February 5
Who are these guys and who lets them in the building?
[It’s amazing how often the JV game turns out to be a reflection of the upcoming varsity game. Knowing the game against Sauk Rapids-Rice was likely not to be competitive, I would have opted for going to the boys hockey game. But I had a scheduling faux pas and had promised Brad the basketball game. It turned out good. The old girls hockey super fans (us!) always preferred the girls game because when the boys have testosterone flair-ups it’s like a 20-car pile-up on the interstate with more players in the penalty box than on the bench – and that, apparently, is what happened last night . . . ]
[Did you check the security cameras for any Kim Kardashian sightings?]
[It was a combined “Fight Cancer” night with glow sticks distributed to one and all.]
[Cardinal assistant coach Julie Wrobel lines the teams up for photos . . . ]
[Pre-tipoff meanderings . . . ]
[And here we go . . . ]
[McKenzie Duwenhoegger (35) gets the tap . . . ]
[Kaye Paschka (3) begins the assault on the record books . . . ]
[Under the watchful eye of the game constabulary . . . ]
[Ella Grove (11) is now in a groove where she’s shooting lights out . . . ]
[And Kaye slam dunked a bunch of free throws in a row . . . ]
[The defensive hard line . . . ]
[Oh-oh, the ball must loose and airborne!]
[Mia going for the straight up steal again. McKenzie and Emily Jones (33) have her back . . . ]
[The Storm held on to that one . . . ]
[Mia inbounding to Jonesie cutting off a back screen by Alayna Strand (25) . . . ]
[Looks like it’s on target . . . ]
[The Cardinal “bigs,” Ella, Mac, and Jonesie, underneath . . . ]
[Jonesie gets the shot up . . . ]
[And in!]
[Of course, we applied the fullcourt press the whole first half . . . ]
[Jaya Hatlestad (13) inbounds to Mia . . . ]
[Who employs the old “hidden face” trick . . . ]
[Everybody cut! Although the game was not competitive, it’s really fun to watch this team when it gets on a roll. With fast tempo defense and offense, the whole team takes off and runs when we get the ball. And this game was the best I’ve ever seen in terms of passing on the fly and interior passing. Lots of beautiful assists for layups.]
[Pretty much the expected half time score . . . ]
[Then the delightful halftime show . . . ]
[First, the kindergarten and first grade dance team . . . ]
[Then the 3rd and 4th grade old pros . . . ]
[(I wonder if any of them can shoot the “3”?)]
[The 2nd half starts with Mia attempting another pickpocket move – she gets an amazing number of clean steals when the opposition is standing still . . . ]
[It’s hard to dribble through our defense without someone knocking the ball loose.]
[Again, the game went to running time with 8 minutes left, and the whole team played. Here Nikki Botzet (31) got a freebie – she also made a 3 . . . ]
[Pretty much a reflection of the teams’ respective abilities. Six games left on the regular season schdule.]
[And, of course, the other stars of the game.]
A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning. ~ Billie Jean King
Up Next: More games or Spain
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