In 2000-1 season, the Streaks lost a tough game at Sterling, 50-48 in Overtime. Sterling had a good ball club, but we felt it was a game we should not have lost. Sterling packed it in a zone to take away our inside game of Sarah Pacheco and Ashley Shepherd.
Our scoring during the season was- Rachel Bicego 6.1ppg, Shanell Jackson 8.8ppg, Shannon Williams 10.7ppg, Ashley Shepherd 12.0, and Sarah Pacheco 17.1ppg.
Sterling feared our inside scoring enough that on the opening tip, they put one player in the circle to jump, and the other four back in the lane to get ready to defend our inside game. This strategy worked well in their overtime win when we shot only 30% from the field.
The Streaks jumped out to a big first quarter lead, and never looked back. To counter our pressure, they had their talented post player bring the ball up the floor. Rachel Bicego at maybe 5'6" pressured her as soon as she got the ball. On the very first possession that Sterling had the ball, Rachel forced a five second violation with her pressure.
Shanell Jackson pumped in 14 points from the outside in the first quarter to punish them for sagging back inside to cover our posts.
1- Little Things- Often the keys to success don't show up in the stat line. Rachel Bicego's defense on Sterlings 6'0" star completely took them out of their offense. Little things are indeed big things.
2- Stepping Up- Most of our teams that made a run in the State Tourney had someone who picked their game up. Someone who played at a different level than they did during the regular season. For us, that was Shanell Jackson. All of a sudden when a player goes from being an 8ppg scorer to averaging 15ppg in the tourney run- your team becomes much better.
3- Keep Improving- The best teams are the teams that keep improving as the year goes on. The 2000-1 team--
Jan 20 lost to at Sterling 50-48, then on Feb 19 in the Sectional won 52-32.
Nov 25 lost to Peoria Central at GHS by 62-58 then in the Elite 8 beat Peoria 69-47.
4- Make the Time- Shanell's success was no accident. She never talked about it, she never boasted about it- she just worked and worked to improve her shot. She played volleyball in the fall. But as the fall went on, people would stop me and say versions of the same thing- "Every time I'm at the Y working out, I see Shanell Jackson shooting." Over and over that is what I heard. Athletes with strong drive don't say that they don't have time. They don't say they will try to find time. THEY MAKE TIME. In other words, they actively plan to make sure they have time to do the things that are important to them. Shanell shot 43% from threes and 80% from the line that year. So while her shooting may have been a surprise to Sterling- it wasn't to us!!
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