29-3 But I Wish We Were Just Starting

I'm not real sure where to begin. At the NWAACC Championship Tournament we played very well against Bellevue, Lower Columbia, and Clackamas while capturing wins number 27, 28, and 29 but it was an entirely different story in our game against Skagit Valley. I don't want to go into great detail because it still hurts to even think about it, but it's safe to say that a six minute scoring draught undoubtedly cost us a shot at win number 30 and a perfect ending to an already awesome season. On the positive side, I guess it says a lot about our overall program when we can finish 29-3 and still be somewhat disappointed!!

Miranda Holenstein sent me a text telling me that she started crying after it suddenly occurred to her that there was no practice today. She said that the things in practice that she thought she "hated" the most are really the things that she already misses the most. It just seems like we should all be together preparing for the next game but instead we just mentally and physically wandered around. For the first time in weeks I didn't watch game tape today.

I do get to watch some of our players get after it one more time this season: Kristi Fallin, Cassie Scheffelmaier, Miranda Holenstein, TiTi Takai, and Cassandra Tiggett have all been selected to play in the NWAACC Sophomore All Star Game next Sunday at Pierce College in Lakewood, WA. Only once before have five players from the same school made the All Star team and coincidently that was our 2000 Umpqua team. This year our players and the other Southern Region All Stars will take on a team from the Northern Region.

The above picture was taken at the NWAACC championship banquet. I might be a little biased but I thought our girls were the classiest looking team there! Good looking, sharp dressers, and the ability to score 90 points a game. . .what more could we ask for? (Except to win just one more game!)

Umpqua 99 SWOCC 77; Preparing For NWAACC Tournament

We finished out the NWAACC Southern Region last Wednesday with a 99-77 win at Southwestern Oregon, which is one of the toughest plays in the NWAACC to play. The bleachers are only about six rows deep and the teams sit on the bottom row of the bleachers instead of in chairs. Their student "fans" are the most obnoxious in the league and the SWOCC administration has a "students will be students" attitude. Where else does the official school mascot (in this case a raccoon in a basketball uniform) routinely flip off and swear at the opponents leading scorer every time a basket is made just to try and keep up with the rest of the fans? Walk or stand on the opposite sideline to take the ball out of bounds and expect to have someone slap your butt or the back of your calves. I'm really shocked that more fights don't break out there! You can read about the game here: http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20080221/SPORTS/337693305/-1/SPORTS

The last several days has been crazy to say the least. The girls have been trying to work ahead in all their classses since it is extremely probable that they will miss four straight days of school. The NWAACC Championship banquet is a dress up event and so takes some advance preparation from all of us who have spent the majority of the last five months in sweats. There are 16 teams in the tournament and so we have been gathering up and watching all the videotape we can of possible opponents. Take 13 people multiplied by enough clothes, socks, and underwear for 6 days in addition to game uniforms, a box full of game videotapes and dvds, a vcr, a dvd player, and several lap tops and backpacks full of homework and you have an idea what the inside of our team van is going to look like!!

Our first round game is scheduled for 10pm next Thursday and so we have been practicing at 10pm to get ready. If you didn't look at the clock you'd never know it's that late - practice has looked the same way it does every day at noon. We haven't really changed anything in our practice routine instead choosing to continue to get better at the things we have done all year. We did a pretty good job in our preseason tournaments preparing for teams and making adjustments on the run and we are hopefully optimistic that we can continue that trend in Kennewick.

The local newspaper ran a short article on Denay Martin a couple days ago and is planning on a tournament preview on Wednesday or Thursday. Here's the link to the article: http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20080222/SPORTS/559484634/-1/SPORTS