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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Coaching Network

One of the enjoyable things in coaching is that it allows you to get to know coaches from all over. Today I got a text message from Coach Jermaine Johnson, asking me to call back. I had no idea who he was. 

I finally made connections after practice. Jermaine started the conversation,"I am a friend of Jason Shay's." After Jason had sent me some good ball screen options on Hudl last week, I figured I definitely needed to listen.

Impressive

Today at practice we had a player who was ill today and missed practice. This was the first time all year that we have had a player miss a practice.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Streaks Set Record vs. Bloomington

Three years ago was the first time we tried to implement "Grinnell style" basketball. We got way down early in the game, at half we went to an all out press and subbed five for five the rest of the way. The players were simply told to "jack up shots" as fast as possible. We did not come back but we did make it close. It was originally done without having practiced it, and with no training.

Three years later we beat Bloomington 80-56. We had a slow start, leading by 3 at half. But we exploded in the second half. We outscored them 27-14 in the third quarter and did not look back.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Streaks in First

From the Register Mail


If you liked Round 2 of the Rock Island-Galesburg girls basketball season series Thursday night, you might love Round 3.
The Silver Streaks avenged an earlier Western Big 6 loss to the Rocks 61-60 on Thursday in Thiel Gym, a hard-fought nail-biter that wasn’t decided until Rock Island’s Harmonee Trice missed two straight shots from under the basket in the final seconds.
Ranked No. 8 in Class 3A, Galesburg (22-4, 6-3) took the WB6 lead from Rock Island (18-6, 5-3) with just one conference game left to play. The Rocks entered the game No. 9 in Class 3A.
If regional seeds play out, the teams could meet again next month in the Rock Island regional. Rock Island was seeded No. 1 and Galesburg No. 2 on Thursday afternoon.
“I feel really happy and really excited,” said softspoken Streaks senior Sadee Hamilton, who played a large role in the game’s final seconds. “We really wanted this game.”

Streaks Beat Rocky in Thriller

From the Argus....


By Marc Nesseler, nesseler@qconline.com
GALESBURG – The last 12.8 seconds that decided the Western Big 6 Conference first-place girls' basketball battle between state-ranked Rock Island and Galesburg was must-see thrilling.

If only Galesburg guards Sharron Diggins and Rainey Sibley could remember seeing the action that gave the Class 3A 8th-ranked Silver Streaks the 61-60 win over the 9th-ranked Rocks.

"I don't even remember what happened. All I remember is coming down with the ball" right before the final buzzer sounded, said Sibley.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Lynn Mueller- Knox Senior Adjusting to System

Four years ago Bill Allison told me the women’s basketball team was going to be really good. His reasoning was that Knox had successfully recruited a player from Downers Grove South.  And as Bill explained to me, all the great athletes in Knox history came from Downers Grove. (He happens to be from Downers Grove, not sure if at his age if he can remember if it was North or South)

Lynn Mueller is a senior from Downers Grove South on the Knox women’s basketball team. She is a 5’6” guard. She is a great athlete, excelling in both basketball and track.

I wondered how seniors would react going to the System. It would be a pretty dramatic change to go through your last year. In my opinion, the System is great for Lynn- it allows her to do what she does best- scramble and play hard.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Sara Johnson & Abby Owens- Knox Players From Grinnell


It has been so much fun for me watching as the Knox women implement “the System.” It is exciting for me on several levels. I am a Knox alum so that is part of it. My first coaching job was when I was asked to coach the Knox women my senior year, while I played for the men’s team. So it is really fascinating for me to see how the program has progressed and changed from that 1973-4 season. And obviously now that they run the “System”, it is exciting to see how it goes.

An interesting twist is that two of the Knox women grew up watching Grinnell play, and now are playing the same style at Knox College- 3 hours away. Sara Johnson is a junior- guard, forward, center- when Coach Cline went to the System, I thought her athleticism and ability to play multiple positions would make her a natural for the “System.” Sara’s identity as a basketball player was her ability to play tough man to man defense- so I am not sure she was sure about the switch.

Abby Owens, is a senior guard from Grinnell. Abby provides the ability to shoot the threes. An interesting thing is that Coach Arseneault actually worked on her shot when she was in high school. She has hit many back breaking threes this season.

In exploring how “the System” implementation has gone at Knox, I thought where better to start than with two players who grew up watching the “System.” We are certainly glad both left Grinnell and came to Knox!

Emily Cline- Knox Women's First Year

I know going to the “System” involves some risks for any coach. But after seeing the success the Grinnell men had with the “System,” I wondered why no women’s team in the Midwest Conference tried going to the “System.”

Last year watching Knox’s women play, I thought some of their players would be outstanding with the “System.” Having watched the Knox women while former player, Andie Allison played for them- I have always been impressed with how hard the Knox women play and the level of enthusiasm they have.

Last spring when Coach Cline told me that she thought she was going to go to the “System”, I knew it would not be an easy transition but I was very excited because I was convinced it was a very good decision for her program. It took courage for her to go to this style.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Victor Davis at IWU- Same Work Ethic

From the Pantagraph....


BLOOMINGTON — It may seem as if the time will come for Illinois Wesleyan’s talented sophomore class after the current group of four Titan seniors moves on.
No. 21-ranked IWU’s six second-year players simply aren’t willing to wait that long.
Embracing a variety of roles, the Titan sophomores have brought an uplifting wave of toughness and enthusiam to a Wesleyan team that takes a 14-3 overall record and a 5-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin mark into Tuesday’s 7:30 p.m. contest against Millikin at Shirk Center.
“It’s a hard-working, motivated, fun-loving group,” IWU coach Ron Rose said. “You could see it from the first week of orientation they truly enjoy each other’s company. They are a goal-oriented group individually and collectively.”
Victor Davis, a Galesburg native and the marquee recruit of the class, has moved into the starting lineup and  is averaging 10.1 points and 5.2 rebounds. Yet classmates Andrew Ziemnik, Eric Dortch and Nick Anderson are carving out spots for themselves in Rose’s rotation.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Streaks Go Over 20 Wins

For the 23rd time in the last 25 years, the Streaks won 20 games this season with their win over Peoria Notre Dame.

Galesburg edged PND 76-72 in the morning. Streaks had four players in double figures- Sharron Diggins 22, Myra Diggins 14, Sadee Hamilton 14, and Jessica Lieber 12. We had 9 threes from 5 different players. Sadee Hamilton 10 and Myra Diggins 9, led us in rebounds while Jessica Lieber had 6 steals. Lieber also finished with 7 assists.

Winning & Losing- Learning From Them

An old adage is that losing “builds character.” I am sure this was said by a coach of a team that was struggling, and the coach wanted to give the players a reason to think what they were going through was worthwhile, despite the pain. While I believe “losing builds character” can be true, I tend to feel like there is a better saying:

“Winning and losing can be used to build character.”

I would like to believe the reason sports are in our school system is that the experience of working, goal setting, competing, being a teammate—can all be used as valuable tools to teach important life lessons that often cannot be duplicated in traditional classrooms. And part of my point is that not just losing can be used to “build character.” Winning can be used to teach important character lessons also—things like the value of humility and of sharing success.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Streaks Hang on vs. Quincy

There have not been many times this year that the Streaks were not the most aggressive team on the floor, but tonight clearly Quincy was the most aggressive team. In a loosely called game, Quincy consistently was the aggressor going for steal after steal.

From the Register Mail...

On a night when the Western Big 6-leading Rock Island Rocks suffered a loss, the Galesburg High School girls basketball team might have seen visions of not being able to close the gap on first place late in Thursday’s game with Quincy at Thiel Gym.

With the hustling Blue Devils giving them all they could handle, the Silver Streaks led only 55-52 with just over 3 minutes to play and shortly after, P.A. announcer Bill Allison announced United Township’s 42-32 win over the Rocks.

“Very few times have we played a team that was as aggressive a team as us,” said Galesburg coach Evan Massey. “Tonight, there were times they were more aggressive than us. Hats off to them, it’s to their credit.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Team Dinner- Again

Coach Allison hosted the team for dinner before the Quincy game.
Chef Joyce Allison appears to have fed them enough. 

AP State Rankings

As you look at the State rankings, it is impressive how many teams on our schedule and in our tourneys are highly rated. Some interesting numbers---

Galesburg Thanksgiving Tourney- 6 of 10 teams are mentioned in the State polls.

King Tourney- 7 of 8 teams are mentioned in the State polls.

Our Schedule- 11 games vs. teams mentioned in State polls.

Wins by Galesburg- over #2 Springfield, #5 Centennial.

Regional- 3 rated teams- Galesburg, Rocky, and Geneseo.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Chloe Anderson- She Gets It


Chloe Anderson is a junior on the varsity. She played mainly on the soph team last year. At the end of the year we started playing her several shifts a night with the varsity, and she sure took advantage of it. She was important in our run to the Elite 8. Chloe is a very good fit for what we are doing in “The System”, she gets it in terms of just playing hard. She NEVER goes half speed.

What did you enjoy the most in the summer basketball program?
            I enjoyed the trip to Carolina.  It was a much different experience from Tennessee.

Disappointed- Very Disappointed

I was an assistant coach at GHS when Mike Owens started the concept of hosting a Thanksgiving Tourney. Galesburg ran a Thanksgiving Tourney for at least 20 years. When Mike Hellenthal took over as AD, he really worked to keep it going. There teams brought in from Chicago and St.Louis. It is hard to keep getting teams to come to Galesburg.

Journal Star Version of Morton vs. Galesburg

This is the Journal Star version of our loss to Morton. As you can see as you read the story, the winner in sports has the right to give their spin on the game.

It is meaningless to the outcome of the game, but as poorly as we played, and as much as they dominated the boards-- 9 total rebounds for us-- really?? It makes no difference in the outcome, but it certainly is not close to accurate.

Jane Miller's story....

Streaks Lose Big to Morton

A great run by Galesburg ended with a 60-38 loss to Morton on Monday at Knox College. Things started out tough with Morton scoring the first 15 points of the day. The Streaks managed to cut things back to a 10 point margin at the end of the third quarter, only to see Morton go on another run.

The following is Mike Trueblood's story on the game.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Streaks over Centennial- Reg-Mail

This is Robb Strack's version of the win over Centennial..

The Galesburg High School girls basketball team made it a 2-for-2 day in knocking off state-ranked opponents Saturday, beating Peoria Central 59-44 and Champaign Centennial 71-70 in Martin Luther King Tournament at Knox College.

Galesburg, ranked No. 8 on the Class 3A poll, dispatched No. 6-ranked Peoria and No. 2 ranked Centennial on the same day.

 “I’m really proud of the way we played with composure over the last four minutes,” said Galesburg coach Evan Massey of the upset over Centennial. “We competed hard and never hung our heads.”

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Big Day for Streaks at Knox

We started out and beat Peoria Central in the morning. #6 was short handed but were tough defensively. It was not easy but we went on to a 59-44 win.

The evening was a matchup with #2 rated Centennial. It brought out the largest crowd we have had at Knox College for a game. And it was our largest non-conference crowd of the year.

In the evening game, the Streaks upset #2 Centennial 71-70. It was an up and down game with Centennial ahead 48-40 at half. For Galesburg, Paige Klinck was on fire. She hit 3 three pointers.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

No Rest

Our ball girls are now 3-0!!!
No rest after our Moline game. We head into the King Tourney-- THE TOP 3A TOURNEY IN ILLINOIS.

We will play #6 Peoria Central at 9:00am on Saturday, #2 Centennial at 7:00pm, and then Monday play #8 Morton. All games will be at Memorial Gym at Knox College.

Please not that season passes will not get you into King Tourney games. We are very fortunate to get to use the Knox gym for the tourney, and the admissions go to Knox College. When you pay you ticket, please thank them for letting our girls play at their wonderful facilities.

Streaks Beat Moline

We were able to beat Moline. We at one point in the third quarter jumped out to a 12 or 14 point lead, but then became inefficient offensively and not only let them back into the game but we gave them the lead.

Fortunately we forced a total of 37 turnovers vs. Moline. That is some pretty good defense. Anyone who thinks we are all about offense, how many teams can force 37 turnovers?

Sharron Diggins had 25 points, including 8 of 8 from the foul line. Jessica Lieber had 16 points, and Paige Klinck had 12 points, including 3 threes (and one of her threes would have been far enough out to make Jessica Howard proud of her!!)  Good night for the Streaks!!

New Assistant Coach- Next Head Coach??

Coach Rux has been an assistant coach for over 20 years. Coach Barshinger has been coaching for over 10 years. And Coach Andie Allison has been coaching for several years. I have been coaching at least 50 years. So it is probably time we begin to train the next generation of coaches to run the Streaks program. On Saturday at Queen of Peace we started our training program for the future of the Streaks program.

So, who is the coach in waiting for the Streaks program?

Streaks vs. Moline Tonight

The Streaks will be hosting Moline tonight (Thursday) at Thiel Gym with sophs at 5:30pm and varsity at 7:00pm. In the first outing Galesburg was held to only 57 points and was handed the loss.

Dani Teel- Non-Stop Action

Dani Teel is a junior for the Streaks, playing her first year of varsity basketball. She would be considered someone with “an active motor.” She definitely “gets it” in terms of knowing that she is supposed to go at 100% of her max while she is in. Definitely the system is a good fit for Dani.

What did you enjoy the most in the summer basketball program?essage body
I think I enjoyed learning what the system was about and bonding with the whole team.  Marisa and I met a lot of friends in NC so that was fun!

How do you feel you have improved since last year?
Even though it doesn't show much I think my shooting has improved (definitely needs more work though) and my defense.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Allison Mangieri- Runs & Shoots


Allison Mangieri has emerged as one of those players meant for playing the system. She athletic and can press, she can run (not as long as her sisters), and she can shoot. Quite simply she can contribute so many different ways. Probably most of all, she is able to be a leader by her unselfishness and her work ethic. We are certainly lucky to have Allison in our basketball program!!

What did you enjoy the most in the summer basketball program?
I enjoyed games the most because we got to play numerous teams and I wasn't scared to try new things like dribbling behind the back. If I made a turnover, I didn't get down on myself because it was just a summer league game as oppose to a conference game.

You have had a chance to go to Tennessee and to Carolina to camp. What is your analysis of the pros/cons of each?
I liked Tennessee because we had the chance to watch the Tennessee girls play and it was a shorter bus ride than Carolina. However, i disliked the food at Tennessee, the hills, and the dorms were scary haha. Carolina had better dorms and food. Plus, there was a pool just outside the dorms so that was nice. The only downfall about Carolina was how long it took to get there, but we did alot of fun things on the way which helped.

Galesburg Over IVC

The first time Galesburg played IVC was in the 1979 Manual Tourney for the championship of the tourney. Galesburg won. That was Galesburg's first championship- ever! We used a 2-2-1 press with one of the best back courts in GHS history- Amy Crisman, Lesa Moore, and Cookie Rosine. All three of them went on to be selected to the GHS Hall of Fame. Other notables on that team were Teresa Powell, Denise Parmenter, Lyndale Pickrel, and my sister in law, Amanda Allen.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Emma Junk- Second Year Full-Time Varsity


Emma Junk is a junior, playing her second year as full-time on the varsity. She had a tough summer, battling a stress fracture for most of the summer. She worked very hard on her game to improve her ballhandling and her shooting.

What did you enjoy the most in the summer basketball program?
Hosting League, its really a privilege we don’t have to travel. 

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Queen of Peace- How Did That Happen?

How does Galesburg end up playing a private school from Chicago?

It all started in the 1980's when AD Mike Hellenthal said he thought would be a good idea for us to get out and play some Chicago schools on a non-conference level. I was happy to have an AD encourage that, so he looked and he found Chicago Maria. Chicago Maria was an all girls school who had a team go to state earlier in the 1980's. Maria was located on the south side of Chicago, near Marquette Park and west of US Cellular Field (it was Comiskey Park then).

Alleman Over Streaks- RM

From the Register-Mail


The Galesburg High School girls basketball team opened the second half of their Western Big 6 Conference season Thursday night with a 62-56 loss to Alleman at Don Morris Gym.
The big story of the night was the Silver Streaks’ inability to hit 3-point attempts as coach Evan Massey saw his team go 3-for-30 from beyond the arc.
We just didn’t make enough 3s,” Massey said. “Of course, a lot of that was the defensive effort by Alleman.”

Flagrant Fouls Go Uncalled

This is a video of a high school team that has gone viral on the internet. It is disturbing.




The story by Jonathan Wall of Yahoo sports about the video follows.....

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Last Second Play - No Accident

The Bulls won tonight on a last second play. They took the ball out of bounds on the sideline. The ball was inbounded to Joakim Noah. It appeared that Luol Deng was then going to down to screen for who else- Derrick Rose. Rose was going to come off the Deng screen for a handoff from Noah. But the handoff never took place....

Great Christmas Surprise

I got a wonderful Christmas present yesterday!! It was surprise and really neat. What do you think I got?

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Charleston Paper Recap


CHARLESTON - This was no easy task for Galesburg.
Despite what the scoreboard said, Charleston fought hard for as long as it could before Galesburg erupted for 44 second-half points to win the Charleston Holiday Tournament championship 74-57.
"I thought Charleston handled our press well," said Galesburg coach Evan Massey. "They were a tough group to press. We didn't finish well in the first half, but we had enough composure to finish well in the second half."
Galesburg came out gunning early with four different players scoring baskets to give the Silver Streaks the early lead. Charleston's Megan Hjort's two jump shots would fall to start off the game. The Trojans would keep fighting under the basket with points coming from forwards Mary Jackson and Courtney Carver to only trail by two early.