All-Star Game

This year, the Girl's All-Star Game didn't quite turn out the same as most of the previous games had. The West clearly had the size advantage and they played as if they had practiced together for most of the season. The East just didn't have the same unity as shown by the West and although we were able to chip away at their lead, it just wasn't enough.

Although there was one bright spot for the East at the All-Star Game. Liz not only won the 3-point Shootout, but did it shooting off of one leg. In the first 1:30 minute round, the scoreboard read 17, in the second round it read 9, and in the final round the scoreboard read 19 (which also tied the boys best shooter Stuart Beauchamp of Grace).

GAME NOTES:
The East went 19 of 75 from the floor (CCS made 13 of those 19 shots).
Rebounds - 41 (CCS had 24 of those 41)
Assists - 10 (CCS had 5 of those 10)
Steals - 21 (CCS had 16 of those 21)

Oh Lord...please send us some help!

With the last practice of the season wrapped up, the only thing left to do now is to wait. With the exception of Sheff, Heather and Lea (who have All-Star "duty" this weekend)the rest of the team will get two or three days of much needed rest before going into the Nationals tournament.

After watching Chelsea try and practice on Thursday night, odds are that she will likely not dress out for the tournament. In addition, Heather is still feeling the effects of the flu (conditioning) and now Hilliary & Jess are both getting sick. I feel like we need to hire a team doctor just to get through the last week of the season!

But all things are happening just as God has planned it. We should always remember that nothing happens to God's own without it first going before the throne for His approval. We may not fully understand the "why" behind the things that happen, but we do know that it is to serve His purpose in the end.

4:13

And the winner is......

Freedom Life Academy of Montgomery, AL (currently the #2 seed NACA) is hot on our heels for the #1 spot. Being that we lost to Central over the weekend, I fully expect to drop one or two spots (and it could even be three or four spots). However, Freedom Life helped us out a little on Friday by losing their final game of the regular season.

The final ranking before the tournament will come out this afternoon and there is likely going to be some movement in the rankings.

Current ranking is as follows:
#1 Covenant – Panama City, FL (20-6)
#2 Freedom Life- Montgomery, AL (15-4)
#3 Tabernacle – Hickory, NC (10-3)
#4 Shining Light – Greensboro, NC (13-1)
#5 Landmark – Cincinatti, OH (15-3)
#6 Covenant Classical – Concord, NC (8-7)
#7 Sweethaven Academy – Portsmouth, VA (10-4)
#8 Covenant – Sevierville, TN (11-5)
#9 Greater Gwinette – Suwanee, GA (8-15)

The rankings are based on several factors including wins/losses, strength of schedule and points scored/allowed. For instance, Shining Light (#4) has a better record at 13-1 than Tabernacle (#3) which has a record of 10-3, yet Tabernacle has played stronger teams throughout their regular season.

In addition, there are a total of 12 schools entered in the tournament, so three of them have not been ranked.

Only the strong will survive.

How Do You Measure Success?

As I sat this morning, emptying out my gym bag from the Final Four tournament, I came across the small Ziplock Snack bag that one of you girls placed our torn up game goals into following the Grace game (because I had left our big bag on the bus). I couldn't help but notice how small the bag containing those little torn up pieces of paper was in comparison to our normal gallon sized bag. But in that moment, I saw something that was so obvious, that I couldn't believe I had taken it for granted this season. The small amount of paper in that snack bag following the Grace game equaled almost half of the goals accomplished in the entire 2001-02 season for the Lady Lions (back when a win was a big deal).

You see, whether in the game of basketball (or in our daily lives), you can't measure success by the scoreboard at the end of the game or by the size of a trophy. Instead, the only real measure of success is based upon the goals that we set for ourselves and whether we have done our best to accomplish those goals.

 We went undefeated in the East.
 We made it to the Final Four.
 We had four players named to the All-Conference team (last year we only had three).
 We beat three public schools (with only 44 kids in our high school).
 We had 11 teams in our Club 30
 We held three teams to less than 16 points.
 We improved our defense (last season 17.3 SPG to this season's 23.9 SPG)
 We improved our rebounding (last season 30.5 RPG to this season's 35.5 RPG)
 We improved in every aspect of our game.
 We played every minute of every game, not for ourselves, but for each other.
 We started the season as a "team" and we ended that way.

Let Central relish in their victory and polish & admire the trophy. Because deep down inside, I believe it will be back at Covenant next season.

Setting Us Up for Success

A wonderful thing is happening to the team right now.

Just as we are primed and ready to head into the Final Four with plenty of momentum, Chelsea suffers a foot injury that will likely end her season. Then the night before we leave for the Final Four, Heather gets the flu and will miss the tournament. Two starters out. A tough road ahead? Maybe, maybe not. You see, I believe God is setting us up for success. That's right success! God doesn't use the mighty & strong to show the world His glory, no, He uses the lowly and weak - the underdog so to speak.

Now that doesn't mean I think we are lowly & weak or that we are the underdog, but when the other teams see that we are missing two starters, they will perceive us as weak. Then WHAM!!! We give 'em a taste of what 4:13 is all about!

By the time the tournament ends, every team there will KNOW the power we have behind 4:13.

Prayer Needed

When things that others say about you start to get you down and make you feel beaten, take time to stop and pray. It’s sometimes tough to remember that we are to exhibit patience with those who oppose us, remembering that the real battle is not against them, but rather against the evil forces influencing their minds and hearts.
(2 Tim. 2:25-26)

Please pray for every member of our team this week and let God fight the battle.

4:13

We're Back!

The latest NACA National Rankings are out...and guess who's back in the #1 spot? Our 58-22 win over Maranatha, combined with Freedom Life Academy's loss last week was enough to convince the NACA. From here on out we must take care of business in a BIG way to stay in the #1 spot.

HOORA!

Another Surgery

As many of you have probably noticed over the past few weeks, Liz doesn’t seem to have the motion in her knee that she should have by now. Her Physical Therapist has been pushing her hard (to the point of tears) and it hasn’t helped. She went back to the Andrews Institute this morning for a follow up and her surgeon thinks it’s probably excessive scar tissue and he’s scheduled her for arthroscopic surgery tomorrow. He's putting her under and will aggressively take the knee through the full range of motion in an attempt to break up the scar tissue. She'll also be back on the pain pump for a couple of days, and swollen again, and yes... back on crutches - AGAIN! Keep her in your prayers. She’s been depressed lately and I can certainly understand why.

Basketball Team Scores Again

The Lady Lions captured another "crown" of sorts on Friday night as the team representative (Liz) was crowned Homecoming Queen. (Check out Chelsea & Olivia in the background)

Sheff & the Youngbloods

They may be young, but they know how to play! Sheff (the only "old timer" on the floor) Lea, Rachel, Hannah, and rookie Rebecca Newby (left, who came out of the stands and dressed out for the game) held their own on Friday night in a very impressive win over Maranatha. They played the 3rd & 4th Qtrs without a breather so the rest of the team could leave early for the Homecoming festivities.

Great job ladies!

Good News!

Freedom Life Academy (Montgomery, AL), which currently sits in the #1 spot (NACA), helped us out a little on Thursday night by losing. They are now 14-3 (we are 17-5) and their next game is against a team they beat earlier in the season by only 1 point (41-40). If they lose that game, we've got a 50/50 chance at moving back into the #1 spot (provided that we take care of our business from here on out).

Keep your fingers crossed!