November 28
Echo Press photo
[The day began with a strong wind continuing to create open water on Lake Darling.]
[By evening, game time – pick up Brad and head for the high school. We saw most of the 2nd half of the JV’s victory.]
[And now meet the 2017-18 edition of the Cardinal girls basketball team. It’s brand spanking new because we graduated 11 players, including the starting 5, off last year’s state tournament team.]
[Kohler shares some pre-game moments with the Big Lake coach.]
[The classic lay-up drill . . . ]
[OK, ladies, here’s the plan . . . ]
[Whenever they have the ball, just steal it from them!]
[And introductions: Junior guard Kaye Paschke (3) . . . ]
[Whoop!!!]
[Sophomore guard Ella Grove (11) . . . ]
[Senior forward Emma Schmidt (25) . . . ]
[Senior forward Courtney Gould (31) . . . ]
[Junior center McKenzie Duwenhoegger (35) . . . ]
[The ref is making sure nothing nefarious is going on here.]
[Ms. Duwenhoegger is ready for the jump . . . ]
[She won it, but the Hornets came away with the ball.]
[The Cardinals’ signature “D” . . . ]
[Courtney gets a freebie . . . ]
[Kaye starts a drive . . . ]
[Her defender, No. 30, is a D1 recruit.]
[A truly focused ref . . . ]
[Courtney’s in a crowd . . . Christmas shopping?]
[Clean-up on aisle 3!!]
[Kohler signals . . . something?]
[Nooo, over there!]
[Where’d the ball go?]
[Oh, there it is!]
[Kaye setting the offense . . . ]
[Ella chases a Hornet . . . ]
[In stealth defensive mode, she hides behind her guardee . . . ]
[In a half that seemed every Hornet shot went in, we fought back from being 13 down at one point to only trail by 5 at the half.]
[The flow began to change when we put the 5’11” Emma at the point of the defense . . . ]
[Making it difficult for the Hornets to get the ball past the top of the key . . . ]
[And we started getting more aggressive offensively . . . ]
[Getting to the free throw line . . . ]
[McKenzie here . . . ]
[We actually got the lead at 36-35. But just as suddenly, the Hornets hit a bunch of 3’s again and opened up another 10-point lead. It looked bleak for the Cards with only about 4 minutes left in the game. But this trio of sophomore guard Mia McGrane (5), Kaye, and Ella lead an amazing defensive charge . . . ]
[Kohler blew the dust off the ole 1-3-1 trap, and Cards kept getting steals and either scoring or getting to the foul line. Ella here . . . ]
[Ella finished with 14 points and 8 boards . . . ]
[Mia closed it out with a couple of free throws, and a game leading 15 points, as the Cards picked up a historic victory for Kohler.]
[Yay, coach!!!]
They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they’d make up their minds. ~ Wilt Chamberlain
Up Next: We’re in the sports season.
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