GAME 1 Capilano Tournament. "Wake Up Call."

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Raining heavy here today in Squamish. Yes, game 1 vs the Capilano Blues was a bit of a wake up call for the Quest Kermodes. Capilano Blues are ranked 7th in Canada right now and they showed their early season form by establishing their defensive game from the tip . They were very physical and quick to the ball which gave our ball handlers nightmares trying to initiate our offense. We didn't have much of a warmup and it showed with numerous turnovers early on as a result of their defensive intensity. They also pressed us most of the game and up to this point we had not worked on any of our press breaks. The girls did show composure when the press was applied and seemed to handle the pressure alright learning on the fly and getting some good scoring chances out of the break. It was the initiation of our half court offense that caused us the most problems. Defensively we worked pretty hard but I really felt we did not come into this game ready to compete. Capilano, as most good teams will, easily exposed our weaknesses. This is why we play exhibition games, to get ourselves ready for league play and to show us exactly where we stand. It was a long night and I give the girls a lot of credit for trying to battle against a very good team. We take a lot of pride in our free throw shooting but even that let us down as we went 4-16 from the free throw line. I attribute this to a lack of focus and mental toughness. Technically we are good free throw shooters but there is a big difference between making them in practice and making them in a game situations. We also struggled all weekend with making our layups. We missed numerous opportunities which means we have to get into the gym individually to work on this aspect of our game. We have to take pride in our game and practice like we want to play. Against good teams you HAVE to make your free throws and layups to even have a chance of competing. We did not do this and as a result we lost 71-29. It was a very frustrating game for all of us but it was a great learning opportunity. I challenged the girls to be ready mentally to play each game and every minute of each game. I believe we gave Cap too much credit, we did not step up to the individual challenges presented by the opposition. We played nervous and fearful when really there is nothing to be fearful of. We just have to go out there and not give away anything to great teams and great players. We must look our opposition in eye and prove to them that they are in for a war whenever they play the Kermodes. This we have to learn. We need to be tougher. With this loss we moved to the consolation side of the tournament and a Saturday meeting with Columbia Bible College. Charlotte Lau was the only Kermode in double digits with 11 points.