'A great group of girls'

WORLAND - The third time is the charm. It is hard to beat a team three times in a season.

Clichés are well, clichés, but they do often prove to be true, as was the case for the Worland Middle School seventh-grade girls basketball team on Dec. 9 when the Lady Braves hosted the conference tournament.

During the regular season, the Lady Braves lost twice, both single-digit losses to Cody. WMS made it all the way to the conference championship game and standing in their way of a title was none other than Cody.

"We were 15-2 and both losses came against Cody, I think it was a mental thing," said WMS girls basketball coach Connie Schroefel.

In the championship game the Lady Braves quickly got over their mental block as they absolutely obliterated Cody 39-5. Making the dominating win all the more impressive was that the five points Cody had to their name were all scored in the first quarter.

The Lady Braves defense in the conference championship was essentially a hybrid of the 1963-64 Boston Celtics and the 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens, suffocating and unrelenting.

"It was impressive. The girls were great defensively, offensively and did everything we asked of them. We were very proud of them," said Schroefel.

Winning the conference championship was the icing on the cake of an already tremendous season for Schroefel and her team. All season long the Lady Braves had the focus of becoming better basketball players to be a better team.

"These are a great group of girls, we had good post players, we had good wings and a great point guard. You don't just come across that very often, you either have one or the other. We had an all-around good group of girls. They worked well together and they focused on basketball. They wanted to learn, came to practice ready and worked hard. It took us awhile in certain areas but once they got the hint they just took off with it, it was a lot of fun," said Schroefel.

At any level, defense is tough to teach. It's hard work that requires a lot of dedication and team chemistry, but when a team commits to playing excellent defense, the potential for that team grows quickly.

The Lady Braves did just that buying into a defensive mentality, which fueled their offense and their selfless attitudes were the driving forces to winning the conference championship and posting a 15-2 record on the season.

"Defense was our strength. Offensively, especially on the fast break, they can run, were athletic and knew the game of basketball that helps a lot at that age-level. There were things that we had to touch base on but other than that they knew the basics.

"They were great teammates and bought into the team first idea. There were no ball hogs and they all worked together well. The parents were also awesome, you can't have good kids without good parents, I think that was huge too," said Schroefel.

More eyes will be on the Lady Braves next season as they move on to the eighth grade and Schroefel for one knows they are going to continue their winning ways next year, and beyond.

"It was just fun, there was never a day that was like 'here we go'. Their focus was just basketball and they were very dedicated to playing the game. It was a great season and I loved all of it," said Schroefel. "I'm looking forward to seeing them grow, I think they're going to be a winning team every year, and even into high school, I think there's a state championship team right there."