Volleyball Practice During Basketball Season?

Sunday=a day of rest for we Demon basketball players.
Volleyball Tryouts/Practice Sundays=No rest.

Sunday is the only day we do not have basketball games or practices. We like to call it our day of rest.
When we were informed that we were going to be having tryouts for a tournament volleyball team this Sunday some of us were not too happy about it.

I understand practice in the off season makes a team or player better during the in season, but I personally do not think a player should be forced to play on a off season sports team during a in season sport. Basketball is my favorite sport, volleyball comes next. I enjoy playing volleyball just not during basketball season. If I were to get hurt during a volleyball tournament or practice during basketball season I would be livid. You are problably asking yourself, why is she complaining? Why doesn't she just not go out for they volleyball team? I have an answer to that question.

Our volleyball coach always says whoever puts the time in, will get playing time during the season. We all know that if we don't play on this team it will be held against us during the season. I have talked to mulitple volleyball and basketball athletes and their parents and not one of them thinks we should be participating on this team during basketball season. 

It is almost an unfair advantage to the basketball players because other than Sundays they don't have any time to practice volleyball. While those who do not have a sport at this time a year can practice volleyball whenever they want. The most likely means they will out preform the basketball players, but that is just something we will have to live with and fight through.

I think we need to unite and have a meeting with our volleyball coach and tell him what we are thinking and hope he understands where we are coming from, but until then we will be playing volleyball and basketball and losing our one day of rest a week.

Pink Out At Tipton.

Walking into the Tipton Tigers gym we had no idea what we were about to get into.
Are they good? Are they horrible? Are they tall? Are they good shooters? Will they press us? All we knew is we had to play for the pink. Push ourselves for all those kids who wish they could play but they physically cannot. Our Washington Girls have always done their best, which is why we have never lost wearing the pink during a Coaches vs. Cancer game.


When our center, Jena Krebs, got us the tip off we knew exactly what we were getting into.
We set the pase for the whole game. We were fast breaking, reverse layuping, back dooring, name anything positive basketball related,  we were probably doing it. We played great the first couple minutes, then some of my teammates found themselves in foul trouble.

Once you get two fouls in the first half of the game, Phil will pull you outta the game quicker than you can say mac nd cheese. When I say a couple of my teammates got into foul trouble and taken out of the game, I mean all of the starters but myself. I was thinking great, were going to lose our tempo and this game is going to be too close for comfort. At this point I told myself, I will not back down we are going to win this game. The game got within a few points at half, but when my teammates were able to enter the game again after half, we took care of buisness and came out with the second win of the weekend.

To celebrate our win we went and ate at poncheros...it is probably my favorite place to eat ever, and just made our win that much better. I was thankful we had Sunday to rest because coach told us our practices were going to be more intense and hardcore than usual. Game nights are going to be a night off in his words.

We Wear the Belt.

Last night we had our game against Mt. Pleasant.

Whe the game was on the line, everyone kept their eye on the prize, and did what they needed

to do in order to keep what is ours..the conference belt.

The very first play of the game against the panthers, I end up on my butt. Not only was I on the floor but I was unable to stand up because the girl who was guarding me was standing over, me. In my mind the play must go on. This is the point where I decided the only way for the play to go on is for me to get up and get to my corner. The only way for me to get up was to crawl between the girls legs. So what do I do but crawl between the girls legs to hear everyone in the crowd laughing at me. Can anyone say embarrassing?

The whole game was very close, but we were always on top, that is until the about three minutes

left in the 4th quater. It was tied 43-43. This was wayy too close for comfort, that was the point I was

feeling a little doubt, thinking they might actually beat us. A timeout was called and we all re-grouped

and decided this is when we need to buckle down and take care of buisness.

We, the demons, went on an 18 and 4 run against the panthers which is very good. We also went

12-12 from the freethrow line within those three minutes which is pretty much unheard of. When the

game was on the line we stepped up in order to keep what was ours and come out on top of our

long time rivals.

Only bad thing, we want to celebrate but we have practice at 8 a.m. in the morning to prepare for our

game at Tipton.

Embarrassing Moments of Other Basketball Players.

Belt on the Line.

Mount Pleasant Panthers=Our Rivals. [[we cannot lose to them, that'd be embarrassing.]]


Last year, we the Lady Demons were Southeast Conference Champs, 8-0. It was a huge accomplishment for us, not only because we got our picture on the wall, but it was the first time in a few years Washington took the title/belt. As of this year, we haven't lost the belt yet, but we were ranked third in our conference, with Keokuk first and Mount Pleasant second.  Everyone thinks last season was our peak season because we had 7 seniors and would only be returning one varsity player this season, and the rest of the teams in our conference would be returning a majority of their players. This is obviously not the truth, since we have four of the leading scorers in our conference.


As a player, it is common knowledge to never blame the loss of a game on the refs, it is something that is lost or won by the players decision. All the games I have partaken in i agree with this concept, except for one game earlier this season that we played against Keokuk. We lost by one, because of a mistake shooting free throws that the ref didn't catch until the Chiefs ran down and made the game winning play that should have never taken place. The win we were "jipped" out of would have put us first in the conference and proved to everyone losing 7 seniors means nothing for the Washington Girls Basketball program and that we had reloaded our team.


Our game tonight against the Mount Pleasant Panthers determines whether we can still hold our conference title belt, or if we let our former teammates down and give the belt to Keokuk. We have been practicing and studying MP's plays for hours this week, just for 32 minutes tonight. 


I believe if we play as hard as I know we can, and show up to play, we should still wear our belt out of the Panther gymnasium. 

Washington Girls-Quik Stats

Bulldogs.

I have made many friends from other teams over the eight years of my basketball career. A very close friend i keep in touch with happens to be from Ottumwa. Last night our game was against the Outtumwa Bulldogs. [[Keep in mind Ottumwa is a 4A school and Washington is a 3A school.]] 

Before our game last night, a few of my friends from Ottumwa and I were catching up all buddy-buddy. In the back of my mind I was about to be a complete "rip" to them in a short amount of time. Like Coach Long always says, "you can be friends before and after the game, but during the game they are your enemies." 

We huddle before our game and we all get a chance to say something inspirational to pump everyone up before we go out and take care of business. Keeping tradition alive I always say are you guys ready to let the dogs out? But this time we were trying to cage the bulldogs. All of us were roaring and ready to go.

We gave those Bulldogs a run for their money. They came to our gym, cocky, thinking they didn't even have to try at all to come out on top. But, long story short, we lost by seven. Even though we lost, it says a lot for our squad seeing they are a class larger than we are. We play the Mount Pleasant Panthers Friday night who lost to the Bulldogs just short of thirty. Many have commented to coach about how they love coming to watch us play because down by 20 or up by 20, we never give up and keep fighting.

Of course we are all bummed about the loss, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We learned and took a lot from that game, sitting through hours of films, and sweating through hours of practice. Hopefully it will all pay off for the game Friday night that really matters. 

Prom? [[i think so!]]

Basketball practice; something that can put a girl in the worst mood. 
Being asked to prom; something that could put a girl in the best mood.


Last night after practice, I decided to stay and shoot to prepare for our Ottumwa game. One of my friends left the gym before I did, and soon came running back into the gym yelling come here, come here, come here!. As I approached my friend, she looked very anxious and said quick look at what someone did to your car!. 


In my mind i was thinking great...someone ruined my car with eggs or paintballs, maybe even a combination of the two. When i reached the doors, I looked out to see my car with a question mark made from sticky notes on the back. I didn't want to go outside 1. It is winter time in Iowa and I found myself wearing shorts and a cut-off. and 2. I really didn't have the desire to see what it was about, and most likely end up being embarassed.


My friend insisted that I go see what was on my door handle. When got to the door, I saw a rose and a note tied it. The note was asking me to prom. Of course I am now obligated to say yes. I went back into the gym to finish my shooting, still smiling ear to ear. 


When I get in my car to leave, I could not see. Maybe it was because of the hundreds of sticky notes on the windshield spelling out prom, which I had somehow missed before. Now, I had to think of a better way of letting him know I would go with him than a lousy text message. Since everyone loves dove chocolate, I spelled out YES! on the hood of his car with the chocolates. 


Only drag to being asked to prom; I, a tall basketball player, has to go find a prom dress that is long enough.