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.