In Class C, basketball season is the most exciting time of the year. That is true this year in particular for the Lady Pioneers. A great start is all l was expecting, anticipating much success for us. With one weekend left of games until tournaments, we were currently 13-3.
We started off strong in December at pre-season tournaments in Rudyard and Chester. Our two opponents for the weekend were two 10C teams, Sunburst and Augusta. Sunburst was a scrappy battle, but we pulled it off. For the Augusta game, we got it together and ended up winning by 40 or so.
Advancing through December, we were on a good run, standing at 5-0. We picked up our first loss when we played Denton-Geyser-Standford-Geraldine, also known as DGSG. They are a tough team, currently ranked number 4 in the state. I believe we played a hard game against them, giving it our all, but they had a better night and pulled out the win. The following Thursday, we had another big night, playing our rivals, CJI. We went into that game ready to play and hungry for a win. The ending score was 55-50, Big Sandy winning. It was a great game to finish with before Christmas break!
Heading into January, we kept on working hard for wins, and by late January, we were standing at 11-1. This is easily the best record we have had in a very long time. Last year I believe we finished the year with a losing record, 12-9, and the previous year, we only won 6 games total. We have had so much progress from where this team started.
Three weekends ago, we weren’t quite prepared, getting two losses. It was the weekend of CJI and DGSG, the two tougher games. First it was CJI at home, and we came out cold and couldn’t score a basket. When something like that happens, it’s hard to come back. If I could buy a re-do, I would. With DGSG, it was kind of the same story, except no one came to play for us, and everyone for DGSG came ready to play on their home court.
Now we come to last weekend of regular play, having Northstar and Hays. We were once again hungry for some wins after a tough previous weekend. On Friday night, we went to Hays to play, and right away we put on a press and got several fast break layups to put us up 19-5 in the first quarter. The rest of the game looked a lot like this, and the finishing score was 61-22. The following Saturday, we played Northstar at home. This game was the same kind of story, except the score was much closer in the beginning. The final score was 65-37, with the Lady Pioneers pulling out a big win.
After a weekend of tough losses, it felt good to win some games and get back to it. I really appreciate my coaches and teammates for all working together to figure it out and always keeping a positive mindset. I truly couldn’t ask for a better team to play and spend time with. Next, we have tournaments District and Divisionals, so exciting!
