This is my first season as a head coach. We lost our first five games, then finished the regular season with two wins. Unfortunately, our record does not do us justice as we lost three tight games. Despite the 2-5 record, we were only outscored by eight points on the season (and that includes one player scoring in the wrong hoop!). We played a team with a 5-2 record in the first round of the playoffs and won on Saturday. On to the final four!
This is a picture of my team and you can see me over a player's shoulder standing on the sideline.
Each week, I write a "press release" that I send to parents. Most of them seem to appreciate it and they say they read them with the sixth graders. For me it is just an excuse to tie my writing skills into what I do and I feel like the parents really appreciate me going an extra step or two. Here is this week's post:
Westerville, OH -- The road to the Rike Center and the championship game will require two wins and the Warcats are halfway there.
Despite a 36-33 loss to the Tar Heels in the regular season, the Warcats won in convincing fashion Saturday with a 36-27 win in the first round of the tournament.
After losing Solomon to an injury just a few minutes into the game, the Warcats (3-5) remained strong and led by as many as eight in the first half. A pesky Tar Heels (5-3) press collapsed the lead, but the Warcats rebounded late in the second quarter and never trailed again.
Mitchell led the most balanced Warcat scoring effort of the season with 12 points. Hunter had a season high six points, while Solomon returned in the fourth quarter to score five points including a highlight reel basket. Nathan continued his improved play with four points and three rebounds. Brandon also had four points. Clayton chipped in his his first basket of the season and Austen had three points and the Warcats' only two assists of the game. Josh did not score, but the offense continually ran through him.
The Warcats continued to improve in transition. Nearly everyone was in on the rebounding effort and ball handlers frequently found the open man.
"That was our most complete team effort of the season," coach Anthony said. "I love looking at the scoresheet and seeing marks on nearly every player for both scoring and rebounding, as opposed to having a ton of marks for just one or two players and blank spots for the rest of the team. It is no coincidence at all that the games we have won are the games in which everyone is making a solid contribution."
"Why not us? Why not now?" an impressed Westerville recreation manager Eric Dicke said after the game.
Indeed, the word is out on the Warcats. The coach of the top seeded Blue Bombers told one Warcat parent he does not want to face the Warcats in the playoffs. The undefeated Blue Bombers had their closest call in the regular season against the Warcats, a one point win.
"We played a good game (against the Tar Heels)," coach Matt said. "But we need to play a great game against And1. We need to have a focused practice, continue to share the ball and improve our help defense. Help defense is the key to victory Saturday."
And1 (7-1) is the only thing standing in the way of a championship appearance for the Warcats. That team defeated the Warcats 33-19 in the season opener, but everyone seems to know this is a different Warcat team than the one that showed up in early January.
Practice returns to Robert Frost Elementary on Friday night and the game is Saturday morning at 9:15.
--30--
No comments:
Post a Comment