December 20, 2007 at 8:03 a.m.
NB girls continue to struggle in losses to SLP and Fridley
NB girls continue to struggle in losses to SLP and Fridley
St. Louis Park 21 41 62
North Branch 18 27 45
"Right now, we are just trying to get healthy and figure out some rotations. I can't ever remember starting the first five games of the season with five different combinations of starters, but we have this year," said Viking head coach Dan Schindler.
According to the coach, the upcoming break in the conference schedule is coming at a good time for North Branch. "We really need the holiday break right now to get healthy and get all of our players at practice. We have been putting some girls in positions that they would not normally play and it just hasn't worked out for us," Schindler commented. "So far, we have struggled shooting the basketball and turnovers continue to haunt us."
The one big positive thing Schindler has seen, despite an 0-5 start by his team, is the positive attitude his team has maintained. "Against St. Louis Park, we played a good first half," the veteran coach said. Kristen Robatcek, who has been out with an injured ankle, played in her first game. "It was really good to get her back, even though she is far from 100 percent," Schindler added. "We just had some lapses in the second half and, right now, we are not good enough to overcome them."
North Branch had trouble matching up with Park's physical size and one result was that the Orioles grabbed 25 offensive rebounds. "We did a good job defending their first shot, but can't give up that many second and third shots to be successful," Schindler explained.
The coach found several positives in the defeat. "I thought sophomore Amanda Sylla had her best varsity game. Another sophomore, Rikki Beaver, also came in and did a nice job. Rikki had six assists and is showing us she sees the floor really well against other teams' presses," Schindler said.
North Branch Scoring
Cori Fairbanks 3
Kristen Robatcek 13
Kendra Norman 7
Miranda Charley 2
Megan Scherer 5
(8 rebounds)
Rikki Beaver 2
Amanda Sylla 13
Total 45
North Branch at Fridley
The Vikings held Fridley to 23 points in the first half, but struggled on the offensive end, again. "I thought we played our best defensive half of the season in the first half. We stopped making some of our defensive mistakes we have been making and limited Fridley to one shot per possession," Schindler said. "But, our offense is just not good enough right now to compete. We are rushing too many shots and haven't shot the ball well from the outside.
"Fridley has a nice team this year and their size and strength were tough for us to match up with. Our offense is not moving the ball quickly enough. We need to learn to reverse the ball much quicker than we are. Fridley's defense frustrated us all night and we just didn't get many good looks at the basket.
"Many of our young players are learning on the job and they will only continue to get better. Jessica Audette and Kendra Norman give us needed energy and have done a nice job for us. Hopefully we get all our players healthy and back on the practice floor. Megan Scherer led us in scoring at Fridley with seven points," Schindler concluded.
North Branch 11 20 31
Fridley 23 28 51
Cori Fairbanks 2
Kristen Robatcek 3
Alyssa Peterson 2
Jessica Audette 5
Kendra Norman 5
Megan Scherer 7
Rikki Beaver 4
Amanda Sylla 1
Ashley Johnson 2
Total 31
The Vikings are back on the road at St. Francis Friday, December 21 for a 7:15 start. After a few days off for the Christmas break, North Branch will play in the Simley Holiday Tournament December 27-29.
Comments:
Commenting has been disabled for this item.