HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS

Boys Basketball Practice – Monday, January 28

Practices on Monday are not nearly as fun as a practice any other day of the week.  Limited gym space dictates drills and conditioning with an occasional new play tossed in.   The drills become repetitious and at times it’s hard to maintain your focus.  With that in mind, we try to introduce new drills as much as possible.  The time has come for us to try a couple of 3 point shots in a game.  Trey Barnes made four 3 pointers in our scrimmage last Friday.  We implemented a new inbounds play that will open up either Trey or Nate for a three point attempt. 

The team huddle centered around success since there are only four weeks left in the season.  The players were asked if they thought the team has been a success so far and what it would take to be successful the last four weeks.  How do the coaches evaluate success?  How do the parents?  How does the school?   If the players take the principles thay have learned on the basketball court and apply to their life off the court and their life in the future, then the season has been successful.  Go the extra mile, play with all your heart, don’t ever give up, are just a few but they can change the direction of your life.

Conditioning is the least fun thing in basketball but the most important.  On Monday’s we do defensive slide around the half court.  None of the players like this drill because it takes so much out of you  and your legs get tired very quickly.  The players run a set then continue walking around the court until the next set.  Coach called four 5 sets with the opportunity to shoot their way out of the last three.  As the players were walking around the court Josh Black stepped to the line and knocked down the free throw.  The pressure is extreme on the shooter because if he misses, they run.  Coach called for the next player to step to the line.  Nate Johnson stepped up and once again made the free throw.  The players were down to one set left and were still walking around the court.  Coach  stated that if the next player shooting made the shot, practice would be over.  Matthew Pedemonte walked to the line, calmly eyed the shot, and swish – end of practice. 

The game tonight is scheduled for 7:30 at Carmal Baptist.  Players should be dressed and ready to go by 7:00. 

MARCH MADNESS

St. Stephen’s 18 – Arborbrook 17 

It may have been only January 25, but March Madness was in full swing for the Lady Falcons on Friday night. The Lady Falcons had split the previous two games with St Stephens and were looking forward to another great game. With Mariah and Johanna out of town, the team was ready to step up big and fill the gap.

The Lady Falcon’s intensity was set early by Victoria Rogers. Her tenacious and gutsy defense set the stage right away, and left no doubt, that Arborbrook was here to play ball. While St Stephens out shot the Lady Falcons by a great margin, the Lady Falcon defense and rebounding made it difficult for those shots to come from a high percentage area.

On the offensive side, the Lady Falcons struggled at times to execute against St Stephen’s high pressure defense with aggressive penetration and confident shooting. But in the style of March Madness, the Lady Falcons found themselves two points down, with the ball, and just seconds left looking at a full court press. After a solid inbounds pass from Siara, Olivia took the ball the length of the court driving deep along the baseline. As the last second clicked off the scoreboard, Olivia exploded from underneath the backboard to drop a ball just over the rim as the buzzer went off. The game went to overtime!

The game continued to be a real nail biter for the entire three minute overtime period. The game again came down to seconds left with the Lady Falcons using their last time out to set up a final inbounds pass and an attack to the bucket. St Stephens high pressure defense of the passing lanes proved too much this time as the Lady Falcons ran out of time, coming up short by just one point to end the game.

The team continues to improve every game and looks forward to the next game that will be played this Saturday, February 2, at Weddington United Methodist Church at 6:00pm.