Lakeville South Girls Basketball Association

 

 

The 8A team capped off a strong first half of the season with another tournament Championship, winning their 4th tournament of the season so far. The girls used stiff defense, aggressive rebounding, and strong execution in the 2nd halves of all three games to defeat Eden Prairie, Lakeville North and Hopkins. After a slow offensive first half against EP in the first game, the girls built off the strong defense they played in the first half holding EP to 8 points to propel them to a 28 point second half to win the game 39-27. The lead swelled to almost 20 points mid-way through the half and due to some hot, streaky shooting from EP the final gap was a 12 point win. Eight of the 9 girls scored in the game, along with 8/10 free throw shooting down the stretch to seal the victory.

 

In the second game we were matched up against our cross town rival, Lakeville North, who came out ready to play and to get some revenge for their loss to the girls earlier in the season. After a relatively low scoring, back and forth battle in the 1st half the game was tied at 15 at halftime. Early in the second half we jumped out to a lead and held the lead through the rest of the game. The girls played very aggressively getting to ball to basket and forcing the action inside which led to many free throw opportunities which the girls capitalized on, making 12 of 13 free throws in the 2nd half and propelling them to a 40-35 win. When North brought the pressure late in the game as they needed to get the ball, the girls executed with good ball movement, they took care of the ball eliminating turnovers, and calmly made free throws putting the game away.

 

In the Championship we were matched up against Hopkins for the first time this season. They came out and played well putting pressure on our girls defensively causing us to have a rough half shooting the ball with more turnovers than normal. However, the defense was excellant and tough for Hopkins to crack and get good shots. The girls had a nice run in the last 3 minutes of the 1st half and opened up a cushion leading 12-6. After halftime, the tempo picked up a little and the shooting by both teams improved with the lead staying about where it was at halftime. As the half went on, it was time for girls to decide they needed to step up and make plays to claim the championship. Special recognition needs to go out Bree Miller for her really taking the lead on the offensive end, creating her own shots as well as creating shots for teammates that they knocked down which propelled us out to a more comfortable 12 point lead and ultimately an 11 point win 38-27. Way to go Cougars!!

 

 

Champions Roseville Premier 8A Division Tournament!! What a great weekend of BB for the girls! We started out the tournament playing Woodbury. The girls really got into their rythm with their full court pressing defense and fast break game that created lots of baskets. It was a good offensive team performance with virtually everyone scoring to lead us to the win 35-20.

We played a perennial rival Osseo/Maple Grove in our 2nd game. We had all watched them play a strong first half against Eastview where they led so the girls knew we needed to get off to good start and be aggressive. The girls responded great to the challenge and played the best half of BB they've played this season jumping out to a 20-6 lead at halftime. Again we had scoring from everyone on the roster and the passing was outstanding. In the end, after weathering a comeback effort from a strong team we won the game 33-27. We felt really good about the way we played for the majority of the game and took away from it some good learning lessons and areas to improve with our play at the end of the game with the lead.

The Osses/MG win led us into the championship game against our ongoing rival Eastview. Unlike like last year where we played each other 7 times, this was our first meeting of the season and the excitement and anticipation was high on both sides of the court. The girls were really focused for the game and ready for the challenge. At the beginning our girls quickly knew this was going to be a typical Eastview battle because they made 2 quick long shots, one a 3 pointer, and jumped out to a 7-2 lead. After a timeout we made a couple adjustments and gave a few reminders, and the momentum quickly shifted. The girls went on a nice run and took a lead and held it for the majority of the half with eventually a tie game at halftime, 19-19. The 2nd half had multiple runs for each team and momentum shifts, and both teams lived up to their billing as excellent teams because both responded well, answered basket for basket, made really good plays, were clutch, and played with alot of pride. In the end the girls made free throws down the stretch, took care of the ball, and played smart and in control in a high stress situation, winning the game 35-31. Eastview deserves alot of credit for how well they played and that they never gave up and played hard to the end.

I couldn't be prouder of how well the girls performed, how well they played teamball, and how maturely they went about their business this weekend.

The 8A team won another championship at the Lakeville North Tournament! The first game we beat Chanhassen with a good overall team performance highlighted by strong shut down defense only allowing 19 points. Most of the team scored and all the girls rebounded strong and played good defense. The 2nd game we played a tough Lakeville North team that came out on fire with lots of energy. We found ourselves down early and with some foul trouble the girls rallied, tightened up their defense, and had a nice comeback win against a team that kept fighting and competing hard. The difference proved to be taking the defense up a level, generating steals and turnovers, and converting them to baskets. After giving up 23 points in the first half, we held North to 11 in the second half. The championship was against one of perennial rivals Wayzata. We were the ones who got off to a fast start gaining an early lead on the Trojans. We take our hats off to Wayzata as they hung in there, continued to play hard, turned up their defensive pressure, and had some extremely hot shooting in the 2nd half to close the gap throughout the 2nd half. The girls did a great job of not getting flustered or paniced and they took care of the ball down the stretch to get the W. We learned a few things this tournament with our play and the circumstances that will continue to make this team stronger such as coming out with high energy, needing to meet the intensity level of the competitor, and playing through the whole game.

 

  

Prior Lake Tournament 11/12-13- 8A Champions!!               

 

Eden Prairie Tournament 11/5-6-

It's always exciting playing the first game and tournament of the season and this year we found ourselves with a big challenge in this game with only 6 players and playing Wayzata, a strong team. With Bri and Lela missing for the weekend and Mariah gone for this game, we knew a good, strong effort from everyone to compete and win was required. The girls had to adjust their play as Wayzata's strong inside game presented challenges and had success early. All the girls stepped up their defense, we got some steals and shot the ball well. We had the lead down to 4 with a couple minutes left and fell a little short in the end. After this game we came out fast and jumped way ahead of the Monarchs in the first half scoring 26 points. The 2nd half our girls as a team learned a few things in regard to keeping their focus, concentration, and energy up when we have a big lead. We made it through the 2nd half and came out with our first win of the season.

 

We played Orono in our next game and got off to a very poor start and found ourselves down by alot early. I think again our entire team including the coaches learned some things this half, and we came out of the blocks the 2nd half with intense full court defense, got lots of steals and competed to the end which was great to see. Even though we didn't come out on top we made a great comeback and had a chance to win the game. There were alot of positives coming out of that game. The girls learned that even without Lela and Bri, they are a strong team and can play some real good basketball when they relax, work as a team, and individually step up when asked to do some things that maybe they aren't normally called upon to do. Working through the struggles in 2 of the halves during the tournament illustrated to them they all have to do their jobs well to succeed as a team.