SMS had fallen behind by 8 or more points in each of their first two games, so when Rita scored first, it was important that the girls answer.  The always-hustling Leah Moffitt answered like a "Millionaire" contestant, knocking down a tough shot in the lane to tie the game at 2.  Leah only has one speed and her all-out effort is contagious.  Her scoring that first basket was a big boost to the team and was a big factor in the win.  But after her basket, Rita came right back with a free throw.  SMS needed another offensive spark, and this time Tiffany Futscher provided it.  Tiffany, who is a terrific shooter, canned a 12-footer and the Lady Bearcats had their first lead of the season, as the first quarter ended with SMS on top, 4-3.

 

    As the second quarter began, Tiffany was on the mark again, driving in for another hoop and a 6-3 lead.  Rita cut the lead to one, but Charlotte Crim was fouled on an offensive rebound put back.  Charlotte is probably the best "pure shooter" on the team, and she showed why, swishing both free throws for an 8-5 lead.  Charlotte's fete, very rare at this age, was not lost on the referee, who made the comment that an 11-year old girl swishing two straight free throws was the "most impressive thing" of the day.* (*Others, like Mr. McHugh and Mr. Boone, think the most impressive thing of the day was that Coach Tobolka waited 19 seconds to call his first timeout, besting his timeouts at 33 seconds and 26 seconds into the first quarter in the first two games.)  From there, the girls worked on their inside game, but all the girls could muster were a few "Cameron Diaz" shots.  They looked good at the beginning and middle, but the end result was a miss.  Maggie Tobolka put an end to the hex on the rim, as Maggie took a pass, wheeled and knocked home a tough 12-footer that is right in her wheelhouse.  Maggie's bucket ran the score to 10-5 and you can be sure that shot by Maggie is the first of many to come from that spot.  Rita closed the first half with two buckets, so as the half ended, SMS had a precarious one point lead at 10-9.

 

    The first five minutes of the third quarter were not kind to Carolina, as no shots were falling.  Meanwhile, Rita scored one basket, which was enough to put them ahead, 11-10.  Time for Coach Tobolka to call on the "Rabbit Squad", so named by Coach T. because he sends these girls in when he wants his quick guards to apply full-court pressure defense that when it works, gives rise to lots of lay up scoring opportunities.  The defense was quite effective in the first two games, but a failure to make those opportunistic lay ups left the girls still trailing in those games.  Today would be different.

 

    The Rabbits immediately got a turnover and took advantage.  Leah made a beautiful inbound pass to Gabby Paisan and Gabby came through with a clutch hoop to regain the lead, 12-11.  Charlotte then stepped in front of a pass for a critical steal and whipped the ball to Jennifer Ackels who was cutting to the basket.  Jennifer, who like all the other girls had worked on her lay ups all week, saw the hard work pay off, as the lay up was up and in for a 14-11 lead.  Jennifer and Charlotte teamed up again for another two in opposite roles, with Jennifer grabbing the steal this time and hitting an open Charlotte, whose extra work on lay ups also paid dividends for another two points.  In 3 minutes the Rabbit Squad had turned an 11-10 deficit into a 16-11 lead at the end of the third quarter and the Lady Bearcats would never look back.

 

    SMS began the fourth quarter the way they ended the third.  Jennifer picked off another pass and this time went coast-to-coast, taking it all the way for another lay up and an 18-11 lead.  It was deja vu all over again, as Jennifer grabbed another theft and again took it the distance for two points.  A 20-11 lead was the biggest lead of the year for the girls and they knew how to finish the job.  By now, Rita didn't know what hit them and the rest of the Lady Bearcats continued to put the game away.  Ollie Pedraza made two nice plays, running an inbounds play perfectly and having her shot just miss.  Ollie then grabbed a rebound and got the ball down the court quickly setting up another scoring chance.  Elise Shackleford did the same, taking a nice pass inside and putting up a shot that looked good but would not fall.  Elise continued to rack up rebounds and play stellar defense inside, not giving Rita any easy baskets.  Rachel Hood was big on the boards, grabbing rebounds and helping get the ball across mid-court against the Rita press.  Katie Thomas did what she always does, playing hard, battling inside for rebounds, and doing a terrific job in bringing the ball up all day long.

 

    Rita cut it to 20-13 but Katie McHugh made sure there would be no comeback.  Katie was relentless inside, grabbing several rebounds, including an offensive one that she was fouled on.  Katie went to the line and made one of two free throws.  That one point made it 21-13, but the smile on Katie's face was worth a lot more than an 8 point lead.  Rita could only muster one more basket and the Lady Bearcats were victorious by the score of 21-15.

 

    Although the girls stand at 1-2, they are very much in the playoff hunt.  The girls are getting better every week, so with continued hard work, they should be able to mount a push towards a playoff birth.  The girls are really starting to enjoy the game, especially when they see the work in practice pay off in a game.  The girls got 10 points on breakaway lay ups, the 10 points they desperately needed in each of their first two games.  Given their improvement week to week, you can be sure that the lay up percentage will continue to rise. Be ready to support the girls next weekend as they try to continue the momentum brought on by this first win.**   

       

    (**For those of you new to this, you are in for a LOOONG season, as you have to endure an "article" on each Lady Bearcat victory during the season.  Some might think the threat of an article is the reason the girls got off to an 0-2 start, which included a loss to a team they had easily defeated in the pre-season.  So, with the win over St. Rita all is right with the world.)