Always a Great Win at CCS. Practice Sunday.

Hi Girls,

*********Practice Sunday night 5:00pm to 6:00pm******

If possible could Leslie, Brooke, Catherine, Kim and Kaela stay and extra 15 min

I don't know about you but I am tired. Like I said after the game, make sure you get some rest and nutrition.
This afternoon was another huge win, Cary Christian is a big time basketball program. If you do not think they are serious about being good at it you should have gone in the gym about 2:30 and watched 4 coaches on the petition divided court teaching organized team basketball to 4th or 5th graders. Where would we be if we could do that at H.A. and you had been coached since you were 9 or 10 years old? We don't even have a middle school team for Girls.

Back on subject: Final Score: H.A. 44 - Cary Christian 32. The 44 points is the highest total of any JV Girls game this year and the highest ever in a conference game I have coached(iirc). The 32 points given up is also the highest given up this year not counting the overtime game (33).

So much scoring for us was attributed somewhat to the pace of the game and in part the great games Kelly and Jamie had. Us giving up so many points is in part due to pace but also in part due to not very good defense.

We keep reaching and swatting for the ball and when we do our girl goes right by us. We have got to play defense with our feet and pick our spots to gamble. Coach Dean Smith most likely the smartest coach to ever coach used to only allow certain players to reach because of this problem.

We have got to learn to play aggressive defense with our feet and quit trying to reach on every possession. In this game with us scoring 44 we should have won by 20 points or so. I am not talking about effort, I recognize effort and trust me if I thought a team I coached did not give effort I would probably not want to coach.

Effort, heart, hustle and determination is everything, it is what winners are made of along with technique and skill. We as a team need to consider how to improve our technique on defense a little.

Scoring by Qtrs: 1st: 15 - 6, 2nd: 6 - 4, 3rd: 11 - 14 4th: 12 - 8 Final Score: 44 to 32.

Scoring H.A. : Kelly 28 pts, Jamie 8 pts, Mer 5 pts, Emily 2 pts, Alex 1 pt.

Scoring CCS: #25 Bethany Hunn 12 pts., #5 Kaitlyn Innes 5 pts., #4 Rachel Kenny 4 pts,
#12 Caroline Schless 4 pts, #2 Shelby Ballard 3 pts, #22 Janey Self 2 pts, #1 Genna S. 2 pts.

FG% Team 13/42 30.9%: Individual: Kelly 11/21***, Jamie 1/5, Mer 1/8, Lindsey 0/1, Em 0/2,
Alex 0/5. The minimum winning percentage is 33.3 %. We were close.

FT%: Team 18/35 51.4%***: Individual: Emily 2/2*****, Kelly 6/7****, Alex 1/2**, Jamie 6/12**,
Mer 3/8, Lindsey 0/2.

Rebounds: Team 21 off/10 Def: Individual: Kelly 7/4*****, Jamie 5/1***, Mer 5/1***, Em 3/0**,
Lindsey 0/2*, Alex 0/1*. The team that wins the battle of the boards usually wins the game.

Assists: Team 10: Jamie 7*****, Mer 2**, Lindsey 1*. Always remember that there were lots of good passes that the layup failed or set up another easy pass for the lay up or we got fouled on. 7 assists is a very high number Jamie could have had a double double herself if a couple of layups that came from her passes went in. At Carolina not the official stats but in the team stats Dean Smith and Roy Williams gave an assist when the player goes to foul line from the assist or misses the layup after the assist.

Steals: Team 5: Lindsey 3***, Jamie 2**

Blocks: Kelly1*, Lindsey 1*.

Turnovers: Team 14; Individual: Jamie 5, Mer 3, Alex 2, Kelly 2, Em 1, Lindsey 1. Only 5 turnovers for the ball handling load we put on Jamie to beat their press on the clear out and then for her to be able to drive to the basket and create scoring opportunities over and over was outstanding.

Layup %: Team 13/37 35.1%. Girls we have got to get this # over 50%.

Final Thoughts: Kelly had a great game, her second double double in a row, 28 points and 11 rebounds. It could not have come at a better time and she worked hard to get herself open. Jamie had a great game creating scoring opportunities for Kelly and others. She made some wonderful passes and worked awfully hard beating their man to man pressure on our clear out play. Good thing we put that in at the last practice isn't it.

It is never about one or two players no matter how good they play, it was a team effort and will always be a team effort. We win as a team and we lose as a team. It takes every ounce of effort each and every girl brings to the court for our team to win. Defense is such a big part of our team and on defense you are never any better than your weakest link on the court. We need each player to focus on what they can do to help this team continue to win. A few more layups made, a few more foul shots made, and few more great passes, more dominant rebounding, less t/o's, more defensive steals, tougher defense on your man. It all adds up. As I keep saying: We have to get better each day and each game.

You did a great job girls, I know we were tired from all the tough games this week. The bad news is we have another tough three game week next week if snow does not mess it up. Playing good basketball is fun. Seeing you girls getting better every day is fun for your coach. Keep playing hard and keep working to get better!

Thought: Will we be pushed to new heights by our dreams or let our problems pull us down. Roy Wms UNC. (I am counting on being pushed by our dreams and fixing any problems, I hope you are)

Points Potential: We missed 24 layups and 17 foul shots. That is 65 potential points we left out there for the taking if we just go 50% on layups and 60% on foul shots we would have scored 15 more points and have won by 27 points. Not complaining about the win because it was sweet, but it still is and has to be about Perfect Execution and we can never stop working to get there.

Final Thoughts: I could not help but think about this last night before I fell asleep. Great Players make Great Plays in Bigtime Games and Great Teams always find a way to do what they need to do to win. Lets build on it.

Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together

Coach May