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Post: Jan 10, 2012
I have never been more proud of a team I have coached or worked with!
The Schroon Lake Girls JV lady Wildcats displayed true sportsmanship, hard work, determination, fortitude, teamwork and played their hearts out (Caitlyn . . . you literally played your heart out) last evening January 10, 2012.
We started the away game with a disadvantage of only having five players and no relief from the bench. The flu bug has had its toll on our athletes. The ladies fought hard with no breaks and went into halftime with a 15 to 2 lead. As you can imagine, we were pumped because of our 15 to 2 lead but we knew the second half would be tough because Molly had four fouls, they were playing pressure man-to-man defense (as we were also) and there was no relief from the bench to give our ladies a break. We had to rely on time-outs, and fouls for our rest time. Early in the third quarter, Molly was called on her fifth foul which took her out of the game. Now, we were down to four players on the floor with an opposing team of five on the court and five more relief players on their bench and well over half of the third quarter and all of the 4th quarter left to play. Caitlyn's heart condition and no relief from the bench was limiting her ability to give us her full potential. I was constantly telling her to slow down to keep her heart from racing. After all, most other games we could give her (and the other ladies) relief from the bench. The ladies fought through the 3rd quarter maintaining their lead with our four against five proving that heart, hard work and determination can make a difference.
The fourth quarter seemed like the longest eight minutes of our lives. The girls fought hard and were encouraged by even the opposing home Willsboro fans cheering for them. The toughest moment of the game was when Caitlyn collapsed on the floor because of severe chest pains from her WPW (Wolf Parkinson White) Syndrome, and total exhaustion. The maximum heart rate for athlete’s age 15-16-17 is around 195-197 BPM. The exercise zone of 85% of their maximum heart rate is around 167 BPM. When Caitlyn’s heart takes off and races to 200-220-240+ BPM she passes out. We certainly did not want her to pass out during the game because we knew the game would be over at that point. We have been battling her WPW for several years and are looking forward to her heart surgery/procedure on February 6, 2012 to correct this problem forever. As a father and coach, I was faced with a hard choice. I knew she needed a break but we did not have any relief players on the bench. We used a timeout to huddle, rest, and regroup our strategy. The opposing coach called a back-to-back time out did a very honorable thing to
give Caitlyn more rest. I knew Caitlyn needed a longer break than the time-outs and we had to give it to her. When Lexi, Desiree and Shannon stepped back out on the court and setup in their 1-2 defense against the opposition of three on five on the Willsboro home court, the crowd came unglued standing to their feet uplifting the spirits of these three lady Wildcats. The crowd was cheering, shouting, clapping and standing for these three brave warriors because of their fortitude, heart, determination, and phenomenal display of sportsmanship. After a couple more minutes of rest, Caitlyn was ready to go back in and she knew her team needed her. When the buzzer blew at the end of the game, our ladies knew they had earned the respect of everyone in the gym. Our 21 to 10 victory was sweet and well earned. When I entered the locker room after the game, the girls were fired up beyond imagination. When they said, "Coach, can we have a hug?" It made all the hard work and every drop of sweat shed this season worth it all. We had a group hug and great pep talk. Although Molly had fouled-out early in the third quarter and the team did not have her, on the court, we discussed how she actually helped build the team’s confidence and spirit. Every one of these ladies played a significant, invaluable part in this larger than life lesson learned during this game. The lessons learned last evening go far beyond the court and will be remembered by these girls and many fans forever. I couldn't be more proud of this Girls JV Team. I am proud of every one of these lady Wildcats, Molly, Lexi, Shannon, Desiree, Caitlyn, and Rhiannon (Rhiannon was out sick for last evenings game . . . we're praying you get better quickly . . . we missed you Ri-Ri).Coach JarrellPictures of the Girls JV Basketball Team:
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