Earlier in the week, I had the chance to relax and talk basketball with one of Sage Creek's original sports coaches and one of the Sage Creek Times' biggest readers: Girls Varsity Basketball and Lacrosse coach, Ashley Richardson. Her appreciation for the site is getting to see how the SCT writers are "being themselves and having fun" while informing our peers and community about the Bobcat lifestyle. Part of that lifestyle just happens to be basketball, something the girls at Sage Creek have thrived in for the past two years. Coach Ashley exclaimed that a successful team "has excellent teamwork and communication" which is the "main theme" that she tries to enforce throughout the seasons. Due to those morals, the girls' teams have always thrived well as new challenges come along.
From last year, Coach Richardson will look to keep up on conditioning, which is something that not everyone focuses on. She felt that the team's conditioning set them apart from their other opponents. "[The team's] focus is the 4th quarter. [They] never give up no matter what and always fight to the end". Part of this conditioning (which keeps the players in top form) includes: "Christmas tree suicides and wall sits while singing Mary Had a Little Lamb". From a former player's standpoint, I was delighted to listen to a coach that not only recognized that conditioning is not the most thrilling aspect of basketball, but creatively tries to make it fun and not as painful for her team.
After discussing background and preseason strategies, Coach Richardson and I spoke about the goals for this season. "For this season, this is our first chance at playoffs. It's all about playoffs. We are a division four team put in a league with all division one schools, so it's going to be a very tough league, but we are very comfortable in our own division". When the shaky record of 4-9 was brought up, Coach had a response fluently prepared. "Any time we play a harder team, we look at it as practice; something that is going to make us better; make us stronger as a team". Recently, offense has been a bit slow, but the varsity defense has improved a lot (regardless of Friday's loss to Vista). [Her] main focus and the team's is defense. We believe that defense wins titles and defense wins games. The team's highlight so far is blocks. They are creating more opportunities offensively than just about anything else". As an outsider looking in, I can corroborate that statement, as the Women's Varsity basketball program currently leads their entire league in blocks per game with roughly 7.3.
Coach Ashley is a determined and well prepared coach with a great mindset. Team captains Jules Gardner and Joni Schulz are paving the path for incoming players and are making a name for themselves and their team, as Sage Creek's basketball community continues to thrive.
From last year, Coach Richardson will look to keep up on conditioning, which is something that not everyone focuses on. She felt that the team's conditioning set them apart from their other opponents. "[The team's] focus is the 4th quarter. [They] never give up no matter what and always fight to the end". Part of this conditioning (which keeps the players in top form) includes: "Christmas tree suicides and wall sits while singing Mary Had a Little Lamb". From a former player's standpoint, I was delighted to listen to a coach that not only recognized that conditioning is not the most thrilling aspect of basketball, but creatively tries to make it fun and not as painful for her team.
After discussing background and preseason strategies, Coach Richardson and I spoke about the goals for this season. "For this season, this is our first chance at playoffs. It's all about playoffs. We are a division four team put in a league with all division one schools, so it's going to be a very tough league, but we are very comfortable in our own division". When the shaky record of 4-9 was brought up, Coach had a response fluently prepared. "Any time we play a harder team, we look at it as practice; something that is going to make us better; make us stronger as a team". Recently, offense has been a bit slow, but the varsity defense has improved a lot (regardless of Friday's loss to Vista). [Her] main focus and the team's is defense. We believe that defense wins titles and defense wins games. The team's highlight so far is blocks. They are creating more opportunities offensively than just about anything else". As an outsider looking in, I can corroborate that statement, as the Women's Varsity basketball program currently leads their entire league in blocks per game with roughly 7.3.
Coach Ashley is a determined and well prepared coach with a great mindset. Team captains Jules Gardner and Joni Schulz are paving the path for incoming players and are making a name for themselves and their team, as Sage Creek's basketball community continues to thrive.