Record Doesn’t Indicate The Growth Made
Oskaloosa senior Kinsey Cook drives to the hoop against North Mahaska on Saturday night.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – For the Oskaloosa Girls Varsity Basketball Team, the 2017-18 season has been one of growth, the results not yet seen in the win column.
The Indians fell to North Mahaska on Saturday evening, putting their record at 0-10, but head coach Jacie White remains positive about her team, and see’s the improvements being made, day after day.
White says that even just playing the game has “really helped our girls.”
With several team members not having much time on the court before, or in over a year, “we try as coaches to really build them up and show them that hey, you can play,” White added.
“We’ve just got to find a way with our age and our youth putting together those skills in a game,” said White. “If you come in and watch a practice, you get a different picture of Oskaloosa girls basketball.”
The team has shown the ability to play with any team, and recently with Norwalk on Friday night, and then again against North Mahaska on Saturday, the team played good ball for the first quarter.
White said that she tells her team that “there are five open spots every single day at practice in varsity jersey’s and five starting spots and it comes down to effort. Skill wise, you can make up for a lack in skill with full-out effort, and we’re looking for girls that can do that day in and day out. That’s not easy to do, but I know we’ve got girls. We’ve got girls that are capable and will step up, and they’ll do it, and they’ll work together.”
We just got to find a way to do it. I mean you saw it again tonight, first quarter, and it’s 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, and then the wheels fall off. We start giving in to fatigue, giving in when we’re tired. We’ve got to fight,” said White.
The Indians are a young team, with just two seniors on the team one of those being Kinsey Cook, who has returned to the court after surgery sidelined her the first part of the season. White says that Cook has been in practice. “She’s been great to be the one that’s talking and motivating and being a teammate, and that’s not always easy when you’re sitting on the bench. She came back and joined us after Christmas, and her effort has really been a spark for us.”
Pushing through the remainder of the season, White says that finding a way to keep working, “and I know it’s not easy, and it’s not an easy spot to be in, but I’ve got a lot of really awesome girls that have a lot of heart, and they want to fight.”
Coming out night after night after suffering defeat, White says many people would give in, “and I think we’ve got girls that are coming out and fighting. That says a lot about them and their character, and I’m excited to see what we do.”
