After the first round of league, we aren’t sitting where we had hoped we would be, but we are still pretty well positioned. The depth and strength of our league was evident throughout the first 5 games.
As far as league standings go, we still control our own future as far as finishing in the top 2 in league to claim an automatic playoff berth. However, for the time being, we are working hard at remaining focused on the present and not the weeks ahead.
We have a huge home game on Friday (tonight at 5:30 pm at Bruin Arena) against Cascade Christian that will break a tie for second place one way or the other. They beat us at their place and it is our hope that we can return the favor when they travel here.
As the season has progressed, we’ve started to find our way a bit defensively. The girls have really bought into the importance of playing stifling defense night in and night out. Because of that, we’ve been able to win our last two league games on nights when we didn’t shoot like we are capable of. Instead, we relied on our defense to create extra opportunities for us and keep teams off the scoreboard.
We’ve gotten great playoff our bench that has given us much-needed depth game in and game out. As players have started to accept and understand their roles, they have begun to thrive in those spots. That can be a long, hard process, but we are so much better when we have 12 girls out there focused on doing what’s best for the team by starring in their role, no matter how big or small it may seem at the time.
We recently made a couple of changes in the starting lineup in hopes that we would be stronger defensively to start games to set the tone and then bring in more offensive firepower off the bench.
That move has paid off great dividends for us. Senior guard Avana Pettus #10 has been incredible for us defensively. She leads our team in steals and has terrorized opposing guards over the past few games. When she is in the game, we play at a much different pace. We are always trying to play fast, but she is able to operate at a pace that is incredibly fast for us.
Alonna Nalls has also moved into the starting lineup and has given us a sense of toughness that we seemed to be lacking. She is a great rebounder and relentless defender. Her stat lines will rarely do her justice as she impacts the game in so many little ways for us.
We hope to continue getting the stellar play we’ve gotten out of those two recently, combined with the efforts of the other girls around them. When this team is clicking on all cylinders, they are fun to watch and capable of beating anybody on the schedule.
