Part of the game

What makes up a winning team/season? Is it great players? Great coaching? Hard work? Team chemistry? Fans in the stands? Luck?

If you answered all of the above you would be correct. To be a championship team you have to have some talent, some coaching, the team has to be all working for the same goal, support and some luck along the way. Players have to stay healthy and unfortunately we just lost another one to a major knee injury. We lost our stud freshman Lauren Holt after our first scrimmage and during our game Wednesday, Lindsey Leatherman-Schaertl, went down with a torn ACL and a fracture of her knee cap. Very painful to watch, both physically and mentally.

Lindsey is a four-year senior for the 'Belles and a team captain. She has been a starter, but was also hampered by injury last year. She is a great student and a very good person. Her parents have always been some of our biggest supporters. In fact I am having a hard time remembering the last game Dee Leatherman missed. In fact, she even went to Hawaii with the 'Belles. Okay, that doesn't seem like much of a "sacrifice", but she has never missed a game in Kingsville!! Now that is support! It just makes me physically sick that Lindsey's career is going to end like this. She will be having surgery next week. But, even though that fracture is causing her a great deal of pain, Lindsey is coming to our game today in Portales, N.M. That proves to me that we do have great team chemistry and we are all working towards the same goal. Don't give up on the 'Belles, we aren't giving up on each other.

RoadTIP

The 'Belles had a very succesful roadtrip to Oklahoma. We beat East Central 80-60 on Thursday night and I was so proud of the 'Belles. I was very anxious before this game, because I didn't know what I was going to say to the team if we lost. The 'Belles have worked so hard since we returned from Christmas break and I really felt like some lights had come on about our offense and defense. The first half of the ECU game we still couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, but we played so hard and smart. We were winning the game by six at half time even though we were only shooting 21%. We ended the half with a great play by Alix and Camille, which really gave us a lift going into the locker room. The second half we kept playing hard and shot the ball better, so we won by 20! One of our freshman, Leah Lemaire, had a double-double in her second start of the season.

On Saturday, we played Southeastern Oklahoma who was 10-2 and ranked 25th in the nation. Again, we played great defense and we won the game 62-60. The game was tied with less than a minute left on the clock and Leah Lemaire took a charge in the low post to get us the ball back. We ran our offense and Paige shot a 3-pointer as the shot clock ran out. Alix Flores crashed the offensive boards and TIPPED the ball in with 1.2 seconds left on the clock! It was awesome!!! It was a huge win for us as we head into South Division play on Wednesday. We play Midwestern State at home on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and in Stephenville on Saturday at 5 p.m. Come out and see the 'Belles play. You won't be disappointed! 2010 is the year of the 'Belles!

Family and loss

The 'Belles are back from the Christmas break. Hopefully we are well rested and motivated to make 2010 our year. Unfortunately, our family suffered a loss on Christmas Eve. Kori Hall's dad passed away after a hard fought battle with cancer on Christmas Eve. Mr. Hall was only 48 years old and he left behind a devoted wife and two daughters. Yesterday, the 'Belles drove to Houston for the funeral. I am not really sure how to put this, but it was the best funeral service I have ever been to. First, it was standing room only. People were lined up along the walls and standing outside in the entryway. Mr. Hall was not rich and famous. He was just a hardworking, kindhearted man that put God and family first. The service was a two-hour celebration of his life and even though Kori and her family will never be the same without her dad, they had to take some comfort yesterday from how many people were positively affected by their dad during his short time on earth.

When Kori got up to speak yesterday her message was that if we were fortunate enough to still have our mom and dad living, we need to tell them we love them. I wanted to share that message with everyone today. Don't take for granted the people in our lives. Make sure we take the time to let the people that we care about know how we feel. Don't assume they know and don't assume they will always be here. I also wanted to thank Kori for that message and for allowing us to be a part of such a special day.