Victory over APA and Wed Practice Time.

Hi Girls,

******Practice at 6:00pm Wednesday until 7:15 pm******

We got a nice win over Parrott Academy today 28 to 20. It was their first loss in the conference and their first loss of the year according to their Coach. It certainly did not help us with all the players not being able to practice Sunday and Monday, especially since we worked on some stuff we could have used to our advantage if everyone knew what to do.

It was a great team win and it is always a team win since no player can win by themselves. However, I have to give Mer a big pat on the back for having her best game ever as a Viking with 12 points and 10 rebounds giving her a double double, she also had 7 steals. Since I have been coaching I think that is the 4th time a player has had a double double and it could not have come at a better time. Ashton Bradley did it against APA on the road 2 years ago, Kelly did it the last two conference games and was close again today and Mer today.

Scoring by Qtrs: 1st: 4-4 2nd: 9-4 3rd: 9-0 4th: 6 - 12 Final Score 28-20 We did not help ourselves by putting them on the foul line 11 times in the 4th qtr where they scored 4 of their 12 points without the clock running.

Viking Scoring: Mer 12, Kelly 10, Lindsey 4, Em 2.

APA Scoring: #4 Kayla King 6, #5 Logan Beyer 4, #10 Natalie Wenzona 4, #23 Emily Riley 2,
#15 Caroline Carlyle 2.

FG%: Team 11/16 68.75% (A team record since I have been coaching): Individual: Lindsey 2/2*****,
Mer 5/6*****, Kelly 4/5****, Emily 0/1, Jamie 0/1(3pointer at buzzer)

FT%: Team 6/15 40%: Individual; Emily 2/2*****, Mer 2/3****, Kelly 2/4**, Jamie 0/2, Lindsey 0/2, MeganK 0/2

APA FT%: Team 4/12 33.3%

Rebounds: 5off/16 Def; Mer 3/7*****, Kelly 2/4***, Em 0/2*, Jamie 0/2*, Alex 0/1*.

Assists: Team 6; Individual: Jamie 4****, Lindsey 1*, Megan K 1*.

Steals: Team 15****: Mer 7*****, Emily 3***, Lindsey 2**, Alex 1*, Kelly 1*, Megan K 1*. 3 more steals and Mer could have had a Triple Double which is unheard of.

Blocks: Mer 1*, Kelly 1*.

T/o's: Team 20: Jamie 7, Lindsey 4, Mer 3, Kelly 3, Alex 3. We did not execute our press offense as it was designed and we suffered because of that. We will work on correcting it Wednesday.

Layups: Team 11/15***** 73.3%*****. Great Job Girls, that is exactly what we have been looking for. Way to step up.

Final Thoughts: It was a great win and it put us alone on top of the basketball rich EPIC where we are viewed as not belonging with all the Big Time(In their Minds) Basketball Schools. We will have to work extra hard because we will get every teams best shot 2nd time around. We have to be prepared and to be prepared we need to focus on getting better in every practice the rest of this season both as an individual and as a team. I am sure if they can come up with a plan they will. I am also sure that if we execute like we are capable it will not matter what they do, we just have to take care of business on our end. It is more about us than it is about them.

They say that imitation is the greatest form of a compliment. Have you noticed how many teams now are copying our 24 defense. When I started coaching the JV Girls 4 years ago we were the only team that ran a man to man(22) or a man to man full court press(24). Every conference team was strickly zone with a little bit of zone press mixed in.

Unfortunately we cannot run 24 in the lockdown mode much because we are always in foul trouble and do not want key players to foul out. Lockdown means full court Deny and you basically never get more than one foot from your player. Once they pick up their dribble all passing lanes are shut down by the overplay. One player not playing hard in lockdown allows an easy press break for the other team. The only time we leave our player is to play help defense on someone getting beat.

Thought: Good teams have good players but Great Teams have Great Teammates. Everyone has a role to do if we are going to reach our goals. It is all about team. We will never be any stronger than the weakest link on the court at any given time.

2nd Thought: The best and easiest way to improve your team is to improve your own play. John Wooden, Winner of 11 National Championships at UCLA.

Always: Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together and strive for Perfect Execution. That is the winning formula and that is winning basketball.

Coach May