When a team goes up against a goliath on the court, they can either back away and tuck their tails, or they can give it everything they’ve got. The Orcas girls basketball team lost to 3A division Seattle Preparatory Friday night in Seattle 63-35. Playing against a taller, bigger and more seasoned team, the girls went at the game with perseverance and a committed attitude to playing the best game they could, knowing clearly that they were literally out of their league.
“I knew that it was going to be tough on them, taking on these much bigger schools early in the season,” said Coach Terry Moran-Hodge, “but they were up for it. Our weaknesses were evident; we need to work on quickness in passing, being careful to handle the ball without losing it on fast breaks, that sort of thing. Lanie Padbury led in scoring with 13 points in field goals and Stephanie Shaw was close behind her with 11 points and she was also our top rebounder for that game. Padbury also had nine rebounds and Anika Thomas had six rebounds. Thomas had her work cut out for her because it was a very physical, aggressive game and while she is tall, she is slender, and the other team covered her double, making it hard for her to free the ball. It was the speed of play that got past us this time. I’ve worked for seven years with this particular group of youngsters. They played tough and battled hard. I thought they did really well to score 35 points against this bigger, more mature 3A team. They put the pedal to the metal and never backed down.”
The next morning, the team got up and went to play another game that Saturday afternoon against the Junior Varsity team at Holy Names. “That was tough; I could see the girls were completely committed but the fatigue from the day before played a part. We lost that game 57-39 but scoring-wise we kept up with them in the first quarter, running with them 10 – 14 in their favor. They played a very physical, aggressive game, but then in the second quarter we were working on scoring and taking more shots at the basket, but we just weren’t getting them in quite the same. We kept up with them in the third quarter, playing really solid defense, covering these bigger girls though we did have a little trouble with the way their defense would swarm over the ball-handler and speed was an issue again, so by the fourth quarter the fatigue from the game the night before took its toll.”
In individual stats, Padbury led in scoring with 19 points and six rebounds; she was 5/6 on free throws and hit a whopping 50% of her field goals. Thomas made six points and had 14 rebounds, and led the team in rebounds for the game. Sydney Harris had five points and 7 rebounds. Defensively, Thomas had many blocked shots, using her 5’11” frame to thwart the JV team.
“The best thing about these young people,” said Coach Moran-Hodge, “is their great attitude and willingness to fight hard all the way through. They never saw playing these bigger teams as a problem or as a punishment, but as a challenge. That’s winning in my book.”
The Orcas Lady Vikings play again at Concrete against Concrete on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
