Christmas Break Practice Schedule

As promised, I've scheduled a couple of practices during the break. The dates are listed below. If you're out of town or visiting with friends and family that are in town...I understand. However, if possible, give your best effort to make these practices.

Monday, December 29th:
10:00-11:00 4th grade practice
11:00-12:00 5th grade practice
12:00-1:00 6th grade practice

Friday, January 2nd:
10:00-11:00 4th grade practice
11:00-12:00 5th grade practice
12:00-1:00 6th grade practice

*All practices will be in the Old Gym.

Merry Christmas,

Coach Archer

Holiday Practice

I'm planning on opening the gym some during Christmas Break. We won't practice at all this week with Christmas being on Thursday...enjoy your presents and turkey. However, I'd like to schedule a couple dates for the following week. I have a copy of the boys/girls schedule at the school that I need to look at first so I don't conflict with any of their times. Also, I may be out of town a couple days. As soon as I look that over I'll post the dates. Should be posted tomorrow at the latest.

Great Job at Monette yesterday...all three teams! 4th graders, the only team in our conference to beat Monette this year is us. Good job! 5th grade, way to come out and dominate early, keep playing smart and don't underestimate anybody. 6th grade...awesome! It was a heart-breaker loss but we gave it our best shot. We had them nervous the whole game. I still say we're better than them. That's the team I've been looking for all year...great job!

All you guys & gals have a Merry Christmas!

P.S. Thanks for the gifts! That's the good thing about coaching girls...they not only play ball...they can cook.

Coach Archer

Directions to Monette

Go to Buffalo Island Central

We'll take it!

1 game in overtime and the other two got close at the end. Three W's...let's leave it at that. Way to play hard until the last minute girls...all 3 teams. We go to Monette tomorrow to play our last game of the year. That's right, we won't play again until January 6th at home against Rivercrest and I believe that's just 4th & 5th. The word is that Monette has a gym that is "off the hook." Let's go in there Saturday morning and show them how to play some ball. See ya Saturday!

Monette games:

4th at 9:00
5th at 10:00
6th at 11:00

A little controversy last night:

I'm not sure how many of you know what was going down last night but maybe you felt the tension. Let me explain. I had a coaches meeting weeks before our season started and met with all the coaches in our league. That night we discussed rules & schedules. Coach Brad Brannen from Bay is the leader and he called the meeting to lay the foundation. One rule is we must have certified referees for all conference games. Apparently, there was some home cookin' going on in the past and they wanted to help the situation. Our referees...Justin Milam and Mikie Slater are both certified and carry a card in their wallet to show proof. The question came up at the meeting that night, "what if we ask to see the card and they don't have it on them?" Coach Brad said "write down their name and call me and i'll check the website to see if they are listed." All certified referees are listed on a triple A webpage that coaches have access to. Well, the 4th grade coach from Trumann wanted to see the cards before the game started. Justin had left his at home by accident. He offered to go get it but said he would be late getting back in time since we had about 3 minutes until tip-off. Trumann demanded a forfeit. He said, "if you can't show the card it's an automatic forfeit. I told them to call the guy at Bay but they didn't want to hear that. They demanded a forfeit. I said let's play the game and if we win you can call the guy at Bay and talk to him. Well, we won in overtime and he blew up again after the game demanding a forfeit. The funny thing, that coach wasn't even at the meeting that night so he didn't know what he was talking about. I told him I wasn't going to argue with him and he needed to 'once again' call the coach at Bay and I would follow whatever he said. When I got home last night I called the coach at Bay and he hadn't received any calls from Trumann. He told me not to worry about it and he would handle it if they called. I think they were just looking for an easy win.

Coach Archer

Trumann Rescheduled

We will play Trumann Thursday night (tomorrow night) the 18th in the old gym. The games will be moved up an hour at their request. Also, we play Monette at their place this Saturday. After that, we are off for Christmas Break until January 6th. Here is the schedule:

Thursday 18th at home vs. Trumann:

4th grade-5:00
5th grade-6:00
6th grade-7:00

Saturday at Monette:

4th grade-9:00
5th grade-10:00
6th grade-11:00

Game Tonight

The game against Truman has been cancelled.

CHE Tonight in Old Gym

4th grade at 5:00...

5th grade at 6:00...

See ya tonight!

Riverside this Saturday

For directions to Riverside...click here.

Game schedule for Saturday:

9:00 a.m. 6th grade game
10:00 a.m. 5th grade game
11:00 a.m. 4th grade game

4th grade gets to sleep in Saturday.

6th grade...see you today at 3:00 in the old gym for practice.

4th & 5th...see you Friday night at 5:00 & 6:00 as we face CHE.

Coach Archer

Reminder

6th grade will practice Thursday immediately after school in the old gym. We need to get prepared for the Riverside game, which is this Saturday at 9:00 a.m.

P.S. Good hustle last night 5th & 6th. We'll take the win!

Coach Archer

Riverside Game Change

We go to Lake City this Saturday to face Riverside. The coach from Riverside has asked to swap the 4th & 6th games due to a conflict...so here it is.

6th at 9:00 a.m.
5th at 10:00 a.m.
4th at 11:00 a.m.

See ya tonight in the old gym as we battle the Hornets of Harrisburg.
5th at 6:00
6th at 7:00

Schedule for the week

5th & 6th play Harrisburg Tuesday night at 6:00 & 7:00 in the old gym. After Tuesday, we will have played everyone in our conference at least once...4th grade already has since the Hornets don't have a 4th grade team. Since Harrisburg doesn't have a 4th grade team...4th grade will practice Tuesday night in old gym at 4:30 before the games start.

Thursday, immediately after school the 6th grade will practice in the old gym. Bring your practice gear to school Thursday and you can come over after school and change. We'll try to get started quick so we can be out of there by 4:30. Brookland girls play at home that night so we'll be out in plenty of time if you want to watch their games, which start at 5:00.

Friday night 4th & 5th play CHE in the old gym at 5:00 and 6:00.

Saturday morning at 9:00 we travel to Lake City to face Riverside. All 3 teams will play.

5th grade, no practice since you have 3 games this week.

Saturday, we will start to play all of the teams in our conference for a second time. Let me assure you (all grades) of something...all of these teams will continue to improve. We can't take anybody lightly. "We won the 1st time, we should beat them again no problem." Once we start to think that way...we're in trouble. 4th & 5th are currently #1 in the conference and 6th is sitting at #2 with 1 loss to BIC (Monette). When you're at the top...everyone wants to beat you and they will bring their 'A' game everytime. Let's give it our best effort over the next 2 wks. before the Christmas Break. Give your best, and that's all we can ask for. See ya tomorrow night!

Coach Archer

Quick Reminder

We play at the elementary gym tomorrow morning...not the old gym. 4th, 5th & 6th all play. Not sure about Monette's 4th & 5th but I've heard from numerous people the 6th grade is undefeated and very good. Come ready! 4th grade kicks things off at 9:00 a.m.

Coach Archer

CHE game change

We play CHE on Friday, the 12th of this month. We played this team in early November and, if you remember, they only have 4th & 6th grade teams. Well, the 6th grade game ended in a win by a score of 34-4. I talked to the coach after the game that day and told her I could bring my 5th grade to play next time and she agreed. Actually, they probably have a couple girls that would qualify for 5th grade anyway, since homeschooling is done a little differently. So, this time around the 6th grade won't play...only 4th and 5th. 5th grade was shorted a couple games anyway, since Caraway doesn't have any 5th graders. Be sure and check the 'Upcoming Games' schedule on the right to stay onboard with the latest changes.

Coach Archer

U-G-L-Y

Just keepin' it real...the theme song of the night was "U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi you're ugly, yeah, yeah you're ugly." I think that gym was possessed or something 'cause all 3 games just didn't feel right. We made sloppy passes...took sloppy shots...sloppy ball handling, just ugly. I've always heard that it's easy to play to the level of your competition and I think that's what happened. Not taking anything away from Trumann, but we just didn't play like we normally do...all 3 grades. The good news is, we walked out of there with 3 wins in our pocket. Basketball is a strange sport...sometimes you're in the groove and sometimes you're not. However, I think last night said something about all 3 teams...we can have an off night and still get it done. One thing I like about all 3 teams is this...even though we may not be playing as good as we do at other times, the effort is still there...good hustle! Final scores in all 3 games:

4th grade
Brookland-16 Trumann-8

5th grade
Brookland-22 Trumann-14

6th grade
Brookland-29 Trumann-26
(Thank you Nicole for the clutch foul shots)

Monette game changed

We are scheduled to play Monette this Saturday at 9:00, 10:00 & 11:00 in the old gym. These games have been moved to the Elementary Gym...same times apply. ROTC is doing something at the other gyms on Saturday so, we got booted. This is a conference matchup so we didn't have the option to cancel and re-scheduling would've been a major headache since our calendar is full. Also, if we couldn't re-schedule on a day that makes Monette happy we would've had to forfeit...league rules. So, the elementary gym it is.

Coach Archer

Wildcats here we come!

We go to Trumann tomorrow night to face the Wildcats...not these Wildcats. The games will be played at the Cedar Park Elementary School Gym. Go here for directions. 1st game will start at 6:00 and all 3 teams will play. We have 7 games left before Christmas Break and 6 will be conference games.
We're gonna make some changes to our pre-game warmup starting tomorrow night. Our normal routine is stretch, defensive slide (twice) & UCLA. Scratch that routine. The new routine will be...UCLA, 3 on 2 & free throws (we can stretch and shoot free throws at the same time). This change applies to all 3 grades. Why the change?

4th grade free throws over the 1st 6 games:
6-26 (23%)

5th grade free throws over the 1st 4 games:
10-28 (36%)

6th grade free throws over the 1st 6 games:
22-84 (26%)

Need I say more? Now, shooting free throws before the game will not perform any miracles, but hopefully, it will get our minds focused in the right direction. To improve your foul shot you'll need to do that on your own...takes practice. I had a coach tell me a long, long time ago..."you always find your shot at the free throw line." I think that's good advice. If your shots aren't falling, go to the foul line and get back in your rhythm. The 3 on 2 drill will help us focus on working the ball around the basket for a good shot. 4th grade & 6th grade, if you could see how many times people are open under the basket it would probably make you sick. We've gotta keep our head up when dribbling and passing around the perimeter. 5th grade, you've done pretty good in this area so far. Let's show up ready to play tomorrow night...see you at the game!

Coach Archer

Comments

This blog was created to help keep fans informed of Lady Bearcat Basketball happenings and also, offer something fun for the girls. A page to call their own. Comments have been allowed so friends, players, family could have the freedom to offer encouragement throughout the year. However, due to the recent comments this item has been removed. Negativity towards the coaches or players is not a positive thing for this program. If anyone has a suggestion or comment to make it needs to be directed to that specific person so the issue can be resolved. Comments posted on the web offer no value to anyone and it sets a bad example for our girls. No one hates to lose more than me and I feel your pain from the loss against Marked Tree. The simple fact is this, when we win...everyone's happy. When we lose, we like to point the finger. It's the coaches fault, a certain players fault, referees fault, etc. I will take the blame for this loss but I will not allow negativity to sneak it's way into this team. This a team, there are no favorites. I have started a different 5 almost every game since Todd & I are experiencing with different lineups and seeing what works the best. I will never play anyone out of favortism but I will always play the girl/girls that I feel matchup the best against that days competition. I'm human, so I will make mistakes. I promise you my best interest is this team and I will do everything in my power to have a successful season for these girls...win or lose.

Coach Archer

Marked Tree

4th grade game:

I gotta admit, I was shaking before the game ever started. I almost asked for birth certificates before the game...never seen size like that on a 4th grade girls team. However, after we jumped out 10-0 I was feeling better. It was funny...our girls were scared to death. Even after they called timeout and we were up 10-0 they were still scared. Good job girls...really looked good tonight. Final score 30-8.

5th grade game:
Great job ladies...came out early and attacked. 47-4...great job!

6th grade game:
I wish we had better news to share on the outcome of this game. We lost 28-24. I knew this game was going to be tough going in. Coach McClung informed me that they lost 2 out of 3 to Marked Tree last year by 20 pts both times. Of course, we all remember the win in the tournament. We double teamed the point guard for most of the game and she ended with 8 points. 31 hurt us with those two threes but that was just a mental breakdown on our part by not remembering who we were supposed to be guarding. The big stat...free throws. We were 4 out of 18. Not gonna beat many teams shooting like that. Good hustle girls...let's allow this loss to make us stronger. Proud of you!

Coach Archer

Bearcats vs. Indians

We face the Marked Tree Lady Indians tonight in the old gym at 6:00, 7:00 & 8:00. Come ready to play!

Swifton Cancelled

The coach from Swifton just called and informed me they are refinishing the floor in Mid-December to prepare for the Kell Classic Tournament. Therefore, the December 18th game at Swifton is cancelled. He didn't have any available dates to re-schedule.

Coach Archer

3 Wins at Bay

4th:
We played pretty well in the 4th grade game. Final score was 19-8...I think? A couple things to remember, play smart, make good passes & keep your head up when you're dribbling. Many times, and I repeat 'many times' we had the ball up top with 3 defenders on the ball and 3 of our girls would be wide open underneath the basket. We have to be looking up to see this. Also, we need to make quicker passes. Once you see 2 or more defenders coming your way...get rid of it. Do the math, someone has to be open if two girls are guarding the ball. Good job though ladies...keep up the good effort!

5th:
We were officially down by one point at halftime...I was a little nervous. A quick glance at the scorebook revealed they had 7 points and 6 came from #24. That's why we stuck on her like glue in the second half. The best way to slow down a person from scoring is never let them touch it. It's hard to score if you can't touch the ball. Many times we were just letting her catch the pass and then guarding her. With a good player...that's too late. We looked much better in the 2nd half and I believe the final score was almost identical to the 4th grade game. 19-9...something like that.

6th:
I thought I was gonna be sick after the 1st quarter...not really, but I was a little frustrated with our play. I think it was 4-2 after the 1st quarter. That's why I benched all the 1st 5 and went with a different group. Our defense was fine, but we couldn't score. The second 5 played all of the 2nd quarter and outscored Bay 17-0 in the 2nd quarter. Wow! That was what we were looking for. In the 2nd half we looked good and the final score was 42-5. For some reason, we have trouble scoring at different times. I guess that's the game of basketball...sometimes you're on and sometimes you're not. One thing we can do to help is aggressiveness. When you get the ball...look to make something happen. Too much dribbling around in circles and waiting for the something to happen. It's only gonna happen if you make it happen.

Marked Tree is headed our way.

Tuesday night at 6:00 at the old gym.
4th, 5th & 6th grade games.
Come ready!

After Tuesday you get the week off for Thanksgiving and we'll get back in the groove on December 2nd at Trumann.

Coach Archer

Bay Game

I wanted to sneak in a practice this week, but all of the gyms are unavailable. Therefore, we get the week off. Our next game is this coming Saturday at Bay. Go here for directions. They have a High School and Elementary Gym. I'm guessing we'll play in the Elementary, but being a Saturday morning, we might get the High School. High School Gym is right in front of the Elementary Gym, so, follow the vehicles. The schedule says 1:00, but it's actually 9:00 a.m. All three teams will play and the 1st game will be at 9:00 a.m. that morning. Bay is in our conference, so come ready to play. In case you didn't make the games last night, we won both 4th & 6th against Caraway. They don't have a 5th grade team. I can't remember the scores, but we won both pretty easily. 4th grade looked good, but 6th looked a little sloppy. It's ok though, there's a lot of season left and plenty of time to get better. Later!

Coach Archer

Game scores and shedule changes

Game scores:

Friday, November 14th

4th grade: Brookland 10 Paragould 7

5th grade: Brookland 16 Swifton 6

6th grade: Brookland 28 Swifton 10

Saturday, November 15th

4th grade: Brookland 26 Riverside 5

5th grade: Brookland 25 Riverside 12

6th grade: Brookland 20 Riverside 19

The original schedule said we have 4th & 6th games at Caraway on Tuesday, November 18th. Well, Caraway had scheduling issues and they were not able to have a gym available at their place, so I offered to play that game at our place. After about a week, that plan got knocked down due to gym/referee issues. So, that is why we have moved those games to Monday, November 17th. Also, Marked Tree called and wanted to schedule a couple games with our 4th, 5th & 6th teams. I only had one date available and they jumped on it. So, here is the final plan for the remainder of this month.

Monday, November 17th @old gym vs. Caraway
4th & 6th
Tip-off for 1st game is 6:30.

Saturday, November 22nd @Bay
4th, 5th & 6th
Tip-off for the 1st game is 1:00
(This time is not officially confirmed. I’m still waiting on a reply from the coach at Bay).

Tuesday, November 25th @old gym vs. Marked Tree
4th, 5th & 6th
Tip-off for 1st game is 6:00

*We will play to win all games, but the conference games are definitely the most important since they will decide our ranking for the tournament at the end of the season. I’ve listed those teams at the side, so you can know when we’re playing a conference game.

Practice? We may try and squeeze in a practice this coming Thursday. The only obstacle right now is finding a gym. I’ll let you know as soon as I get something confirmed.

Thanks,

Coach Archer

Season has officially kicked off!

We played CHE last night at home. They only have 4th & 6th grade so 5th got the night off. Well, not really they had practice at 7:30. We won both games. Yee Haw!

4th grade:

I was really beginning to wonder if the ball was ever going in the basket. I think we were unofficially 1 for 30 in the 1st half...and the shots we had were good looks. Halftime score told the story...2 to 2. However, a drought will only last so long before it begins to rain. We got the same shots in the second half, they just finally started going in. Oh well, that's basketball at its finest...sometimes you're on, sometimes you're not. Final score was 19-6.

6th grade:

We came out strong with full court pressure and the score was 10-0 before I had time to yell at anybody. It was funny, during the end of the 1st quarter I looked at the score board...21-0, and told the next 5 to go in after halftime. Alexa said..."coach, it's only the 1st quarter." I couldn't believe we scored 21 in the 1st quarter. Final score was 34-4.

Next game is this Friday night at home.

4th grade vs. Paragould at 4:00. 4th grade, you may want to bring your uniform to school and head over to the gym right after school. Bring a snack if you need some energy before the game. I'll be at the old gym at 3:00.

5th grade vs. Swifton at 5:00 (be there by 4:30)

6th grade vs. Swifton at 6:00 (be there by 5:30)

Also, our 5th and 6th boys play Swifton after the 6th grade girls games. 5 games this Friday...should be fun!

Remember, we play Lake City Saturday morning at 9:00. This will be our first conference game. I heard they won all their games last night against Caraway. 6th grade won 27-6...ouch! Right now let's worry about Paragould and Swifton. See ya Friday!

Marmaduke games

I think I may need to clarify a few things from the games at Marmaduke this past Saturday. It was ‘not’ an official game. This was considered a practice game. Marmaduke doesn’t start their season until December, that’s why our next games with them will not include a 6th ‘B’ game. They select their traveling teams in the next week or two and kick-off the season in early December. Also, that explains why they didn’t have ‘official’ referees, a clock that actually stops when the ball is out of bounds and an official bookkeeper keeping count of player fouls, timeouts, etc. With that being said, it was a good 1st test for our girls. The coach from Marmaduke told me they start their girls in Kindergarten. These girls play ball year round. Their season won’t end in February…they will be involved in summer leagues. Our next game is Tuesday but our conference play will start this coming Saturday against Lake City. We have specific rules to play by in the conference games. These are listed below:

4th grade:
Referees must have an official referee card.
5 seconds in the lane instead of 3.
12 foot free throw line
Game is 4 5:00 minute quarters.
Overtime is 2:00
4 full timeouts per game
No pressing until the fourth quarter.
If a team is up by 20 they can’t play defense outside the 3 pt. line.
If you are up by 20 in the 2nd half the clock runs continuous.

5th grade:
Same rules as above except:
Game is 4 6:00 quarters
Overtime is 3:00
No pressing until 2nd half

6th grade:
Same as 5th except:
Pressing is allowed anytime.

Our conference games include the following teams:
Caraway, Bay, Trumann, Lake City, Monette & Harrisburg.

Conference record will decide our ranking for the tournament at the end of the season. Everyone else on the schedule is a non-conference game. The rules for non-conference games will be decided between myself & the opposing coach. Hopefully, this will give you a good understanding of the layout for each game. So, let’s show up Tuesday night at our place and kick-off the season with a good effort. 5th grade won’t be playing since CHE doesn’t have a 5th grade team, so, we will have 5th grade practice this Tuesday night in the old gym at 7:30. I’ll send a note to school Monday.

Practice

Practice makes perfect? I don't think so, but it definitely helps your game. Tonight is our last practice before we kick-off the season at Marmaduke on Saturday. Here are some suggestions to help you prepare for Saturday:

Watch a high school game Friday night or catch a game on TV. Pick a player that plays your position...Point guard, Post player, Center...watch what he does. If he's good, pick up some pointers...if he stinks...watch Hannah Montana.

Get a good nights sleep. That means when your parents say "go to bed"...go to bed.

Eat a good breakfast and don't stuff your face at lunch.

When you get to the game, don't grab a hotdog and nachos...jump around, stretch and get focused.

Put on your gameface.

Coach Archer

Marmaduke, here we come!

We kick-off the season this Saturday at Marmaduke.

1:00-4th grade game
2:00-5th grade game
3:00-6th 'B' game
After 'B' game...6th grade game

*Get there a little early since the games may not last an hour long.

Caraway Game Changed

The schedule says we go to Caraway on Tuesday, November 18th for 4th and 6th grade games. Well, Caraway had a conflict on that night so we made some changes. They will come to Brookland on the 18th and we will play those games at the Elementary Gym at 6:00 & 7:00. January 17th we will go to Caraway and play our games after the boys. Probably around 12:00 & 1:00.

Practice Schedule

Micah snapped a couple pictures at practice last night.

Tuesday, November 4th at the Old Gym:

4th at 5:30

6th at 6:30

5th at 7:30

Thursday, November 6th at the Elementary Gym:

6th at 5:30

5th at 6:30

4th at 7:30

*Notice the time changes...trying to change up the times so 6th grade doesn't always have the late practice.

Practice

Our next practice will be this Thursday night at the Old Gym...not the High School Gym.

4th grade-5:30
5th grade-6:30
6th grade-7:30

See ya Thursday!

Correction

CHE does not have a 5th grade team. They only have 4th and 6th. There's my mistake for the year...glad that's over! Hopefully, the hard copy schedules will be completed today...I say that with fingers crossed.

Two more games

CHE (Christian Homeschool Education) just called and I scheduled two games with them. Since they don't have their own gym we will play both games at our place. They only have 5th & 6th grades available.

November 11th at Home vs. CHE
5th at 5:00
6th at 6:00

December 12th at Home vs. CHE
5th at 5:00
6th at 6:00

Added practice and reminder

After looking at the calendar, I think it will do us some good to squeeze in a practice next week. November 8th is getting here quicker by the minute. So, we will have practice next Tuesday, 21st at the Elementary Gym. Listed below are the remainder of practices for this month.

Tuesday, 21st at elementary gym:
6th at 5:30
5th at 6:30
4th at 7:30

*Notice the time differences above. It's not really fair to always make the 6th grade have the late practice.

Monday, 27th at High School:
5:30 to 6:45 all grades together...this should be fun.

Thursday, 30th at High School:
4th at 5:30
5th at 6:30
6th at 7:30

Also, don't forget we have an open gym tomorrow morning from 10:00 to 12:00. We had about 15 or so last week and we were able to scrimmage. Come out in the morning if you get the chance.

Coach Archer

Mismatch

Sometimes your opponent will be bigger...sometimes smaller. Either way, you still gotta bring your "A" game.

Two more games scheduled

The coach from Rivercrest called me last night and we scheduled a couple games in January. However, as of now, they only have 4th & 5th grade teams...no 6th grade. I thought that was a little odd. I don't think it's a player shortage...I think it's a coach shortage. Anyway, here are the added games:

Tuesday, January 6th at Home vs. Rivercrest
Games start at 6:30
Game 1: 4th grade
Game 2: 5th grade
no 6th grade game

Saturday, January 24th at Rivercrest
Games start at 10:00
Game 1: 4th grade
Game 2: 5th grade
no 6th grade game

P.S. Hopefully, we will be making a hard copy of the complete basketball schedule sometime this week. I've got a couple games that need to be confirmed. As soon as they are completed we will hand them out during practice.

Practice Change

It's bad being at the bottom of the ladder. The junior boys are practicing tomorrow night at the High School Gym, so, we have officially been bumped. The good news, I called Principal Covey and she said we could have the elementary gym. So, tomorrow nights practice will be moved to the Elementary Gym...times will be the same.

4th at 5:30
5th at 6:30
6th at 7:30

Spread the word if you can. I'll send a message to the Middle School Secretary so the girls can be notified of the change.

New Lebron James Commercial - Swimming Pool

I love this commercial!

Swifton

We have two more games to add to the calendar.

Friday, November 14th at Home vs. Swifton

Thursday, December 18th at Swifton

The games will start at 5:00 on both nights. They only have 5th and 6th grade teams and both boys and girls will play on these nights.

5th grade girls at 5:00
6th grade girls at 6:00
5th grade boys at 7:00
6th grade boys at 8:00

Practice

Don't forget! All practices this month will be at the High School Gym.

Marmaduke Greyhounds

Add this to your calendar:

Saturday, November 8th @Marmaduke

4th grade game at 1:00
5th grade game at 2:00
6th grade 'B' game at 3:00
(we'll probably play two 10 minutes quarters)
following 'B' game...
6th grade game

Thursday, January 15th @Brookland

4th grade game at 6:00
5th grade game at 7:00
6th grade game at 8:00
(no 'B' game at our place)

*Marmaduke selects their traveling team sometime during late November. That's why they'll have enough 6th graders for a 'B' game on the 8th. However, in January they won't have the extra players since their traveling team will consist of 7 to 9 players, so, we can't have a 'B' game in January.

See you tonight at practice...don't forget...we'll be at the High School Gym.

Coach Archer

Conference Games

The coaches meeting at Bay went good last night. Including Brookland, there are 8 teams in our conference this year. However, not all schools have a 4th, 5th & 6th grade girls team...as you can see below:

Caraway (4th, 6th)
Bay(4th, 5th, 6th)
Leachville (no girls teams)
Trumann (4th, 5th, 6th)
Lake City (4th, 5th, 6th)
Monette (4th, 5th, 6th)
Brookland (4th, 5th, 6th)
Harrisburg (5th, 6th)

Everything was done with a pre-scheduled layout and we had to draw for numbers which decided who you play and when you play. All Tuesday games will start at 6:00 p.m. & Saturday games will start at 9:00 a.m. However, those times could change over the course of the next month. Our schedule is listed below:

Saturday, November 15th at Home vs. Lake City

Tuesday, November 18th at Caraway

Saturday, November 22nd at Bay

Tuesday, December 2nd at Trumann

Saturday, December 6th at Home vs. Monette

Tuesday, December 9th at Home vs. Harrisburg

Saturday, December 13th at Lake City

Tuesday, December 16th at Home vs. Trumann

Saturday, December 20th at Monette

Saturday, January 10th at Harrisburg

Tuesday, January 13th at Home vs. Bay

Saturday, January 17th at Home vs. Caraway

January 26th - 30th, District Tournament at Harrisburg

These are the conference games we will have this year. Our record for these games will decide our seeding in the tournament. I can now schedule games with other non-conference schools. I'll post those games as soon as I confirm the dates.

Coach Archer

Practice

It has been confirmed. We will have practice this Thursday at the Elementary Gym. Schedule for this Thursday is as follows:

4th grade: 5:00 to 6:00
5th grade: 6:00 to 7:00
6th grade: 7:00 to 8:00

Also, I have the coach's meeting tonight at Bay to schedule our conference games. I'll post that information tomorrow.

See ya Thursday!

Sorry

Still no word from Principal Covey about practice Thursday. Hopefully, I'll find out something Monday. I think she was out of town all last week.

A word to all players

Good practice last night ladies...all grades. I'm sorry we had to do a last minute change on practice times, but it was for a good reason. I went by Farmer's Union last night and checked on Ashton (lost her Grandmother). She seemed to be doing good and I think the card and basketball really helped her. Good idea parents. Keep Ashton and her family in your prayers. I still haven't heard from Principal Covey about the use of the Elementary Gym, but as soon as I do it will be posted on here.

4th graders-we will continue to work on fundamentals. That's why we are lying down on the floor and shooting. Now is the time for you to develop good form on your shot. We'll continue to do a lot of passing drills, dribbling drills to help you develop as a player. However, we can't work miracles with 2 practices a week, so, practice at home. You can lay down on the living room floor and practice your form and technique. Go outside and practice dribbling on the sidewalk or carport. What if you only have gravel and dirt? Even better, if you can dribble on an uneven surface, the gym floor will be no problem. Keep this in mind, I will not be held responsible for any valuables that you break in your house...so be careful!

5th graders-We will still continue to work on fundamentals as well. Dribbling, passing, shooting, etc. When you do your drills at practice and home...keep your head up. You're not going to play in a game with your head down, so don't do it during practice. That's about the biggest problem I see with this group. You need to be able to see the whole floor during a game and you can't do that if you're looking at your sneakers. We will probably start working on our rebounding and defense in the next couple practices.

6th graders-Fundamentals, of course. However, you're a little older and have been around the game longer than 4th/5th, so we will be working on some more advanced stuff with you. We worked on 'shell drill' a little bit last night. That's just the beginning. I'm hoping we can play a lot of man to man defense this year, but we need to know how first. So, get ready for a few drills you've probably never seen before. Also, we'll be throwing in a couple inbounds plays and working on an offensive set in the next couple weeks.

Coach's Meeting

Next Tuesday I have a Coach's Meeting at Bay with 7 other coaches to determine the schedule for our conference. The teams in our conference this year will be: Bay, Trumann, Leachville, Caraway, Lake City, (Monette, I think?) and, of course, us. Not really sure why Marked Tree is not on this list but, hopefully, they will be included 'cause I'd like to play them. Regardless, this will give us 12 guaranteed conference games. One home and one away with each of the 6 teams. Our conference tournament will probably be sometime in January. After Tuesday's meeting, I'll be able to post our schedule on here and bring written schedules to our next practice. Also, once I get the conference games scheduled, I can move forward in scheduling games with other schools. Some schools of interest are...Swifton/Tuckerman (they came together...not sure what they call themselves), Marmaduke, Weiner, Marked Tree (if they're not in our conference), Harrisburg, and a few others. It really just boils down to who I can get to play us. From what I've heard, conference games will probably start around the 1st or 2nd week of November...find our for sure Tuesday. I'd like to get a couple games in before that with other schools maybe around late October...we'll see.

Welcome

This site has been created to supply information to the Parent's, Athlete's & Fan's of Brookland's Middle School Lady Bearcat Basketball Program. This includes grades 4th, 5th & 6th.