State tournament

The 2008-2009 season of the HSRC Patriots/Crete Challengers is in the books. The word of the season, I think, is "improvement". Even though the record didn't show it, the girls got better and better throughout the year, and probably finished with their best game of the year.

But first, let's review the opening game of the state tournament. As mentioned in an earlier post, we were seeded fourth so we opened against Gurnee HRK (Home Run Kids). This team has won all the state tournaments held to date, and we got to see why first hand.

They're really good. Like IHSA good. Like having a six-foot point guard good.

It's a really good thing the girls have improved as much as they have, or this game would have really been ugly. As it was, #15, the point guard, pretty much did whatever she wanted. Our girls played very aggressively, but these girls were so talented and played so well as a team, there wasn't much we could do. HRK also played very good defense, giving the Patriots almost no open looks, and got us so flustered that we didn't see the ones we had. They also pressed nearly continuously. The score at the end of one quarter was 15-2.

The second quarter was much better, at least on defense. A big part of the reason was that #15 spent most of the quarter on the bench, but that was not the only reason. Coach Boss switched to an innovative 1-1-3 defense, mostly to protect the baseline while still covering the 8-10 foot shot in the lane, which HRK hurt us with in the first. HRK's defense still was intense, but we did hold them to 1-for-13 shooting.

#15 came back in to start the second half, and when she wasn't hitting short jumpers and layups, she was making free throws. She scored ten of her team's twenty points in the quarter. HRK went to the line seven times in the quarter, hitting six. The Patriots picked up the offense a little themselves in the quarter, scoring six and none of them from Kara. Becca, Rachel and Lee each hit a shot to total the six. But it still was 39-10 at the end of the quarter.

In the fourth, HRK kept up their offense, even though #15 was on the bench most of the quarter. They hit six of fifteen shots and a free throw to get to their total. Our girls picked up another six, all by Kara. The final was 52-16. (NOTE: We did hear that HRK won the championship game, 40-12.)

Kara led in scoring with eight while Becca had four and Rachel and Lee had two each. Becca had nine rebounds, Alyssa had three assists and Kara had three steals. Alyssa, Becca, Rachel and Lee - yes, Lee - each had a block. Kara had eight turnovers. The Patriots shot 22% from the field while HRK hit at a 36% clip. HRK took 23 more shots than our girls. They also shot 18 free throws to our two.

After a short break, the Patriots face Appletree Kings for third place. Our girls started out looking tired and intimidated. Appletree had three girls that were at least 5'11" and they used that height to their advantage. They also had a good little point guard. We had a lot of turnovers (nine) in the quarter, and all this resulted in a 14-3 disadvantage at the end of one.

The second wasn't much better. Our girls hit one field goal out of nine attempts and one free throw (Becca). We "held" Appletree to only eleven. So it looked like another blowout, with the Patriots trailing by nineteen at half.

Now, I'm not sure if I recall correctly, but I think Appletree scored the first couple of baskets in the third, extending their lead to 23, but the girls started hitting some shots, seemingly inspired by Alyssa's three. Becca and Rachel each hit a shot, Kara hit a couple and the Patriots managed to shave one point off the lead to go into the fourth trailing 35-17.

Then in the fourth, Appletree stopped making their shots. Our girls started playing more aggressively (the refs were letting almost everything go). Kara hit consecutive threes and suddenly it was twelve-point game. After a lull in scoring, Rachel got a free throw and another basket, Kara got another one and the Patriots were back in the game, down only seven. Then the girls started having trouble getting shots off and turning the ball over. Finally the girls had to foul to get the ball back, and since they didn't really know how to foul while not making it look like they were trying to foul, it resulted in an intentional foul call. Appletree ended up making four of eight free throws down the stretch and winning by eleven, 39-28. That fourth was very exciting for those of us watching in the stands, and it may represent the best quarter they played all year. A very nice way to finish the season.

Kara had seventeen in the game, Rachel had five and Becca and Alyssa had three each. Becca had twelve rebounds, and shared the team lead in assists with Lee, each having two. Three girls got one steal and Rachel had two blocks. On the negative side, Kara had six turnovers, Alyssa had five and Becca had four. The Patriots shot 27% from the floor; Appletree shot 29%, but took fourteen more shots. They also took 13 free throws (making seven) compared to two of four by our girls.

Banquet on Thursday. I will recap the season after that, including extensive statistics.