Sparks Get Extinguished

The past 2 weeks in SBY the Tigers took on a Sparks team - whether Wild or FOR III, and considering all the fires CA had lately, the Tigers did their civic duty and extinguished both. :)

The FOR Sparks came into the game only 1 game behind the Tigers.  They were a big, beefy team (that's making me hungry) and have improved quite a bit over the past year.  But they are not the fastest team in the league and that was definitely exposed in the game.  They tried to full court press the girls and, let's say, they chose unwisely.  The speed of the Tigers against their press led to numerous layups for Shelby and Kayla.  And when they were not getting layups breaking the press, the girls still got good shots with Shelby dishing out the assists (it seemed like she must have had double figures assists) with Kris/Emi/Jodi getting the benefit of her passes.   The Tigers built a 10 or so point lead at half and won going away 37 - 16.  The FOR Sparks pounded the boards but the girls hung in there and held their own against the bigger team.

The WLA Wild Sparks was another tall, lanky team but definitely had more speed than FOR.  They were aggressive taking the ball to the basket but their perimeter shooting leaves a lot to be desired.  The Tigers started off hot with Kayla hitting a pair of threes and Emiko taking the ball aggressively to the basket.  WLA girls put their heads down and went hard to the basket and actually went on a small run.  Not sure what happened to Kris but she was running around like women at the Nordstroms half yearly sale and threw in some long threes and was taking the ball hard to the hole.  Kayla and Emi continued their good play and led the team to a 12 point 1st half lead.  The 2nd half the girls maintained a comfortable lead for the most part but WLA went on a small run near the end of the game but key baskets by Erica, Jodi and Kris sealed the win 37 - 26.  Shelby played her usual steady game and ran the team well.  Lauren hit a big shot in the 1st half and CC and Kristen played tough and were aggressive.

The girls have a 7 - 0 record with the Roxyz coming up next.  Hopefully they remember last year and not take this team lightly.  The Roxyz are playing better and are coming off a win against the Saberettes.  Good luck girls!