beginning of the year can see the improvement. I cannot think of a coach anywhere that would not love to get the great shots we get at the basket and would not love to have his team play hard, smart, together and with heart the way we played in the 2nd half.

14- Picture day tomorrow. Be ready for a walk around practice on half court at the regular time. Yes, wear practice gear. I will let you stop early enough to cool down and get ready for your pictures at 5:00pm.

15- Girls enjoy this Victory tonight but be ready to start thinking about the upcoming game against Faith on Thursday. I am willing to bet they will be better prepared for our press so it will have to be sharp, hopefully for 4 quarters instead of 2 or 3.

Great Win Girls,

Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together

Coach May