Sterling thrills, WIlson rolls
My car is now covered in mud, but I consider myself lucky. In a blind hurry, I took one of the parking places along the grass at Rancocas Valley today, and while I was inside watching Wilson take care of Willingboro, the rain softened the ground enough that I almost couldn't back out. After five minutes of back and forth, spinning those wheels, I finally escaped. I apologize heartily to whomever has to take care of that grass, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't going to end up the only one tearing the turf today.
That wasn't even the first or last thing that went other than planned today.
My day started going south when I showed up at Sterling a 1 this afternoon and no one was there. I remember the game being at 1, the schedule I had with me said 1, but when I went to the Wawa on Warwick and bought a paper it was listed as 3. So I sat there in my car doing busyword for 90 minutes and went to the game. The time change certainly tightened things up, as the Wilson-Willingboro game was scheduled for 5:00 at least 30 minutes away, but I was optimistic. As long as Haddon Township and Sterling didn't go to overtime, I stood a good shot at being OK.
Never had a chance.
Haddon Township teased me with an eight-point lead in the third quarter, playing great defense, grabbing some boards. Sterling teased me by staying cold for pretty much the whole game, and I thought I was in the clear. But then Cassi Bryant decided to make my life more complicated. She pretty much ressurrected the Knights all by herself, and they started playing better as a team. They hit some foul shots, grabbed a lot of rebounds and a ton of loose balls, and changed the game. Kate Brennan still seems out of sync, but Sterling won today despite things not going their way.
As for Township, I always enjoy watching the Hawks play and today was no exception. Every girl on that team does one or two things extremely well. Nora Murphy can really handle the ball, Chrissy Barnett knows how to move without it, Sam Garwood is a terrific passer, Lori Merkh can really defend and Colleen Greway blocked seven shots. They just couldn't make a play when they needed to, and some brain cramps at the ends of periods, including overtime, really hurt them. The Hawks had the ball down three with 15 seconds left, but they couldn't find a shot right away. With about five seconds left, they drove for the easy two and Sterling was happy to let them have it. Once the quick two wasn't there, they needed to get a three off. But as Coach Mulligan said, "These are high school kids, and they make mistakes."
So the game ended, I jumped in my car at 4:31 and spent the next phase of my life breaking as many local ordinances as possible. I parked in the aforementioned quagmire and ran inside to find absolutely no available seats in the RV gym. I so wish this game had been scheduled for the other gym, the one with two sides of bleachers, but alas, luck was not on my side today. I only missed a little bit of the game, getting there in plenty of time to see De'ree Fooks' 1,000th career point and then watcher absolutely go off for the rest of the half. She was quueiter in the second, but I still think she's only of the best around. I've actually begun to think of her as a first-team All-SJ player most of the time.
I wasn't at all surprised by the outcome of this game. Boro played a lot harder than they did on Tuesday, but Wilson is also a better team than Spirit, even with the transfers eligible for the Spartans. There isn't much else to say about this game, other than to hope for the best of health for Tiffany Crews and Shinaa Cross. Both girls left the game with injuries -- Crews with a sprained ankle and Cross with a strained calf -- and Crews was on crutched afterwards. Both teams have huge games upcoming and great promise for the playoffs, but they really need those players in the lineup, and it's always a shame to see a player's season end with an injury.
Anyway, I'm going to try to sort out the playoff picture and the rankings. I'll post the T20 sometime tomorrow.
That wasn't even the first or last thing that went other than planned today.
My day started going south when I showed up at Sterling a 1 this afternoon and no one was there. I remember the game being at 1, the schedule I had with me said 1, but when I went to the Wawa on Warwick and bought a paper it was listed as 3. So I sat there in my car doing busyword for 90 minutes and went to the game. The time change certainly tightened things up, as the Wilson-Willingboro game was scheduled for 5:00 at least 30 minutes away, but I was optimistic. As long as Haddon Township and Sterling didn't go to overtime, I stood a good shot at being OK.
Never had a chance.
Haddon Township teased me with an eight-point lead in the third quarter, playing great defense, grabbing some boards. Sterling teased me by staying cold for pretty much the whole game, and I thought I was in the clear. But then Cassi Bryant decided to make my life more complicated. She pretty much ressurrected the Knights all by herself, and they started playing better as a team. They hit some foul shots, grabbed a lot of rebounds and a ton of loose balls, and changed the game. Kate Brennan still seems out of sync, but Sterling won today despite things not going their way.
As for Township, I always enjoy watching the Hawks play and today was no exception. Every girl on that team does one or two things extremely well. Nora Murphy can really handle the ball, Chrissy Barnett knows how to move without it, Sam Garwood is a terrific passer, Lori Merkh can really defend and Colleen Greway blocked seven shots. They just couldn't make a play when they needed to, and some brain cramps at the ends of periods, including overtime, really hurt them. The Hawks had the ball down three with 15 seconds left, but they couldn't find a shot right away. With about five seconds left, they drove for the easy two and Sterling was happy to let them have it. Once the quick two wasn't there, they needed to get a three off. But as Coach Mulligan said, "These are high school kids, and they make mistakes."
So the game ended, I jumped in my car at 4:31 and spent the next phase of my life breaking as many local ordinances as possible. I parked in the aforementioned quagmire and ran inside to find absolutely no available seats in the RV gym. I so wish this game had been scheduled for the other gym, the one with two sides of bleachers, but alas, luck was not on my side today. I only missed a little bit of the game, getting there in plenty of time to see De'ree Fooks' 1,000th career point and then watcher absolutely go off for the rest of the half. She was quueiter in the second, but I still think she's only of the best around. I've actually begun to think of her as a first-team All-SJ player most of the time.
I wasn't at all surprised by the outcome of this game. Boro played a lot harder than they did on Tuesday, but Wilson is also a better team than Spirit, even with the transfers eligible for the Spartans. There isn't much else to say about this game, other than to hope for the best of health for Tiffany Crews and Shinaa Cross. Both girls left the game with injuries -- Crews with a sprained ankle and Cross with a strained calf -- and Crews was on crutched afterwards. Both teams have huge games upcoming and great promise for the playoffs, but they really need those players in the lineup, and it's always a shame to see a player's season end with an injury.
Anyway, I'm going to try to sort out the playoff picture and the rankings. I'll post the T20 sometime tomorrow.
posted by SMc. @ 1:42 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home