Week in Quotes
Previous week's quotes...
Some of the best quotes about teams and players from around the state.
| Week of December 31 | |
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Wednesday, January 2 |
|
| Center
Grove 75 Whiteland 46 |
“Between the
officials and ourselves, we had a dead (third) period, and then we
bounced back from it. We picked up the intensity level and then did what
we needed to do. We hit a couple of shots and started executing. I’ve
been telling the kids that we’ve been getting better. We’ve played
harder, and we’ve played a little smarter.” -- Center Grove coach Joe Lentz (Daily Journal) “We came out real flat, and (the Trojans) shot the ball real well.
We were a little stagnant getting movement and were playing catch-up the
whole way. We did some nice things to get back in it, and then we had
three or four empty possessions.” |
| Huntington
North 57 FW North 55 |
“We made a
ton of mistakes. Part of that was the long layoff. But North Side played
their butts off. That’s probably the best they’ve played against us
in 10 years. In the first quarter, we let North Side hang around and
believe in themselves. The second half, we played about as hard as we
could possibly play, but because we let them hang around early, that’s
what’s going to happen. That’s a huge lesson for us to learn.” -- Huntington North coach Jon Lippe (Herald-Press) “Coming into Huntington North is always hard to play, with the band
and the great fan turnout. You have to go out and prove you deserve to
be here." |
| #1 Kokomo
74 Peru 22 |
“We try to
take every game one possession at a time. I thought we did a good job of
that tonight.” -- Kokomo coach Charlie Hall (Peru Tribune) “”I actually thought that our defense was pretty good in the
first and second quarters. I thought our girls competed so I am pleased
with that.” |
|
Thursday, January 3 |
|
| #14 Gary
West Side 54 East Chicago 44 |
"We went
with a smaller lineup, maybe that was a factor. If we had played like we
played the first three or four minutes of the game, we wouldn't have had
to turn the defensive pressure up in the fourth quarter." -- West Side coach Rod Fisher (The Times) "They pressed the whole game. Our kids just panicked. They're
young. We told our kids that if we handle their pressure, they'd be in
trouble. We did that for 26 minutes." |
| #10 Cass 63 #16 North Miami 56 |
“ We told
the girls to attack off of their dribble and not give North Miami a
chance to set up their defense." -- Cass coach Steve Ford (County Life) “We had 14 turnovers in the game and they scored on 12 of these.
They are a seasoned team and we had to spend a lot of energy in the
third quarter to get back into the game." |
| North White
46 South Newton 43 |
I was
extremely pleased with the fact that we have learned from our breakdowns
in both West Central games. Both games we did not show patience
when we needed it but tonight (Thursday) we showed wonderful patience as
we pretty much ran a stall for the last five minutes of the game.” -- North White coach Craig Shaeffer (Herald-Journal) |
| Shenandoah
45 Tri 41 OT |
We didn't have
much intensity at all through three quarters. Then something clicked in,
when fear of the loss was imminent. We just turned it up. To be honest,
we haven't really practiced that defense much this season. But our kids
did a super job with it." -- Shenandoah coach Todd Salkoski (New Castle Life) "They wore us down. They're big, strong girls. I didn't want to
go to overtime. I thought we could win it in regulation, but Shenandoah
made some inside shots and that was the ball game. But I've got to give
high praise for my kids because they gave everything they had." |
| #16 Turkey
Run 47 #2 Rockville 44 |
“It was a
hard-fought game by both teams. We played well. We’ve been working on
closing out games.” -- Turkey Run coach George Wooten (Journal Review) |
|
Friday, January 4 |
|
| Chesterton
54 Portage 50 |
"We hung
in there and we hit some crucial foul shots. One thing this
group's always done is play hard. You can never fault their effort. Our
switching man-to-man gave them some problems." -- Chesterton coach Jack Campbell (The Times) "A lot of times, we try to be the hero instead of making the
fundamental play. If we made the fundamental play, like we work on
every day, we'd be fine. It comes back to execution." |
| Valparaiso
56 LaPorte 31 |
"We've
put together a string of consistent games now. The first half of
the season, we were up and down." -- Valparaiso coach Greg Kirby (The Times) "We knew coming into this game we needed to be able to stop
their inside game, and we didn't." |
| Crown Point
68 Michigan City 32 |
"The key
was the good start. But we're trying to do three things: Communicate on
the floor, get some leadership and get some heart." -- Crown Point coach Tom May (The Times) "Crown Point is a great team, they're great competition for a
young team like ours. Tonight was the best game for us in terms of
hustle and effort, and we can build on that." |
| Hobart 47 Merrillville 42 |
"A lot of
teams, when they fall down by 14 as we did twice tonight, will just pack
it in. We didn't do that and that shows character." -- Merrillville coach Joe Poteet (The Times) "Although we let Merrillville back to within one tonight, we
still had the confidence to get the job done. It's a good sign that we
could finally win a close one." |
| Concord 33 Goshen 32 |
“We stunk
the place up the last time here, so we changed our approach. Our game
plan was to not allow them to go inside like the first game. Goshen made
one shot from the free throw line and the rest of their shots were from
inside the paint. I told my girls that wasn’t going to happen this
time. If they were going to beat us they were going to have to beat us
outside.” -- Concord coach Lyle Gaff (Goshen News) “We didn’t do anything right from the beginning. From Thursday
when we executed and played well to tonight where we executed absolutely
nothing. I thought the Concord kids played much harder than we did. We
weren’t patient enough to get the shot we wanted. Part of the reason
we beat them so handily the last time was because we were patient.” |
| Manchester
54 #17 North Miami 42 |
"We just
couldn't put the ball in the basket. We're not getting consistent
offense. They are a good team. But that doesn't make you feel any
better" -- North Miami coach Mike Hannan (Plain Dealer) "I thought our girls were mentally into it from the
beginning." |
| 4A #6
Wawasee 75 3A #4 NorthWood 57 |
“I was
anxious to see how we would react after a loss. We didn’t get
everything accomplished in just one game but it’s a good start.” -- Wawasee coach Kem Zolman (Goshen News) “I’m not going to miss having to play (Shanna Zolman), but
we’ll certainly cheer for them now. I had a hard time not clapping
during the game. You’re just not going to beat a team when someone
scores 53 points and then passes like she does. We’ll worry about
ourselves now. We’re still trying to find the chemistry we need. I
thought we improved some offensively.” |
|
Saturday, January 5 |
|
| Bloomington
North 48 #10 Perry Meridian 44 |
"When
(Bloomington) South put it on us five games ago, we got mentally tougher.
We have improved so much since then." -- Bloomington North coach Steve Goddard (Hoosier Times) |
| #1
Bloomington South 41 Martinsville 33 |
"They are
the best defensive team we play all year. I don't know of a better
defensive team." -- Martinsville coach Vince Cerbone (Hoosier Times) "It wasn't a great game for us. We weren't aware of what to do
(against the defensive shifts) and we didn't take care of the ball well.
We also didn't shoot well — from the line or from the field." |
| #8 Eastern
55 #2 North Knox 53 |
"(The
second half comeback) says a lot about us. In the last couple of games
we kind of struggled. At Edgewood we had a letdown and quit playing and
today we found our rhythm again by playing hard." -- Eastern coach J. B. Neill (Hoosier Times) |
| New Albany
55 #16 Floyd Central 54 |
“Anytime you
beat Floyd Central, it’s a big win. Obviously, (Floyd) is
capable of playing better, but I think when we went out of that zone in
the third quarter, it flustered them.” -- New Albany coach Dave Rarick (Evening News) ''Our offense was just not very effective. . . . Something was
wrong." |
| Penn 61 #1 Kokomo 56 |
"We told
the girls what a great opportunity they had today. We told them to have
fun and seize the moment. And that's what they did. The girls just
stayed focused and kept after it the whole game. We hit shots and that's
how you win games.'' -- Penn coach Dominic Ball (SB Tribune) "We were not ready to play in the third quarter and they jumped
on us. We didn't react well to their runs. I thought we had some good
looks, but we didn't make shots. And today we weren't a very good
defensive team.'' |