It is Finals Week this week, and the guys have been very
busy. We had a voluntary practice each
day this week at 2:30. Each day we got
10 – 12 guys at practice and were very sharp.
We were all back together on Thursday and had another good
practice. The guys are very good
competitors. And it has gotten better
each week.
The game against Gustavus last week was a very good
game. Neither team could stop the other
in the first half. We scored, they
scored, and the game was just going up and down the court. This is an area that we need to continue to
improve. Our consistent defense is still
not where we want it to be. However, we
were down 56-50 with 13 minutes left and for the next 12 minutes we held them
to 1-13 from the field and forced 6 turnovers.
Certainly, this was our best stretch of the season and we needed every
single stop we could get. Our sophomore
posts, Greg Sibenaller and Brett Heitkamp, both had their best games of the
year. It wasn’t because of any offensive
work, it was because they made a huge difference on the defensive end. We were not getting any stops, until this
stretch and Greg got a 2 steals in a row, and Brett got some big rebounds and
changed some shots around the basket.
These are the kinds of stretches that can do wonders for these guys and
build their confidence. Wes Nordquist
also had a very good 2nd half on the defensive end with his multiple
rebounds, and he was unstoppable in the 1st half on the offensive
end. His play got him “Player of the
Week” in the Iowa Conference. We also
caught a couple of breaks down the stretch of the game. We were up 3 with 5 seconds left and they
made a shot, and I thought nothing of it, as I thought it was a ‘3’, but his
foot was on the line, so we are still up 1.
Gustavus called time out and I was ready to set up a play to go the
length of the floor to get a shot, but someone in the huddle said we were still
up 1. I had to go check with the
officials to make sure that was right.
Therefore, I needed to get Troy into the game for FT’s. During the last week, we were running for
missed FT’s in practice as all 14 guys had to shoot 2. We ran an up and back for each miss. Troy, arguably our best FT shooter missed both
FT’s 2 days in a row. The guys were
giving him a lot of grief, because they expect they won’t run because Troy
always makes them. Kyle Hooks was
especially hard on his teammate. So when
Troy gets fouled up 1 with 4 seconds left and it is a 1 n 1, all the guys are
sitting on the bench wondering if there is any way he makes these. Troy even admitted after the game that the
nerves were a little high. I told him to
just picture his roommate, Wes in his underwear. He made them both. And the Gustavus guard made the ‘3’ to tie
after the horn. A good win for the
Beavers. Both the JV and the Varsity
played very good games and got wins. Joe
Frost had his best JV game of the year, as did Bobby Ivey.
Superior brings a very good basketball team to town. They got some tough guards that can make
plays, and they have a 7 footer that is solid.
He has only 5 TO’s all year. A
very good passer and shoots a good percentage.
We will have to keep improving on the defensive end to make this game go
our way. We play like we have practiced
this week, and we will be fine.
Go Beavers!!
Coach VH
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