Varsity Girls Basketball - Picking up right where they left off in December, the Girls Varsity Basketball Badgers held their opponent to just one field goal in the entire first half. Their defense was suffocating - whether it was of the full or half court variety. Juli has improved her lateral speed, deflecting the ball away from opposing guards. Ginger leapt into action, diving on the floor and earning another possession for Tandem. The ball would eventually travel into Maya's hands - and her lights out shooting streak continues! Maya has now scored in double digits for three consecutive games, all Tandem victories, and has converted from three point land in all of them. Tonight, Maya had a game-high 12 points, eight rebounds and six steals! Sheesh!
MS Girls Basketball - With 6:00 to go in the contest, the score was tied at 18. Zoey made a beautiful inbounds pass to Sam, who spotted Zuri posting up on the block. Zuri turned, used the backboard, and gave Tandem the lead. On the ensuing possession, Peabody tried to work the ball into the paint. Sam deflected the pass, got the ball and got the ball ahead to Hadley who dribbled to the right wing. Zuri was posting up again. When Zuri got the ball, she turned and faked a shot. With the defender in the air, Zuri stepped through and scored another lay up.
It has been exactly thirty three days since our lengthy post game conversation at CCS. Bruised and battered, Zuri sat in the middle of our circle with ice on her thumb and shoulder, while we reflected on our execution - defensively, on our baseline out of bounds plays, and in our half court offense. The team was frustrated - we had trailed by just one point at the end of the first quarter, despite the fact that both Sam and Hadley were saddled with foul trouble. The deficit was only four points at halftime, and over the course of the game our team scored what was, at the time, our largest offensive output of the season (17 points.) Still, we lost by 7.
In the days since, this squad has put in an enormous amount of work, pushing one another each day in practice. So it was no surprise to me that our full court press looked rather different today. CCS quite literally had no space to operate - Sam stole the ball on their first four possessions. Hattie, just like in practice on Friday, forced the ball to the left side - and the turnovers just kept coming. The Badgers converted those steals into six quick points, forcing a CCS timeout.
6th Grade Boys Basketball - The Badgers are back in the Den, and the 6th Grade Boys took advantage of their opportunity for more playing time. Eli was smooth right off the opening tip, faking a pass to a teammate and driving down the middle. He used this move throughout the game, resulting in two trips to the line, a three pointer, and 11 total points! Will got to the line as well, and was constantly in attack mode! He made both foul shots. The Badgers led 8-7 after the first quarter, and Kai got the scoring going. He used a quick first step, got the defender on his hip, and beat him to the basket. Kai had 6 in the first period, and finished with 12. He worked closely with Gabriel, who had several assists, using an effective give and go.
Rebounding was a huge emphasis for the Middle School Boys today, and Gabriel and Odin understood the assignment. Boxing out a taller opponent, Gabriel snatched the ball out of the air, passing it ahead to Trenton, who got Tandem on the board early with a tough lay-up. The next CCA trip ended with an Elias rebound, as he worked hard to solidify possession. He passed it ahead to Kai, who knocked in one of his three triples on the afternoon. The Badgers led 7-6 after 1.