Athletics
Spartans News
SG Basketball: The Slimmest of Margins
When you are involved in a basketball game, win or lose, that is ultimately decided by only one point, it really drives home the undeniable fact that EVERY PLAY MATTERS. We don’t win this 27-26 barnburner without every contribution that every single player made. Think about it, all the good plays we made, everything we did right, every rebound, every free throw, every deflection, every hustle play, every defensive stop, every steal, they all added up to be BARELY enough to win this game. So, logically, if you take away any one of those good plays, we lose. It’s that simple. Never forget that. Never forget the impact that every good play you make has on the outcome of a close game. That’s the beauty of basketball, the beauty of sport. It’s not just the pretty things that matter, or the exciting 4th quarter highlights. It’s every. Single. Play. At any point in the game.
Speaking of things that matter, our post play was huge this game. Without a set offense (we hadn’t yet put one in), and with veteran guard Camryn Moore unavailable for the game, and with our opponents from Triolet pressuring our ballhandlers at every opportunity, it was up to Maddie and Hayley and Edythe and Clara to use our height to our advantage and use it they did. We took care of our defensive glass, but just as importantly we got 2nd and 3rd chance opportunities to score thanks to offensive rebounds.
Player Of The Game Maddie Lippman in particular was brilliant, and was by far the most dominant player on the floor. Not only did she lead all players on both teams in points (15 pts), defensive rebounds (11) and offensive rebounds (7), she was a rock in the middle of the defense AND, with the score tied 25-25 with 45 seconds left, she battled for one final offensive board and nailed the putback for the game-winning bucket(!).
So no, you can’t do much more than Maddie did in this one, but remember what we said at the top, i.e. it could never be enough on its own. To add up to a one-point win, every contribution matters. From every player. Every time.
Coaches Van Dyke & Wolfe
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