Championship #1.

Hi Girls,

***No practice on Wednesday, Next Practice Thursday Dec 23rd at 3:00 to 4:30pm.***

It was a tough job but we managed to defend our title as JV Christmas Tournament Champions for the 4th year running. I know you girls that have played with me the last 3 years now have won 3 in a row.

To me, I think this was the most gratifying Christmas Tournament win because we faced so much adversity in this tournament. With no practice time basically coming into the tournament because of exams and snow etc. We had to play a really tough team in the first round in Brunswick and it took alot of energy. Then to come back after being down at halftime in the championship game and in deep foul trouble to win and to do it with Lindsey and Mer fouled out for the entire 4th quarter and Jamie and Emily playing with 4 fouls each was really something. It took heart and knowing how to win.

The reason I titled this blog Championship #1 is simply we want to add two more to it. Regular season EPIC Champions and then EPIC Tournament Champions. This was a good start.

Final Score: Halifax Academy JV Viking Girls 31- Faith Christian 25 BTW: They scored the last 5 points of the game when we were not really guarding them since we did not want to foul and there was only seconds on the clock.

Scoring by Qtrs: 1st: 7-2 2nd: 2-11 3rd: 11-2 4th: 11-10

HA Scoring: Em 8, Alex 7, Lindsey 6, Kelly 6, Jamie 4.

FCA Scoring: #11 Mary Peyton Fisher 15, #4 Stephanie Stallings 4 pts, #12 Carrie Lewis 4, #30 Bailey Parks 2.

FG%: Team 12/51 23.5%; Em 3/11, Lindsey 3/12, Kelly 3/13, Alex 3/13, MeganK 0/1, Mer 0/1, Jamie 0/8. 33.3% is the minimum winning %. Just by shear will and toughness were we able to win shooting this poorly.

3Pt%: Lindsey 0/1, Alex 0/1.

FT %: Team 7/14 50%; Jamie 4/6***, Alex 1/2**, Em 2/6 50% is the minimum winning %.

FCA FT%: 9/19-47.4%; #11- 4/8, #4- 2/4, #12 -2/5, #5-0/2

Rebounds: Team 7off/14Def; Em 2/6****, Alex 1/5**, Jamie 4/1**, Kelly 3/2**, Mer 0/4**, Lindsey 2/2**
Jordan 0/1*.

Assists: Team 9; Lindsey 5****, Jamie 2**, Alex 2**.

Steals: Team 15; Mer 5****, Jamie 4****, Lindsey 2**, Kelly 2**, Em 1* Jordan 1*.

Blocks: Kelly 1**.

Layups: 9/38-23.7%. Outside shots: 3/13-23.1%. 3pt shots: 0/2-0%. Foul Shots 7/14-50%. We can do alot better especially on the lay ups.

Some Thoughts: It was an ugly win but we played with a great amount of heart and effort and that is the most important thing. An ugly win is always better than a pretty loss. I personally thought we got almost zero of a fair break on the officiating, maybe I am biased but if we had not tried to run some clock we might have fouled all the starters out.

Bottom line if we make half of our missed layups we win this thing by 20. We will continue to address that in practice and I think once we get back into shape and having consistent practice time we will take a large step forward in that respect.

There is almost too many to mention for their efforts but I will give it a try. Mer with 5 steals, tough D and 4 Rebs in very limited playing time due to foul trouble. Emily 8 points, making them when her team needed them the most, 2 clutch foul shots and a huge 8 rebounds. Jamie great team leadership, great Defense on #4, 4 steals, Great play down the stretch in a new position making plays and foul shots to seal the win. Alex clutch outside shooting, her shooting is really coming on, a hard fought 6 rebounds and when the chips were on the table a very respectable job of dribbling when we needed her the most. Lindsey, maybe her best game of the year, she played hard on Defense gave us great leadership at the PG and had 5 assists. Kelly, playing super tough when the game was on the line. Defended the basket, making clutch shots out of the 4 corners with the chips on the table and being strong under the goal and on the boards, way to step up. Jordan, stepping in and playing tough to buy us some time and hustling and fighting to make a steal. Megan, Playing in a tremendous pressure situation in a new spot and holding your own. To all of you I give you a Giant Star and my upmost respect.

If there was an Tournament MVP for the two nights I would pick Jamie hands down. If we got to choose up the starting 5 and top reserve I would take my starters and Kelly. Be proud of yourselves, your coach is proud of you. It is time to take it to another level. Next Practice Thursday 3:00pm to 4:30pm. Try to be there since it is the last practice before Christmas. I have your T-Shirts and Hoodies and I will bring them Thursday.

Play Hard A+, Play Smart A-, Play Together A+. Team Record: 7 and 1.


***Remember No practice on Wednesday, get some shopping done. Next Practice Thursday 3:00 to 4:30pm.


T/O's: Team 12; Jamie 3, Mer 2, Lindsey 2, Em 1, Alex 1, Kelly 1. We should always expect the girls that handle the ball the most to most likely make the most turnovers. If we have big girls making lots of turnovers when handling the ball very little we would have a serious problem.

Coach May