Posted: 12/18/07
Lady Warriors lose first of the season to state-ranked Knights
 LaQuita Becker had 10 points, eight rebounds, and three assists against the Kingsland Knights Friday night. (Photo by Redd Welch) |
By Daniel McGonigle
Argus Managing Editor
The Caledonia Lady Warriors dropped their first game of the season in a back and forth affair to Kingsland, 55-53.
"It was a good game, both teams are pretty evenly matched and it showed as we went back and forth the whole way," said head coach Scott Sorenson. "One of the turning points of the game was when we lost Sarah Colleran to a head injury early in the first half. Tests showed she had had a concussion, so her status for this week is still unknown."
That led to some changes in the gameplan for the Warriors.
"That affected the stlye we wanted to play as our other point guard was in early foul trouble, so that limited her playing time," said Sorenson. "I felt the girls really gave a gutty performance. We really came out ready to play. The girls really stepped up to the challenge and just fell a little short at the end."
And it wouldn't be for lack of opportunity.
"With 22 seconds left we had a chance to tie or go ahead by one, but the pass was deflected and Kingsland got control of it," recalls Sorenson. "They were able to run most of the rest of the clock out and with one second left we got possession back, but had to go the length of the court for a shot. Our attempt fell short."
The coach is pleased with his teams' performance despite the loss.
"Overall I think the girls played well, but knowing them they don't feel they played well enough to win and they will be determined to work to get better. I was proud of the way the girls responded to all the adversity sorrounding the game," said Sorenson. "It was a tough night for our girls for reasons other than a basketball game."
Stats
ïThe Warriors were led in scoring by Cassie Gran who finished with 18 points. She also finished with eight rebounds.
ïLaquita Becker added 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
ïAly Meyer had eight points on the night.
Warriors top Saints
By a six point margin, 66-60, the Caledonia Warrior girls basketball team squeaked out a victory over St. Charles.
"We started out a bit rough in this one," said girls basketball coach Scott Sorenson of his team's performance vs. St. Charles. "We just could not get into the flow of the game both offensively or defensively."
Much of the problems stemmed from early foul trouble for the Lady Warriors.
"Our press was working at first, but then the fouls started to come and be found ourselves in major foul trouble," said Sorenson. "With nine minutes left in the first half we had four of our five starters on the bench with two or more fouls. We like to take our players out in the first half if they pick up two fouls to save them for the second half, we were fortunate to be able to do that in this one and still hold the lead going into half time.
The team clung to a slim, one point advantage going into the break.
"We held a 29-28 lead going into the locker room. I was very proud of our girls how they kept their composure and fought through a lot of adversity in this one," said the coach. "The bench players really stepped up and kept the game and score in our favor. It was a lot of the little things that contributed to us not getting into the flow, but the main thing that the coaching staff and players keep bringing up is our lack of communication.
"We stress talking on the court at all times, and we just were not getting it done tonight," he said. "We need to get better at it. I was really happy on how we performed down the stretch in a tight game."
The coach credits the experience his club has on their roster.
"Our experience really showed up, and that can be contributed to our juniors and seniors playing a lot of minutes last year as sophomores and juniors," said Sorenson. "Without that experience, I am not sure we would have played with such confidence down the stretch."
In the end, the coach was pleased to have picked up the "w."
"The best thing about the game was that we played like we did and still came out with the win, we have to keep getting better and understand that we are going to get everyones best game and we need to be prepared for it," he concluded.
Stats
ïMegan King led the Warrior scorers with 17 points. It seems each game a different player leads the team in scoring which suggests good parody for the team. She added five assists and five rebounds. She also led the team with six steals on the night.
ïSarah Colleran had 11 points, four assists and one rebound.
ïLaquita Becker had 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and four steals.
ïCassie Gran and Brianna Vick each had seven points on the night for the Warriors.
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