@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