Saturday, March 8th, 2008

We woke up at ten to get ready to go and meet downstairs at eleven so we could walk to breakfast. We walked to the stoplight where we split up to go to Dennys or IHOP. My roommates and I chose to go to Dennys, but it was packed so we went with one of our coaches to a diner next door. I got french toast and chocolate milk. After breakfast we walked back to our hotel to pack our things. Chelsey and I packed quickly so we could go sit in the hot tub for a few minutes to help our sore bodies out a little. My mom came over to get my things because we are going to be staying the night tonight and leaving tomorrow morning.

The team met downstairs at two to go to the Pavilion for a shoot around in the upstairs gym. We shot around from 2 to 3pm and then sat and watched the second half of the Lakes/Kamiakin game. We then watched the first half of the 3rd and 6th place boys game while getting taped and made our way into the locker room around half time before grabbing the 3rd place trophy.

It was definitely an interesting game. I have to admit that I was a little worried about our arrogance going in because we had beaten West Valley twice already. We took control of the first half and were up by eleven at half time. At the end of half time, there was a problem with the score board and our half time was extended another fifteen minutes.

We stayed on the floor and did shooting drills the whole time, but that didn't help much and we started off the second half very sluggish , unorganized, and eventually very frustrated. West Valley came back by the end of the 3rd quarter and tied it up. We only scored 4 points in the whole quarter. By the start of the fourth quarter, any one watching our game could tell we had had enough and we finally started playing Hanford basketball again.

Getting 3rd place was a great feeling, but I know that we will always have that "what if" in the back of our minds after a heart-breaking semifinal loss to Kennedy. Overall, I'm very pround of this team and what we have accomplished over the season. It was such a fun group of girls that worked so well together. There are many moments and memories that will stick with me for a lifetime. I definately had a fun and very memorable state experience. It was great to finish with not only a win, but a 3rd place trophy at state.

Friday, March 7th, 2008

We were allowed to sleep in until ten again. We then got up and got ready to go out to grab Breakfast/Lunch. The team split up because half wanted to go to Dennys and the other half wanted to go to Olive Garden. I had Chicken Alfredo at Olive Garden. I definitely ran that off tonight! Afterwards those that wanted to relax for awhile walked back to the hotel and the rest of us hopped on the bus to head to the mall for more shopping time!

We made our way back to the hotel around 2:30 to get ready to go to our shoot around at the YMCA in Shoreline at 4pm. We left the hotel at  3:15. After the shoot around, we drove around for what seemed like hours looking for a stinking Subway! There was only one person working  so I'm pretty sure it took around an hour for everyone to get their  food. We finally made our way to the Pavilion to get ready for our  Semifinal match up against Kennedy.

I wish I could say that the game ended like we had planned. As far as  effort goes, I can guarantee you that we worked our butts off tonight. We were 94 seconds away from being in the State Championship. We had that lead and with a few errors by us and lucky shots by them, we gave them the win and they ended up beating us by 5 points. I fouled out with like 13 seconds left. It was a very emotional game and we all know we deserve to be in that championship game.

It's a bummer it had to be this way, but we'll have to come out firing so we can beat West Valley and take that 3rd place trophy. We know that we are definately one of the top 3 teams in the state and Saturday is our last chance to prove it.

We started off the game so much better tonight than last night. I could tell as soon as we hit the floor that our nerves weren't near as shaky when we started the game. I shut down their leading scorer who ended up with ZERO points and really focused on getting the ball to Chelsey and Kristin tonight because they were hot. Chelsey ended up with 20 points and Kristin had 19. We really pulled away in the second half and ended up beating Bellevue 63-39. Final four baby! After the game we watched the first quarter of Kennedy and Kamiakin before we headed back to the hotel to have some pizza for dinner. Kennedy ended up winning so that's who we will play tomorrow. Tip off is at 9 pm. Time to get ready for bed so I can get up ready to win game number 3!!

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

I woke up at 8am, threw on some sweats and a sweatshirt, and went downstairs to grab breakfast before it was time to leave. We went to the pavilion right away and watched the 2nd half of the Auburn Riverside/Bainbridge game. I bought a state fleece too.

Around 10:45am, we got back on the bus and went to Fred Meyer. The coaches bought sandwich stuff, fruit, and Sun Chips for lunch. My teammates Kristin, Haley, Chantal and I went into Fred Meyer too so I could buy some face wash and hair bands and Kristin could buy some pop tarts to keep in the hotel room. Haley and Chantal went on a snack shopping spree, and the rest of the team walked across the street to get some Starbucks.

We all then went back to our hotel for lunch and some time to relax and get ready for our game that evening. We left the hotel at 1:30pm and drove to the YMCA in Shoreline for a shoot around before our game. We got our state shirts too! They are really cute! They are yellow and say "HANFORD STATE '08" on the front with a little stick drawing of a girl with a basketball. On the back it says our team motto "Whatever it takes!" We also got some "Falcon Bird Food" that our school book keepers made for us.

After our shoot around, it was off to the Pavilion to get ready for our game. We saw a few fans that were already there waiting, and I got to see my family before the game so that was great! We won our game!!!!!!!!

It was incredible how frustrating it was. We only had 11 points in the first half, had 5 girls in foul trouble in the 3rd quarter, and 2 of our starters fouled out. I was so proud of everyone for gutting it out! At this point, all that matters are the wins.

After the game we went to Red Robin to get some dinner, went back to the hotel to meet in the lobby really fast, and went back to our rooms to get ready for bed. Exhausted again, i should have no problem falling asleep. We play Bellevue tomorrow at 7:30 pm and I am so ready to have a great game!

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

We got out of school to find our parents waiting for us by the charter bus with gift bags that they had decorated for each of us full of food, games, and cute stuffed bunnies wearing purple jerseys with our numbers on the back! They gave us a send off and we were off to Seattle. We made one quick rest stop on the way, and headed straight to the Pavilion when we got to Seattle.

We arrived at the University of Washington around 7:15pm. We checked in, got some ice cream, and walked around the court to get a feel for everything before our first game tomorrow evening. The facility is so nice! I was really excited to find out that we were going to be playing at the Pavilion this year because I have played a few volleyball tournaments there before and I was pretty impressed by how nice everything is. I remember being at the Tacoma Dome when we went to state two years ago, and it wasn't nearly as organized or clean.

After leaving the pavilion, we headed straight to the Alderwood Mall so we could go to the food court and grab something quick to eat because we were all exhausted. We then went to the La Quinta Hotel (which is only 5 minutes from the mall...very convenient!), got checked in, and took our things to our rooms. We all met in the hotel foyer around 10pm and had a team meeting to discuss what our plan would be for tomorrow. We were told that lights are to be out at 11pm because we have to be up in the morning ready to leave at 8:30am so we can head to the pavilion to watch some basketball and buy our state clothes. Long day over all, so I have no problem with going to bed at 11!