Cinderella and the King

Congrats go out to the Reagan Lady Rattlers girls basketball team for taking the 5A Region IV Championship, earning them a trip to Austin and the Final Four.

They had a deep team of quality players. They demonstrated team ball with 4 starters in double figures. They played tough defense holding the Wagner Lady Thunderbirds to 4 points in the 3rd quarter essentially locking up the game. They made the plays and had less turnovers.

Wagner had turnovers when they needed to make a run. They never adjusted to Tessa Ramirez, enabling her to go on a scoring run by herself in the 2nd period. They couldn't seem to put the ball in the basket when they needed too in the critical 3rd period. Desperation crept in and it was too little too late in the 4th.

The Lady Rattlers were steady all year while the Lady Thunderbirds were up and down. Somehow the game mirrored their basketball seasons.

Wagner does not have anything to be ashamed of. They had a magical fairy tale of a playoff run. They beat a Johnson team ready to explode in to the basketball scene, they beat a very deep savvy Jay team, they upset a strong talented Churchill group and took care of a good Del Rio team. They have a strong core coming back. They made a great run with unbelievable comebacks, game winning shots, clutch free throws, buzzer beating half court shots and a little bit of magic.

The only thing, the clock reached midnight and reality checked in.

In the process, CINDERELLA lost a slipper and was sent home.

Every team sent home early is living with WHAT IF'S......... except one, it's living a Fairy Tale......

Hail to the new KING from Region IV!

REAGAN LADY RATTLERS

Better to be Lucky than Good

The local 5A Girls Basketball season is quickly coming to an end with 4 teams vying for a trip to Austin.

Steele Lady Knights are making a run and seem to be peaking at the right time. They have been playing with confidence and with a mindset that they can't be beat. It almost seems that part of their arsenal is to intimidate their opponents to submission. If they get in a groove in a game, they will be hard to stop because of their talent, athletic ability and most important, they really want to kick some behind. They might benefit if they utilize their inside game more as well as their bench, as they move further along.

Reagan Lady Rattlers are in a position many have predicted before the season started. Even without one their top scorers from last year in the beginning of the season, they have been steady throughout the year. What's tough for any opposing team is who do you focus on to stop defensively? The team has too many players that can legitimately hurt you inside and out. If their defense plays at a high level, they will be a tough out.

Wagner Lady Thunderbirds might be a team of destiny. Two times they have overcome the brink of elimination against two tough teams in Johnson and Jay. You might begin to think that maybe fate has something to do with their success. They have a very athletic group of guards with an added inside game to boot. They seem to adapt offensively and defensively better than any team left in the field to whatever the opposing team throws at them. They have to control their turnovers if they want to continue making a run. 

Churchill Lady Chargers are also in a predictable position. They were one of the favorites coming in to the season. No one yet has even come close to challenging them in the playoffs. Will they continue to steamroll through their competition? Will the lack of stiff competition hurt them when they play a team that comes down to the wire? Is everyone healthy and at 100%? A lot of talent and skill especially at the guard position makes them a favorite if they are clicking on all cylinders.

So Steele vs Reagan and Wagner vs Churchill, who is going to come out on top?

With all the X's and O's, game strategies and overall breaking down of possible key match-ups, let's keep it simple: Defense, Control the Paint, Limit Turnovers, Make Layups and Make Free Throws.

Who has the advantage? 

With so close competition and evenly matched teams, well maybe, just maybe........

......Sometimes its Better to be Lucky than Good.

Go Support Girls High School Basketball!

Simple but Complex

In just the first few days of Girl-Sanity High School Basketball, how many games have been decided by either made or missed free throws?

How can someone that practices endlessly at the free throw line miss when it counts at the end of the game? How can someone that doesn't practice or not even shoot a high percentage make their free throws when it counts at the end of the game?

Is it mental.... is it nerves...... is it luck.....

Maybe its not that simple.

In these times, with all the shooting specialists available, training guides, training equipment etc., it seems free throw percentages are getting worse.

NBA great, Rick Barry shot the free throw Underhanded (Granny Style) and ranks 3rd all time in shooting percentage with .900 mark. Compare that to Superman Dwight Howard's .600 career percentage. If Superman's free throw percentage averaged .900 like Rick Barry, his career scoring average would jump from 18.3 to 21 points a game.

Maybe because of our DNA, we are all wired different. Let's face it, we all react different when we are put in pressure situations. I remember back in school how some kids dreaded going to the front of the class to make a presentation. Some of these very same kids were top in academics for the class and very well versed and prepared. But as soon as they got in front of the class, all their circuits would shut down. Then you would have some kids that would go up like they were naturals even though they were not well prepared. 

So whatever the science behind it, whatever theory you might want to agree with, whatever proper mechanics you believe in, Free Throws matter!

So when the game is over and it is pretty close in the scoreboard, you might want to talk about the referees or coaching. You might be in cloud 9 because your team won or simply devastated because the season just came to an end. The last thing in your mind might be Free Throws.

But I would bet that .900 % of the time (Rick Barry's Free Throw %}, the game was decided by either made or missed free throws and not by any Underhanded trick (Rick Barry's Free Throw shooting method)!

So with the Girl High School playoffs in full swing, how many more wins or loses are going to be decided and come down to the Simple but Complex.......FREE THROW!

Go support Girls High School Basketball

ST GEORGE EPISCOPAL DRAGONS

NOT IN OUR HOUSE!

ST George Episcopal Dragons 8th grade Basketball team goes 23-0 to end the season as ISAL District Champions. Led by Coach Fred Copeland, the girls overcame numerous obstacles to keep their two year undefeated streak alive going 46-0 in that span.
PICTURED LEFT TO RIGHT: ALEXIA, NICOLE, MIRANDA, HANNA, LESLIE, GABRIELLE, MOLLY, LAUREN, ELIE, VAEDA AND TARA.

Something to Prove

High School Girl-Sanity Basketball is in full swing. If the first full day of action is any indication of things to come, it will be a shame if you don't go out to see first hand what everyone leaving the UTSA Convocation Center last night was saying, "AMAZING!".

In what almost seemed as an under card to the main event, O'Connor's freshman Amber Vidal helped pick up the slack with her teammates when their big time player Ebony Easter had to sit with foul trouble. Vidal and Easter both finished with 13 points, in putting away a combative Southwest team that simply didn't want to go away till the deciding last part of the game.

Johnson vs Wagner took the stage in what possibly seemed to be a changing of the guard in Girls High School basketball. Wagner, a perennial powerhouse trying to find an identity with the departure of so much great talent, trying desperately to prove they still are a team to contend with. Johnson, a young super talented group of young ladies trying to define an identity for themselves and their High School, trying to desperately prove they belong with the city's powerhouse teams by getting their first win in school history and making a long run in the playoffs.

Both teams had something to prove........

There were spectacular plays as well as careless mistakes. There were strengths and weaknesses on both sides. Just as a player was tentative and unsure the next second they were aggressive and confident. Missed opportunities were plenty on both sides with unpredictable and unforeseen opportunities for players not expected  to play much.

With so much to prove, how could it have been settled in just any regular common way. 

With so much to prove, how could it have been settled in regulation or one overtime.

With so much to prove, an unexpected hero, Johnson senior Sarah Allen, went to the line and made both two free throws to give the Jaguars a 58-57 lead with 33 seconds left.

With so much to prove, it could have only ended in dramatic fashion......

Freshman Kiauna Clark hit the game-winning shot in the second overtime with about 3 seconds to go, essentially giving Wagner the win.

This only proves that more great action is yet to come in the days ahead.

Go and Support Girl-Sanity High School Basketball!

Oh What a Night

On Friday, February 3rd, 2012, I made the short trip to witness a girls High School  game between the Floresville Lady Tigers vs Victoria East Lady Titans. I was expecting and hoping for a good game. What I got was a Show that almost left me speechless.

For starters, the Floresville gym was standing room only as half the town of Floresville was there to witness and support the boys and girls Varsity teams. The backdrop was set for what became an old fashion duel of wits, heart, desire, passion and wills.

The game was played full court, fast paced with non stop action between two 4A state ranked teams. It was intense and wild as the home court fans cheered on endlessly trying to will their team to victory.

 Just when you thought that one team had an edge, the other one would come back and make a run. What was crazy, each team forced each other to an extreme number of forced turnovers. Each team withstood knockdown blows, just to get up and give some themselves. In the last quarter the lead seemed to change hands every second. There were more key and clutch plays by both teams in the last two minutes than you normally see in a whole game.

What was more impressive is that after running back and down for all the game, kids could still manage to have the strength, stamina and endurance to hit big shots at the end. One in particular from Erica Hernandez seemed to come from mid court by the corner no less.

Justifiably so, the game couldn't be decided in regulation. There was at least 4 times in the last minutes that you might want to say "OK that might be it".  Momentum swung back and forth at a violent pace.

In 4 minutes overtime, Victoria East scored 17 points to 10 for Floresville to win 87-80. OK stay with me a minute. Floresville's 10 points in overtime were at a pace to score 80 points in a game. Which under normal circumstances and over 90% of the time would mean a blowout win. At Victoria East's pace, they would have scored a whopping 136 points. Still not impressed. This came after just playing and running nonstop up and down the court for 32 Minutes in regulation!

Girls High School Basketball at its best! And the playoffs having even started. Don't miss out on the action. Go out and Support Girls Basketball!

You might come away speechless with only flashbacks of what you just witnessed.

As I walked to my car I gathered my thoughts........What a GAME....

Oh What a Night........For Girls Basketball.

MVP

The Super Bowl has come and gone.  The New York Giants are the Super Bowl Champions! Eli Manning is the MVP!

One play in particular will live on in the annals of history of the game. Eli Manning threw an almost perfect pass for a 38 yard reception at a crucial point of the game. But without great protection and blocking from his offensive line and without a spectacular catch by his receiver, we might not be talking about Eli Manning and the New York Giants.  Deservedly as a society we like to praise and talk about the Stars of the teams but I want to give some credit to the players and teammates behind the scenes.

The 2011-2012 Girls High School regular season is coming to an end tonight for most of the local San Antonio area teams. Although some schools will advance to the playoffs, for many it ends tonight. And that means in the next few weeks all Seniors will be playing their last games for their High School careers. Many of these players are not Star athletes that are constantly or consistently being written or talked about. But for many, they are vital contributors to their teams. They participated in all the same practices as the Star players. They all did the same hard work. They all put in the same time. They all had to sacrifice.

Some had big roles, some had small roles and some didn't play much at all. 

But for every team win, no matter what, they won.......

For every loss, they lost......

For every tournament championship, they are champions......

For every District title, they are District Champs.......

And for every Star player, they are there behind the scenes on the court providing rebounds, points, assists etc. or off the court providing encouragement and support!

A lot of Seniors like Marshall's Kaitlyn Goertz will play their last game for their High Schools.

For all the hard work, dedication, commitment, and accomplishments,

You all are the unsung MVP's!