by Oliviyah Thornton, GHS Blue Ink and Staff Report
Going into their first game of the season, the Garretson Blue Dragons girls basketball team came out victorious against their rivals, the Baltic Bulldogs. Playing on their rival’s court last Friday, December 4, Garretson looked to not only secure their first win of the season but also give the head coach of the varsity team, Matt Schrank, a nice birthday present too.
Since a majority of the team from last year was able to return this year, Mr. Schrank was able to build off this setup and devise a plan to defeat the Bulldogs.
Their main goals were to take care of the ball, rebound, and execute efficiency in their press.
The game started rocky with many fouls, nerves, and shots not falling in, but as the game progressed the Garretson girls started to relax and get in their element. At the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second, their shots began to fall. They kept the momentum going and ended the game 68-40.
They came out with a win but Mr. Schrank shared his thoughts.
“Although imperfect, I would say we were pleased with part of those results. The first game is always working on yourself.”
Mr. Schrank then explained that just because they won this one, they shouldn’t let this distract them from playing other games in the future and how he plans on attacking those.
“As a coach, you always want to get a game on film to start seeing your weaknesses and where you can improve. I’d say we were able to see some areas where we need to change our positioning on defense or in our press.”
He proceeded to explain his thoughts on offense based on the recent game.
“Offensively, we made great decisions most of the night, but noticing the small details in how wide/spaced out we should be. Being physical early and often in the post are just a couple that jumps off the screen.” He continued by talking about some mistakes he noticed on the defensive side.
“Defensively, we have to get better at keeping teams out of the paint, and even though we only gave up 6 points in the paint, I saw some weaknesses from Friday that scare me against a team that has a better presence inside.”
A win is good to start the season, but Mr. Schrank believed that the girls shouldn’t be satisfied and should stay hungry for more wins and play a complete game.
Mattea Fiegen, a senior starter varsity post player, agreed with her coach.
“In anything, you can always do better. There are always more things we could perfect. But I think we played well as a team and gave it our all. As long as that’s the case, there’s no reason to change anything. However, between you and me, I’d like to take back some of my dumb fouls.”
She ended the game with four fouls along with Molly Hulscher, also a senior varsity player. Following behind them is Lizzie Olson, another senior post starter, and Logan Bly, a sophomore, with three fouls and then Jaelyn Benson, a Junior starting guard, with two.
Coming from a different perspective, sophomore Raegan Altman, a younger player, gave her point of view about playing in the game and getting to play on Varsity.
“It is a big step from JV to Varsity, so it’s different, but it’s a huge accomplishment that I have already had playing time in the first game.”
If given the chance to re-do the game and come up with a different plan, she explained she probably wouldn’t have changed anything.
“If I could redo the game I don’t know if I would have planned differently, my coach pretty much hinted that I was going to be playing a little bit in varsity, so I was kind of ready, I just wasn't sure when the time was going to be.”
This might have been their first game, but Mr. Schrank was already thinking about the future and how to plan for it.
“Game by game. Each team is different. We are going to have a ton of games this year on the schedule that is going to be tough. We can’t look past one opponent to another one. Each night is one opponent, we find their weakness and exploit it, and we cut down on our own mistakes to capitalize.”
The Garretson girls basketball team began their season 1-0 and continued to snatch up wins, coming out victorious against Tri-Valley after a neck-and-neck game last Friday with a score of 56-54. They also won the game against Chester Area on Saturday, taking the win 74-40.
