Park girls basketball persisted through their non-conference opponent, Blake, Jan. 11. After a lead of 30-11 at the half, the Bears pushed for a second-half comeback. The Bears came out hot, but in the end, Park kept their lead, winning 53-44 and bringing their record to 4-8.
Head coach John Hayes said Park’s first-half domination clinched them the game even after Blake’s short-lived second-half run.
“We got off to a good start, but I told the girls they’re going to go on a run in the second half,” Hayes said. “(Blake) went on a little run there, and we were able to withstand (that) and go on our own little run, which did enough to seal the victory.”
Senior Gabby Fadden said the team needs to work on relaxing when they’re in the lead at the end of games, allowing the clock to run out.
“We rushed ourselves a little bit at the end of the game. We were up by 15 points with two minutes left and still had a high tempo,” Fadden said. “In moments like that, you just have to slow down and let the clock run.”
According to Hayes, the team played to their best ability, shutting the Bears down in the first half and grabbing every board they could.
“Our identity is defense. We held a team to 11 points in the first half, and that’s a testament (to) the type of defense we want to play,” Hayes said. “The girls stepped up and rebounded when they needed to rebound. You can’t ask for too much, as they played such a good first half defensively.”
Freshman Lauryn Pohlman said even though Park could have had better offense, they stayed humble throughout the game.
“Today, we did a good job of keeping our emotions in check,” Pohlman said. “We would have dominated more if we had better passes and shot selection.”
According to Fadden, the team’s playmaking was good and they took advantage of Blake’s unique zone defense.
“Throughout the game, we moved the ball well,” Fadden said. “They were doing a one-three-one zone, and we swung it around the three pretty well, which created open shots for our girls.”
Pohlman said Park has been practicing their own zone defense. She said the new style of defense hasn’t been implemented yet, but it’s difficult to work on.
“In practice, we’ve been working on a new trapping zone defense—we call it buzz, ” Pohlman said. “We haven’t tried it out yet, but it’s tiring to work on it during practice.”
Hayes said Park tries to create openings through ball movement during games. He said during practice, the coaches always make everything a contest to keep the team driven.
“We work a ton on finding your open teammate, trying to drive, kick and move the ball around,” Hayes said. “We compete every day in practice, and the girls seem to enjoy it, so we make everything a competition to keep practices engaging but also intense.”
According to Fadden, they’ve done well adapting to a new squad this year, which should bring light to this year’s season.
“There’s a lot of younger girls and a whole new coaching staff, so we’ve done a really good job (of) coming together as a team, ” Fadden said. “Especially since the way the team looked last year compared to this year is so different, it’s a testament to what our team can do throughout this season.”
Park girls basketball faces Benilde-St. Margaret’s next at 7:00 p.m. Jan. 14 at home.
