Senior Week- Myra Diggins

This is “Senior Week” for us, with our last regular season home game being played on Thursday vs. Washington. We have three seniors- Myra Diggins, Sadee Hamilton, and Paige Klinck. All three have been important to our success.

Myra at 5’6” has been a force for us the last two years. She is an active, aggressive defender at the front of our defense, and she has been very active on the boards. Myra’s constant energy will be greatly missed.

Gyms for Girls Teams

Over the last 40 years, a question that has faced schools is how to get all of their basketball teams into gyms for practice and how to get all the teams a spot to play the games.

At GHS when girls basketball was just getting started in the early 1970's, the varsity and soph boys teams practiced in Thiel Gym, and played their games there. Usually the boys varsity started practice at 1:30pm as part of "athletic PE." Then the sophs would come in for practice around 4:00 or 4:30pm. The girls teams went to Hitchcock school that had a small wooden court- today it is the Hitchcock apartments. Once a week, the girls would come in during the evening and practice in Thiel. Most of the girls games were played in Thiel but if there were conflicts, they played a few games at Churchill.

Playing in Big Gym at UT

Streaks vs. UT will be played in their big gym- "the boys gym." UT had scheduled to play all of their conference games in the bigger gym this year. It is not the first time the Streaks have played on this court.

We actually played three games on that court in 2003. Can you guess who we played?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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).

Great Christmas Surprise

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