EPIC Tournament Champions 2011

Hi Ladies;

A Great win against a tough Rocky Mount JV Girls team 33 to 28 to claim the always tough 2A EPIC Tournament Championship at Parrott Academy bringing an end to a Dream Season. I am very proud of all of you. Your poise under pressure all year has been wonderful.

It has been a very good learning experience for this team. One that should serve you all well in the future. We went from being the hunter to being the hunted this year. It makes you appreciate what great teams like UNC and Duke face every night when all the other teams put in extra time and share stradegy's in an effort to knock you off the top spot. It is the nature of the game. Learn to welcome the challenge. Competing is fun.

The Best news is our team had what it took to take everyone's best shot and keep on winning.

Scoring by Qtrs: 1st: 9 to 11, 2nd: 6 to 4, 3rd: 9 to 6, 4th: 9 to 7 Final Score 33 to 28

H.A. Scoring: Kelly 10 pts, Jamie 9 pts, MeganK 6 points, Emily 3 pts,Jordan 3 pts, Lindsey 2 pts.

Making the All Tournament Team as selected by the tournament committee were:

Tournament MVP: Jamie

All Tournament team: Kelly, Lindsey and Emily along with #23 and #25 from RMA.

RMA Scoring: #25 C. Boddie 9 pts, #23 A.C. Roberson 9 pts, #5 C. Coats 6 pts, #20 S. Dunn 2 pts,
#12 A. Jackson 2 pts.

FG%: Team 14/35 40%**: Individual: Kelly 5/8***, Jamie 3/5***, Em 1/2**, Jordan 1/2(3pt)**,
MeganK 3/8*, Lindsey 1/8, Mer 0/1, Alex 0/2.

FT%: Team 4/12 33.3%; Individuals: Jamie 3/4****, Em 1/4, Lindsey 0/1, Kelly 0/3.

RMA FT%: 7/17 41.2%: #25 Boddie 3/6, #5 Coats 2/5, #12 Jackson 2/6.

Rebounds: Team 5off/16def: Kelly 3/5****, Jamie 1/4***, Em, 1/4***, Mer 1/2**, MeganK 0/1*.

Assists: Team 7; Individuals: Lindsey 3***, Jamie 2**, Alex 1*, MeganK 1*.

Steals: Team 7: Individuals: MeganK 3****, Lindsey 2***, Jamie 2***.

Blocks: Team 5****; Jamie 2****, Em 1**, Kelly 1**, Lindsey 1**.

Layups: Team 8/18 44.4%; Individual: Kelly 5/8****, Em 1/2***, Jamie 1/2***, Lindsey 1/5, Mer 0/1,
MeganK 0/1.

T/O's: Team 9: Individual: Lindsey 3, Jamie 2, Alex 1, MeganK 1. This was a good number. We did not have very many unforced turnovers and you expect the girls that handle the ball 80% of the time to have a few. Good Work!


Heart, Heart and Heart! Teams that play with great skill can be good teams but it takes a team that plays with Great Heart and Great Skill to be a Great Team and to be a Champion. As we talk about so much at practice if the other teams gets all the 50/50 loose balls and all the 50/50 rebounds bouncing around in the air you are probably going to get beat and it is usually going to be by a bunch.

I thought the RMA team played better than I had seen them. Their Coach said he was proud of how they played. We had to have the Heart, Focus and Determination to meet that. As I told you in the locker room I was not going to sit there in a zone and let the game be a toss up knowing we could pressure them and win by 7 or 8 points. The Point Zone served its purpose to make sure we had gas in the tank in the second half and not be in foul trouble at the end of the game. If they had been cold from outside (they only had 2 outside shooters #5 and #23) we could have stayed in it longer but they were hot and we did not get out on their shooters quite fast enough in the zone early. They only scored 4 2pt FG's after we went to 24Lockdown with about 4 min to go in the 2nd qtr. Before that in 8 minutes or so they had 3 three's and 2 two's and 5 foul shot attempts.

Girls, we set as a goal 3 Championship Celebrations for this season. Along the way we had so many other wonderful victories that were part of making this a Dream Season. It takes focus, believing in what you are doing and executing what you work on. When you let your thoughts stray very far from your principles it usually costs you. Sometimes it only makes the game closer than it should be. Sometimes it costs you the game. This team had the ability to dig deep and focus on what it was good at the great majority of the time both on offense and defense. Your Reward is all these Championship Trophy's.

Congratulations 2010 Christmas Tournament Champions, 2011 EPIC Regular Season Champions,
2011 EPIC Tournament Champions. It was a dream season and every player on this team should be proud of what this team accomplished.

You Girls have been a wonderful group to coach and be around. I enjoyed everyday of it.

Remember to Enjoy what you have accomplished and let's never forget:

There is no Glory in Defense just Championships. It is not about who we are playing, winning or losing it is about Perfect Execution. The man on top of the mountain did not fall there. You can measure the speed of a race horse with a watch but it takes a race to measure its heart. Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together.

It has been a great season, I was told that the odds against us were stacked too high with Halifax Ac. being one of the smallest 2A schools playing against schools that should be in 3A in our conference. You proved that with focus and attention to detail and playing with talent and heart that was not so. Let's keep it up.

Finally a huge thank you to our fans. They have been great all year. Thursday and Saturday we had a great crowd supporting us. You girls captured the imagination of our Halifax Academy family by playing hard and playing with great skill. It was great to not only have the vocal and moral support of our parents but also the students and other members of our H.A. family that traveled so far to support us yesterdayt. Whenever you get a chance make sure they know how much you and your coach appreciated it. They were truly like having an extra player on our team.

I will post additional information from this season at a later date such a final stats etc. so check back.

***Would you girls that still owe for your Team T-Shirts please get a check for $12.50 to Teresa so we can close our account.*** Also please wash your uniforms and turn them in. If necessary I will set up a day to be at school to collect them. I will talk to our AD and Mr. Wiggs on what can be worked out.


Bland