Spirited Away...

By Kevkris

Tigers vs. FOR Spirit II

With the Sol playing in another division, the Spirit has become the Tiger's numero uno rival for this JAO season.  They are a well coached, disciplined team which have historically caused the girls problems.  Well, the girls usually beat this team in tournaments but in league... different story.  And the story remained the same for this game - unfortunately..

In contrast to the first game, this game was a high scoring affair with both teams running up and down the court.  The girls started off quickly by scoring the first couple of baskets in the game but after that it was all Spirit.  While the girls handled their half court trap much better this game, it was the Spirit's full court press that caused the girl's issues.  The Spirit also broke the girl's press efficiently and got quite a few layup opportunities.  In fact, they took about an 8 point lead at one point in the first half but the Tigers battled back in the last few minutes of the first half and actually took a 1 point lead or so at the half.  Emiko had a stellar half and led the team in scoring.

The 2nd half of a see-saw battle with both teams taking runs at each other.  3 pointers by Emiko, Kris and Kayla kept the Tigers within strking distance.  But the Spirit always had an answer and their role players stepped up big in this game hitting clutch shots.  A "questionable" blocking foul (looked like a charge to me) led to a 3 point play for the Spirit which was a back breaker.  The Tigers battled back hard and had their chances to tie or even take the lead but the ball just wouldn't go down.  So close yet...  Final score in a fun game to watch - 30 to 28 Spirit.

I guess I should note here that one of the refs was a Northstars coach and of course the Spirit have several players on the Northstars... :)  But it shouldn't have come down to calls.  The Tigers need to rise up to these challenges as the Spirit was targeting this game for awhile and came out and hustled and killed the girls on the boards...  It's time to develop that MEAN streak.