Basketball

Basketball season at Beaver Dam High School has officially ended. It was an extremely good and rewarding season. This season made my passion and love for coaching blossom again. I have been very blessed to have such a wonderful team.

Before Christmas vacation, we were struggling and had a record of 2-6. I felt like we were good enough to have a 7-1 record at that point but we just weren't playing up to our potential. We had a really horrible game right before the break where we didn't play together and were completely out of sync. The last thing I told my team before taking 2 weeks of for Christmas was that they needed to decide if they wanted to be part of a team or be individual players. When we got back together in January, we sat down and had a great discussion. I told them that we were 2-6 but that we were good enough to be 7-1. They just needed to learn to trust me, my assistant and each other. They needed to believe in themselves the way the coaches believe in them. I then told them that we would lost the next game (we were playing a top 5 team in the state) but that after that game, we should go a huge winning streak and not lose again--we should win 7 games in a row. It was up to them to decide if they wanted to accomplish this goal or if they wanted to just go through the motions and not be team. I was blessed that this particular team took hold of my message and meshed together so well.

I have been around a lot of basketball and I have never seen a group of girls grasp the concept of team as much as these girls did. They become great friends on and off the court. It changed the season for us. We did lose our next game, by a lot. It didn't discourage us though. We went on this awesome winning streak and accomplished our goal of 7 straight wins. During this streak, a lot of history was accomplished for the girls basketball program at Beaver Dam High School.

We beat Fredonia for the first time, twice in fact!! We beat Grand Canyon (first in history as well) by 10 points. (This was the team we played right before Christmas break that sparked the turn around. We lost to them by 18 points during that game.) We qualified for the regional tournament for the first time, and we didn't just squeak in, we finished tied for second place in region. We had a spot guaranteed in the tournament with 3 weeks left in the season. It was a great experience to go to the regional tournament, and although the game didn't go well, it was great to be part of the history. Even with that loss, we finished with a winning record 9-8...the first winning season for the girls' basketball team. I am happy I had the opportunity to coach this group of kids and watch them as they accomplished so many things. As I told my team, they deserve the credit for everything that has happened this season. I cannot take credit. It was the girls that decided to take my message to heart and become a team. It was their heart and determination that made them so good this season. It was a blessing to be able to sit back and watch these things transpire...and with so many sophomores on the team, Beaver Dam basketball has a bright future.