TOUGHNESS, INTENSITY, COMPETITION

These three words became our Mantra for our game vs CBC this Friday. It started earlier in the week. After coming to a few realizations after our games against UNBC we came into practice fired up and ready to work hard. We really pushed our defense and worked hard on our help side man to man. Most importantly we needed to battle in practice. You practice how you play and if your soft in practice you will be soft in the game. We needed some fire in our eyes and a look that told our opposition, "it ain't gonna be easy for you." 

Friday night we had an outstanding game, especially on the defensive end of the court. We had great play from everyone top to bottom. There was no difference in the competitiveness and work ethic from each player, nothing lost regardless of who was on the floor. WE WERE CONSISTENT on the defensive end of the floor. This needs to become our identity.......toughness, intensity and competition. 

Our first five minutes vs CBC was the last of our poor and inconsistent play leaving our bodies. AFter that we never looked back. 22-13 1st quarter, 19-11 second quarter. I challenged the girls to keep CBC to single digits per quarter. We did not accomplish that goal in the first half but we did in the second half holding CBC to 9 points in the third and 5 in the fourth. Outstanding job defensively. We won the game 74-38. It was not about the win, it was about HOW we won. Its not if you lose, its HOW you lose. Simply, we must be better, tougher, never giving an inch to anyone, especially in our own house. No excuses. We need to carry this attitude into every game, playing beyond our abilities against the top teams. David vs Goliath. Courage, life and death attitude. Being nice works well off the court. We need to be physical and tough. We must carry this into our game vs Camosun. They are the top team in our league and ranked third in Canada. Wow, what an opportunity for us to see where we are at. To see where are heads are at. Will we go into this game scared and without confidence or will we walk into war with a team who expects to have their way with us? Will we be able to look our teammates in the eye after our game and know that we did all we could, win or lose? I am excited to find out.

Nicola Hitchcock had an All Canadian game and stat line.......22 pts, 16 rebounds and went 8/8 from the free throw line. Nicola can and will be a 20/10 player in this league. Outstanding performance. Charlotte Lau was our defensive stopper again and held their best player down to 2 points and 1-6 shooting. She also contributed 14 points. Britt Harteveld had a good game with 14 points but it was her defense that impressed me the most. Chelsey also had a great performance defensively. Allie Chalke had 9 rebounds and became much more aggressive offensively inside. Jaci ran a great offense, especially against their zone. It was a huge team effort. 

Thanks to the parents, friends and family who were there to support us and thanks so much to Jen, Andrew and the home crew for their work. You guys did a great job and we really appreciate it. 

See you this weekend......Coach Hann