1st game of the year

I went to my first HS basketball game of the year last night. Foley vs. Zimmerman girls @ Foley. I hadn't been in the Foley gym in awhile and it was good to be back. There was a good but not great crowd, a lot of the boys team was there, and most of the junior high girls stayed throughout too. I was excited to watch the Falcon girls, because although I don't know any of them all that well, they all seem like nice girls who could have a big season.

It's back and forth through the first ten minutes, Foley is killing them on the glass, getting 3-4 shots per possesion on almost every possesion, and either converting or drawing fouls. I remember thinking that Zimmerman wasn't very deep and foul trouble could hurt and it eventually did. Zimmerman makes a little run, sophomore guard Brook Inman is a really nice player, and she hits a couple of shots, and drops off a pass or two for layups. With 5 minutes to go in the half, Foley is down 3. From here on out a lot of bad things happen to Zimmerman, Inman and starting center Atkinson pick up their 3rd and 4th fouls respectively(How a girl stays in the game in the 1st half with 3, I will never know, games aren't won or lost in the 1st half generally)and Foley turns up the heat, getting solid bench play from their own sophomore Kelsey Katke who has a few steals, and big rebounds. Foley ends the half on a 10-3 run and turns a 3 point defecit to a 7 point lead. The back breaker is a steal and layup by senior Bethany Gapinski as the 1st half buzzer sounds.

I thought Foley was sitting pretty, and their pressure continued to wear Zimmerman down. With Inham on the bench for a lot of the second half Foley built a 15 point lead, but some over aggressive fouling leave Brianna Herbst and Beth Gapinski on the bench with 8 minutes to play with 4 fouls a piece. If Zimmerman had a chance it was now with the Falcons two best players on the bench, and the Zimmerman coach knew it, pleading with his girls to keep after the falcons. They cut it to 8, before Herbst and Gapinski re enter. Once they re enter, you could see the confidence grow on the floor, as senior guard Bry Schyma hits a back breaking 3 within 15 seconds. Foley takes a few ill advised shots as their coach begs them to settle down and run the offense. Defensivly Foley get's to the point where their four most important players all have 4 fouls, and so collectively defensively they become a little passive, and allow Zimmerman some cheap stuff late. Foley never really get's into any danger and pulls off the 58-51 victory.

My observations were these. Brianna Herbst might only be 5'8 but she rebounds as though she were 6'2. She does a great job rebounding in traffic, and kept probably 15 possesions alive last night alone, paper says 18 rebounds and I had her for 21. The return of Bethany Gapinski after being hurt the back half of last season has really made a difference, she is a total playmaker, and solid decision maker, she might be the best lead guard in the WCN this year, I think she will make even more improvements as her the season continues. Katie Kotsmith had a chance to have 30 points last night, but missed several easy shots, that she is too good of a player to miss, she plays nicely off of Brianna and Bethany who spoon fed her a lot of easy ones. She should lead them in scoring because she will get the better post matchup, and Herbst and Gapinski give her a lot of easy ones. Underated, but extremely valuable was the floor game Bry Schyma played last night, she did all the little things, and hit essentially the game ending shot. I was impressed with Brooke Kjaers, and Kelsey Katke, and you can see the athletic ability Bethany Halvorsen possesses. Maybe a game where some of the younger posts could have been sprinkled in, I though both Kotsmith and Herbst got tired and then commited dumb fouls, would of loved to have seen the bench posts a little to help their development, especially with a 15 point lead for most of the second half.

I really liked Imhan for Zimmerman.