Still Striving

Mid-Season Report  

      

We are formally at the midway point of our season in terms of games played. Three tournaments done and three tournaments to go. Fortunately the next three tournaments are the most crucial in determination of the success of our season. The next one coming up is at Brock University , then we have the very competitive Blessed Sacrament tournament which is a super warm-up and preview of what we can expect t for the years final tournament. The year concludes with the provincial championship where everything we have done throughout the season comes to fruition. The mid-season ranking came out yesterday and we are ranked where I suspected. Number three in the province is something to be very proud. We have beaten the number two team but they also beat the number one team so I am happy where we are ranked. 

We are still the hunters seeking the number one spot and it is safe to say that beating the top team will be our focus after March break. Prior to that we will be getting back to work on the fundamentals again. One thing that makes our team successful and dangerous is our ability to have both an inside and outside game but our downfall has been being able to incorporate both aspects into the same game. With our two main inside players recovery from injuries, sprained ankle and concussion, the decision to put the emphasis on shooting and our perimeter game is an easy one.

Our tournament last weekend was very successful in terms of what was achieved off the court. The team learned that they can compete with teams in an age group higher, team bonding was evident and they had an opportunity to meet and talk with a coach from the college level. On-court we played very well for two games coming out with a win and close loss but we fell apart in third game and played probably our second worse game of season. The one redeeming factor of the third game was that we lost by such a big margin that we did not have to play later in evening and got to spend more time together as a team. During the weekend we did see some great things, including the ability of the girls to beat a strong press which I attribute to their intense practices against the girls that I brought out to challenge them. Also we did see more girls step up their level of play and attack the basket a lot more. We are slowly becoming less reliant on having only one or two players be the sole determinants of our offense.

As a coach I remain very pleased and excited for we have accomplished to date and wait in anticipation for what the remainder of the season holds for us.