Christmas Break Tournament

Our last day of school before break we had a big game against Courtland High School which for the past few years has been ranked at the top of our district . In the first half we were going back and forth with points . By half time we were only behind by 2 ! Second half i'm not sure what happened in their locker room but when the came out , they came out hard for the win . We ended up losing 57-38 .

Over the christmas break we will be attending a tournament hosted at Patrick Henry High School ( December 28th,29th,&30th) . I'm hoping the snow expected on monday can hold off for a little while longer so we can be able to play . Let's go ladies ! :)

No Snow Can Stop This Ball Player

The past two days were snow days and we had to take a break away from school . No school means no practice or games but that doesn't mean no basketball . I still found a way to work on my individual skills and conditioning since our practices and games were cancelled from snow. My brother and I pushed the snow off of our basketball court, so that I could get in some shooting.  I also did some jumproping and ballhandling skills in my basement.  Tomorrow our team will finally get a chance to get back together for practice to prepare ourselves for our game against Courtland High School on Tuesday December , 21st . Can't wait .

Us verses Courtland last year (see below). Hope I can do as well this year!

Keeping My Hands Out of the Cookie Jar

I am looking for a better week this week.  I want to have a successful season and in order todo that we need to start over and get back to basic fundamentals: like better communication and defense, (not reaching and fouling).

I know that we have a great group of young women and we're capable of going to the Districts Final, and possibly winning.

Tomorrow we will play against King George High School, King George, Virginia, and on Friday, we will play at Eastern View High School, in Culpeper, Virginia.  I'm looking forward a great game.

Battered but not Beaten!

Despite having 3 players with recent knee problems, 1 player with weak ligaments in her right shoulder, and a team starter unable to play, our team was able to come away with a win against a very determined Louisa Lions team.  (55 - 46)  It was quite a victory.

By the final buzzer, I finished with some pretty good stats.  (16pt., 7 assists, 5 steals, 5 blocks, and was 6-8 from the charity line.

I was very surprised when my mom told me that a local newspaper wanted to interview me.  I received a call from Taft Coghill, a reporter for the Free Lance Star newspaper (Fredericksburg, Virginia), and he asked me a few questions about the upcoming season.

Next week will be quite busy for us.  We will play back to back games with a AAA powerhouse, Henrico High School, (Richmond, Va.) on Monday 12/6, and again on Tuesday 12/7.  Then on Friday we host James Monroe High School, our first district game. :)

We made the Newspaper

Our team had a Pre-Season newspaper article.  Coach Tim Marshall is our new coach.  My friend Emily and I, received head shots.  See article below.  HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

Game Vs. Patrick Henry

  I must say that Patrick Henry brought their A+ game tonight .  We had a battle in this game, all the way to the end. Patrick Henry, who started 4 girls over 5'10", made scoring very difficult, but we fought through 4 out of 5 quarters.

Getting knocked around for the first two quarters did not feel too good, but I stayed positive and we made some great stops and pushed the ball down the court to make some quick scores. 

I still feel that we still have to work on more fundamental things and how to be mentally and physically ready for a game no matter who it's against .

  Stats will be up shortly ..

First game of the season

Yesterday, we had our first scrimmage for the season. We played Hanover High, Hanover, Virginia, at home Hanover came ready to play! The were pesty on defense, and passed the ball well onoffense.  It was a good fight throughout the whole game, but when it came down to crunch time our team pulled through with a win.  (we won 3 out of 5 quarters) .

Stats:  Points: 20, Rebounds: 7, Turnovers: 1, Assist: 8, Steals: 1, Blocks: 3

You can keep up with my team's stats at:  www.leaguelineup.com/chsgbb

We will scrimmage against Patrick Henry High School, also from Hanover, Virginia, on Tuesday, November, 23.

Let's go for another win Lady Cavs .!  :)

Boo Williams - She's Got Talent

Yesterday I went down to Hampton,Va to play in the "She's Got Talent" showcase at the Boo Williams Complex. It was a really good experience that I was waiting for every since I found out about it.  The Complex was enormous and a lot of fun to play in.  It was my 3rd time playing there.  My AAU team participated in two tournament there.

At first I was a little nervous about playing because I did not know anyone down there.   My mom reminded me that, it wasn't about who I know, or who would be on my team, but about how well I can adjust to playing on a team with different people that I had never played with before. By the end of the showcase, I had a lot of fun and learned a few new techniques I can use for the future. I also met a lot of different players with the same or better skills as me which gave me some competition while we played against each other.

My defense was on point!  I had 6 blocked shots!

Back to School-Sophomore

  Last Tuesday was the start of a brand new school year. New teachers, new classes, new people, new everything. This year I know I really need to get down to business if i want to have a successful school year. So far all of my classes are much harder than last year's classes.  I know that I definitely need to keep my head focused on my school work throughout the whole year, especially during basketball season because that's when the work gets harder and harder. Last year,  I made scholars list each nine weeks.  My goal this year is to be an honor roll student.

Injury Before Penn State

My plans for the Penn State Tournament were changed on the Thursday before we were going to leave.  I twisted my knee in practice and had to go to the emergency room.  The doctor told me to stay off of it for 3-5 days.

My feelings were crushed.  I was ready to go out there and play hard.  I had been thinking about this for weeks and now everything was changed.

I did my best at supporting my team by cheering them on from the bench.

For right now, I am continuing to do my leg exercises so I can get back on they court and run again.

To Coaches, Scouts and Members of the Media:

Attention to all who enjoy reading my blog, (especially college coaches), my AAU team, the Spotsylvania Sting 16U will be participating at the Blue Chip Tournament at Penn State July 5-8.  Our first game is scheduled for 4:50 p.m. on Monday, July 5. I will be wearing #23.


I know July is a time that coaches can contact players. I am very interested in sending coaches a dvd of a game, and scheduling a visit sometime this summer.

Hope to see some of you at the tournament.

1st Week Out of School (VCU Basketball Camp)

My first week out of school was pretty much dedicated to basketball. I attended an individuals camp that was held at Virginia Commonwealth University. The camp was run by,VCU's Head Coach, Coach Beth Cunningham. When I first got there I had no clue who anybody was, so I stayed to myself. As the week went on I began to meet new people and have a lot of fun with the College Players. I even got to play against VCU's point guard, Jenifer Lane, in an one on one drill.  I feel that I definitly improved alot on my skills at camp.  Expecially on my defense and intensity. 

I also learned the true meaning of words like "pride", and "motivation"!  That inspired me to keep a positive attitude on and off the court.  I know for sure that I would like to go back next year.


Thank you Coach Cunningham and your staff for your time and commitment to girls and women basketball.


See some of my video clips below from our final game.  I am #33  and #4.

Playing Better

With each tournament and each game my AAU team plays together, we are playing better and better.  At the U turn tournament, we played some outstanding ball.  I did not score a lot of points, but my defense and assist improved.  We finished 2-1.  Losing in the Championship game by 2 points.  I am proud of my team.  Once again, we were down early (by 17 in the 1st half), and fought back to be within 2 points.  My teammate Emily was named MVP for our team because of her outstanding offensive rebounds and put backs.

Our next tournament will be this Saturday, June 19th in DC.  The Team SOL Tournament.  Schedule information will be posted soon.

Summertime Kickoff Classic

Our next tournament schedule has just been released.  We will be playing in Richmond at the Uturn facilities.  We will play at 4:10 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and   7:40 p.m. Championship Game.  Hope to see some coaches there!

MVP of CHS Girls Basketball

At my High School Sports Banquet on June 2, I wwas awarded the MVP for my Varsity Girls' Basketball Team.  I was sooo honored.
This is the second time that I was named MVP.  Last year, as an eighth grader, I was also MVP for the high school's JV team.
This really inspires me to continue to play hard.  I am so honored.

Slow Start, Fast Finishes, Out of Time

To walk into the Dean Smith Center was almost too much for me to handle.  My stomach begin to have nervous pains.  It was exciting but scary to play in front of all of those college coaches.

We played our first game at the Deep South Tournament against Garner Flames from North Carolina.  In the first 10 minutes of the game, we were very slow and sluggish.  We ended the the first half with a 12 - 21 score.

Coach Wendy really got our attention at half and we were ready.  We out scored the other team 19 - 14 in the second half, but finished with a 4 point lost.



After the game, I was very disappointed we did not come away with a win.  While outside of the Dean Smith Center, talking with my teammates, we had a opportunity to take a picture with Coach Sylvia Hatchell.  What a great experience it was to stand so close to a Hall of Fame Coach.

Went 2 out of 3

This past weekend, we participated in the Fairfax Stars Tournament in Fairfax, Virginia, where we came away with a 2 - 1 record.  After losing the first game, the team decided to have a team meeting to discuss what improvements we need to make.  The second game was exactly the type of game we need to have.  We battled through out the entire game, which went into overtime.  In overtime, my friend Emily led the way with 2 put back baskets and a key rebound.  We were so excited about the win, that we took that excitement into our final game.  We won with no problems.

Stats will be listed on the side.  (coming soon)

Next for our Spotsy Sting with be the Deep South Tournament, in North Carolina.  Our first game is at UNC-Dean Smith Center at 11:30 am.  If we win, we will play at 5:20; if we lose at 3:30.

Big, Big Challenges!

Well our Spotsylvania Sting team has taken on a new challenge this season. We are playing 16U competition and so far we have played in two tournaments.  It has been tough, but didn't back down.  The oppornents are big and strong and the pace is much faster.  My style of play.

We ave Spring break this week, so that gives me extra time to practice and work on my teardrop shot and ball handling skills.  We have the Deep South Tournament in two weeks, so we have got to use this time off to prepare for even bigger comptititon.  It's time to dig deeper.

Eligible Recruting Tournaments

Coach Wendy Jilson, my AAU coach has just confirmed the following tournaments we will be participating in during the summer.  I know that we will participate in other tournaments, but these are one's during the recruiting dates.  I hope to see some of my favorite college coaches there.

The tournaments we will be attending during the eligible recruiting dates are as follows:

· 16-17 April 2010 – Deep South Raleigh, NC

· 5-8 July 2010 – Blue Chip Penn State University, PA

· 22-25 July 2010 – Nike USJN Invite Washington D.C

TOMORROW ;)

  So tomorrow is pretty much the day that I've been waiting for all year. Tryouts for our AAU basketball team is starting up and I'm super hyped about how our season will be and who will be new on our team. I am happy to see my friend, Keyontae is back in the game, after suffering a knee injury at the end of last years' AAU season. 

One of our first tournaments will be in North Carolina.  It is called, "Deep South Tournament".   Now is the time to see what we got and to be ready to bring it all when we play.

My first High School Honor

Yesterday, I found out that I was considered and voted for the second team All-District.  This is my first Honor I have received since entering high school.  See article below.

AAU Try-Outs

AAU try outs are next Sunday, and I am sooooo Ready!  Even though I have been working out at home, the week and a half since our season was over, seems so long.  I am anxious to start a new season with the Spotsylvania Sting Team.

Next week I am getting back on the court.  I will go to the gym after school a couple of days.  I hope I can get in a couple of pick up games because I want to start concentrating on improving my defense.

By the way, I made all Battlefield District. . . 2nd team.  I feel honored to be selected.

Last Loss

The 2009-2010 season has come to an end with a loss to Eastern View High School.  It was definitely a heart breaker for us.  The good thing was that  we went out there and played hard, but it seemed like we were playing against 7 people.  Our timing was very off.  No excuses!  All of the district teams were out of school the same amount of time due to snow.  Lack of practice definitely hurt us. Now is the time to remember how we held our heads up high and did not give up.  Now it is time to prepare for my AAU season.

Tournament Time

The snow has really messed up our schedule this year.  We missed the last 4 games of the regular season.  Tomorrow we will begin our tournament.  We are set up to play again Eastern View High School.  The last time we played, we lost by 9 points.  Coach made us work out really hard today, to help us understand our role.  If we win, we will play the winner of James Monroe and Spotsylvania.  If we make it that far, I feel we have a chance to play in the championship game.

The final change

We received an email from Mr. Dan Dickey, the Athletic Director at Caroline High School, today.  He  explained how our makeup schedule will be for next week. 
 

1. If it snows and school is cancelled on Monday Feb. 15, we will begin the district tournament on Wednesday Feb 17. and include the normal format of all 8 teams with the present standings determining seeding.  games will be 2/17, semis on 2/19 and finals on 2/20.

2. If school is in session as scheduled next week, we have deemed it to be most beneficial to finish out the regular season.  will finish out as follows:

2/15 v. Spotsy B=h, G=a; 2/16 v. King George G=h, B=a; 2/18 v. Eastern View G=h, B=a; 2/19 v. Courtland G=h, B=a.  If the region votes to move back the regional tournament, we will begin a 4-team district tournament on 2/23 and 2/25, and play the regional tournament 2/27, 3/1 & 3/2.  The State tournament starts on 3/5

If the region declines to move back the tournament, we will finish the regular season and NOT have a district tournament, and the regular season standings will determine who goes to regionals, which will be held the week of 2/22.

I am just ready to play!

The Final Stretch

We just received word, that next week, we will be playing 4 games.  Because of the snow we have had in the past week, we will have to have regular scheduled games and make up games in the same week.  On Friday, we will play against Eastern View High School.  This will be a very good game.  We need to prove to ourselves and the league, that we are one of the top teams.  We know we are!, but have not been consistent enough to show it.  It's time to show it.

Next week, we will play Spotsylvania (Mon.), Essex (Tue.), Courtland (Wed.), and King George (Friday).  That will end our regular season.

Searching for the next WIN!

I thought that Friday's game against James Monroe High School, was one of the best that we have played lately, even though we lost by 4 points.  We played hard AS A TEAM, and we kept our heads high after the game because we knew we had given a great effort.

After a long week of exams, we enjoyed chillin' over dinner prior to the game.  It was relaxing and fun to just hang out with my teammates.

Next game is scheduled to play at the Cavalier Arena against Courtland.  I look forward to playing at home and in front of our fans.


Hey!  I just found out.  I made it into the Washington Post.  see link below:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/hss/schools/outside-metro-dc/caroline/girls-basketball/38304/

My Big Break

On  Sunday at church, our normal drummer was not there and one of the deacons asked me to sit in.  It was a lot of fun.  Scary, but a lot of fun.  God is always challenging me.

Even Though

Our makeup game with James Monroe High School on Saturday, was the most exciting game of the season so far.  Our Lady Cavaliers started the game off strong, allowing the Yellow Jackets very little space to penetrate into the paint.  Still an amazing game for our team. The intensity we had was so strong that we were ahead at half time by ten point.   But as we all know you can not keep a good team down.  Tough defense on their part brought them back to tie the game with 2 minutes left in the game. 

Three games again this week.  Starting with Chancellor, tonight, Millbrook  on Wednesday, and at James Monroe on Friday.

Back At It!

A win against Culpeper High School was a great feeling.  Our team rebounded with a vengeance after the lost to Eastern View.  That Eastern View team really made us take a good look at our team and our weaknesses.  Today's win was a big improvement at home against a scrappy Culpeper team.

Next will be against James Monroe High School.  JM was a co-regular season champions from last year.  We missed our first meeting against them due to snow.  Hopefully we will get another win.

"Never Say Die"

After coming off of a heartbreak lost to Easternview, some of the girls felt like this is the lowerest place to be.  My pastor has said before, once you feel that you are at your lowest point in life, look up, because that is the only place you can go now.  I took it one more step.  "Never say Die".   I will not give up, and I will work hard to keep my team up. 

I was so excite to practice with my AAU team this past weekend.  It brought back a lot of great memories from the summer. 

We will bounce back tonight against Culpeper!

Watch out 2019

We finished last week with a 1 - 2 record.  After our big win against Spotsylvania, we ended our mid-season week losing to Deep Run and King George.  Deep Run had great outside shooting and King George realize that we were moving a step slow and controlled us with good outlet passes and fast breaks. We were not able to recover in the second half.
Our next game against Eastern View will be another tough match up.  With a long weekend, and a good workout on Tuesday will put us back on track.

My little sister Kierstin, had her first recreation basketball game this weekend.  I was so excited for her.  Coaches watch out for her in 2019!  She is #9 on the blue team.

Not Tired Yet!

I think we played really well yesterday against Spotsylvania High School.  Everyone on the team contributed in some way.  Today we practiced hard to get ready for Deep Run High School, (Glen Allen, Virginia), who we will play tomorrow.  Deep Run is a AAA school, and will possibly be really good competition.

This is another tough week.  Last week we were scheduled to play 3 games, but only played 2 games because of snow.  This week we have 3 games, and next week 3 games.  On Friday, we will travel to King George High School, for another district game.

Please check out the side panel to the right, to see how well my team and I are doing.

Busy Week!

WOW!  It has really been a busy week for our team with having two games back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Courtland High School, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and Essex High School, in Essex County, Virginia. 

We ended up losing against Courtland on Tuesday.  It was a pretty hard game, but I managed to help out our team by scoring 17points.  The next day we came back with revenge, by winning against  Essex.  It turned out to be a great game for all of us!  We all played and each scored or did something to help us win.  Tomorrow we will be playing our "rival" from last year's Junior Varsity (JV) championship game.  It was the only lost of the season.  It will be an interesting game . . . . . . . unless it SNOWS ;(