Well, there were no pink flamingos in the pool, but this last Friday night was its own crazy blur as your Spartans shot the (Friday Night) lights out with an offensive fireworks display that had jaws dropping and made the crowd roar. 72-37 final score, with 9 out of our 9 players scoring? I think I need a ginger ale!

 

As you would expect, lots of things went right this game. In fact, after Les Riverains scored the first basket of the night on a jumper, the Red & White went on a crazy-fun 20-point run fueled by steals, breakaway layups and endless waves of attack. Marie-Rivier kept pressing us full-court, but Melissa and Sara and (a calmer) Camryn kept breaking it and setting us up for early offence. And when we missed, Maddie and Henni were there on the offensive glass for the putback. 20 points in a row – this is how we do it when everything’s clicking.

 

The second quarter featured more of the same high-octane transition offence, and we went into halftime up

42-13. But the second half would present a different challenge, as the coaches told the team there would be no more fast breaks. For the rest of the game, we would exclusively run our offence, no transition. The players’ reaction? Not happy. The players’ execution? FANTASTIC, as we ran Parker better than ever before, consistently creating contested layups, short jumpers or sexy little pick n roll buckets. When Sara said to me after the game, “Wow, I get it now, there are so many options,” I knew how valuable that second half was going to be for us going forward.

 

BTW, the efficiency with which we scored was insane. Usually high school players shoot around 30% from the field. But check out these numbers:

 

Camryn (4 for 9) – 44%

Bernie (4 for 9) – 44%

Maddie (5 for 10) – 50%

Melissa (9 for 14) – 64%

Henni (5 for 6) – 83%

 

Those are CRAZY shooting percentages, a testament to the high-quality looks we were giving ourselves. In fact, as a team we shot 35 for 84 for 42%, which is absurdly high for high school.

 

Highlight Of The Night – Valerie Lin gaining the free throw line and finding Bernadette von Campenhausen on the roll for a PPPP: Picture-Perfect-Parker-Play – Suh-Weet!

 

Player Of The Game – the aforementioned Bernie V (8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals), brand new to basketball at the start of the season, and who seems to get better every day.

 

So this was our last game before heading into the December Break. As expected, we’ve been hot and cold so far this season, especially in terms of consistent intensity, but we have come a long way in a short time. In October, we were at best a dark horse to win the RSEQ league (which SC has never done). But now, at

3-0, we’re legit in the hunt. And even better, we will hit the funnest (yes, it’s a word!) stretch of our season when we return in January, starting with our first ever invite to New Brunswick (with our senior boys team) for The Top Of The Hill Tournament.

 

But you’ve earned this rest, ladies, at least from games. See you in practice, good luck on your mid-terms, enjoy your Christmas break, and when you return wide awake in January get ready to “Do it ALL again!”

 

- Coaches Van Dyke & Wolfe

 

Overall Record:  9 wins 3 losses      

Points for per game:  42.0     Points allowed per game:  24.9