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!

The latest NACA National Rankings were released yesterday and our 28-point loss to Bethlehem knocked us out of the #1 position. We dropped to #2. Although being ranked #2 in the Nation is still quite an accomplishment for Covenant to be proud of, it does not get us the first round bye that we REALLY want going into the National Tournament.

Freedom Life Academy from Montgomery, AL (currently #1) has a record of 14-2 with only three games left. If they win all three games, they’ll end their season at 17-2 compared to our record of 17-5 (after we wrap up the regular season against Maranatha). 17-2 vs. 17-5 …that’s pretty much a no-brainer for the NACA to rank.

However, we have the opportunity to finish in the Regional/Final Four tourneys at 21-5 and may get the nod over Freedom Life Academy if they end up dropping a game or two in their post-season tournament.

Let’s not waste the opportunity that still lies before us.

Nobody ever remembers who finished second…except the guy who finished second.

Towel Boy headed to the Final Four?

The seeding for the upcoming East Regional Tournament is pretty much set and there are few (if any) questions surrounding which team will likely blow through the pack to win the East. But there is some mystery as to who will end up accompanying Covenant to Bainbridge for the Final Four.

Now I do not think towel boy deserves much in the way of praise or even discussion, but he may be the only one that can mix things up a bit during the Regional tournament. I fully expect Emmanuel to whip up on Tallavana in the early game, but towel boy will have his work cut out for him in the afternoon match up with Grace. These two teams are pretty evenly matched. Grace defeated Emmanuel in Bainbridge by 10 points (with the hometown refs) and Emmanuel defeated Grace by 4 points in Dothan. So who will have the advantage on a neutral court?
Normally, I would say that Emmanuel has history on it’s side. Over the past few seasons, Emmanuel has entered the tourney and played well-above their seeding. But that was with Christine Spivey (graduated in 2007) and more importantly, that was without “towel boy.” Unless he inspires them with a really cool looking towel or maybe a new way to wave it, Emmanuel will likely be in a dogfight with Grace, until Grace pulls away in the 4th quarter and wins by 10-12 points.

I think Grace is the only team in this tournament with something to prove. They have a handful of girls that have grown up in the shadow of Sarah Flowers (graduated in 2007) and the pedestal she was put on at Grace. Much in the same way that Liz & Jess had to endure the non-stop comments about their upcoming season after Covenant’s dynamic-duo (Samantha & Summer) left. Expect Grace to respond the same way our girls did - with something to prove. In addition to being motivated, they have a new coach that is looking to show that he can win it all with a girls team and he has the coaching pedigree to do it. Keep in mind that his varsity boys teams have spent quite a few year’s perched on top of the Eastern throne and he’s looking to show that he can do it again, but this time with a girl’s team.

Prediction: Covenant & Grace headed to the Final Four. But keep your fingers crossed for towel boy. I’d love to hear his comments if he knows that he’s headed to the Final Four.

GREAT News!

As most of you already know by now, the Lady Lions firmly positioned themselves as the #1 seed in the upcoming Regional Tournament with a dominating 67-23 win over "Towel Boy & the Towelettes."

As good as that news is, I received even better news yesterday before the game. The National Association of Christian Athletes (NACA) began a National Ranking of member schools this season and their first poll was just released. Where pray-tell are the Lady Lions in this poll? Why I'm glad you asked....we are ranked at #3 in the Nation (NACA Div IV) and ranked at #2 in their power ranking. The poll has our record listed as 11-4 and since we are currently 15-4, the next poll (due out on Jan 22) should show us moving closer toward that coveted #1 spot.

HOORA!

The Silence is Deafening

As we hit the half-way point on our conference schedule, we’re 6-0 and in 1st place in the PCC East Region. That’s’ a good thing. The down-side is that there’s not much drama to build around as we enter the final stretch leading into the Regional playoffs. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily want a lot of drama, but it sure makes for some great basketball.

Looking back on last season, the most memorable games were the ones with some type of drama attached.

Do you remember the Grace newspaper article where Grace said that PCCS was the best team in the conference because they beat Grace by 15 points? Then we showed Grace that maybe they should keep quiet after we beat them by 36 points (they only scored 37 for the whole game against PCCS).

Or how about the endless drama that always seemed to accompany the PCCS games? Most of the drama with PCCS started in our rotation game where a few of their girls were crying during the game due to fatigue & shin splints. Then Rachel was knocked out cold and they got a 20-minute rest period to catch their breath while the EMT techs loaded her into the ambulance. We made up a 10-point deficit in a minute and a half and ended up losing by 2 points as the clock ran out. To add insult to injury, the newspaper had the front page picture of Sharee towering over Rachel (on the floor). The revenge game was born on that night.

Or how about when Mr. Thompson started running his mouth before the Championship game saying that Covenant would need our best three defenders to triple team Sharee if we wanted to stop her. We put Liz on Sharee to start the game and Liz held her scoreless in the 1st quarter.

And how cool was it to play mind games with PCCS by “occupying” their locker room before the Championship game and then taunting them for 15 minutes from across the hall?

This season, it seems the only drama swirls around the bus breaking down or how horrible the referees are.

As cliché as it probably sounds… I miss the good ‘ol days.

The Road to Recovery

After returning home from the Eufaula trip, Liz finally had a chance to lay down and get some much-needed rest. It happened just in the nick of time, because her pain pump finally ran out last night. When I left her room at about 11:00 PM she was watching TV and feeling fine. I woke up at 2:17 AM this morning to a strange sound coming from her room. Upon opening her door, I found her crying and in considerable pain. So much so that she couldn’t even move her leg to get out of bed to get her pain medication. She said she had tried for over an hour to get our attention by calling out for someone to help her but she had her door closed and we couldn’t hear her calling.

She is about to enter the most difficult part of her recovery...the physical therapy (i.e., torture sessions). Please keep her in your prayers for a pain-free recovery.

When does 413 become 4:13?

On my way out of the gym last night, a woman sitting near the door motioned me over and asked me “what does 413 mean?” As I gave her a brief explanation, she smiled and fired back “I knew it!” With that, the brief conversation was over and I strolled off. It wasn’t until I was replaying the game through my mind on the long drive home that I started wondering what she meant by “I knew it!” Maybe she knew the verse and just wanted to confirm her suspicion. Maybe the design on the back of our shirt made her wonder, or maybe it was the chant “4:13” as we broke each huddle? Although I’ll never really know, I’d like to imagine that she noticed something distinctly different about our team. Something so unique that it made us stand apart from the other teams at the tournament. And although she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was that made us different, she recognized that 413, whatever that meant, was at the heart of it.

4:13 is not just a reminder to us, but to all those watching in the stands and on the court, that regardless of the circumstances, regardless of our opponent and regardless of the outcome that we have nothing to fear because Christ is there to strengthen us. It does not mean that we will always win, but when we do, we should win with grace. And if we are to lose, then we should lose with grace.

I am so proud of the way each of you handled yourselves last night not only during the game, but immediately afterward. You showed all those watching what 4:13 is really all about.

HOORA!

Merry Christmas!

hey ladies! i just wanted to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! i love you all so much and im thankful for each one of you. i hope you all get everything you asked for and remember the most important thing about Christmas. . . Jesus. everybody stay well and have a good time with family. love you girls! 4:13...
~Liv #42

In His Name We Play

Hey chikas! =)
It's Sheff...thank you all for your prayers and for being so sweet and concerned with my sprained ankle at Friday's game. I've not actually had any pain (besides that awful ice-bath...WHEW! If you have a random urge for pain, do that! just kidding!) So, the swelling has gone down a lot and I put the crutches down today! Yay! However, the swelling isn't completely gone and it's a beautiful shade of purple (doesn't quite match our uniforms yet...!) So we will have to see how it is by the Christmas Tournament. If I have my way (since I'm already walking on it) I will definitely want to play, but if it puts my ankle in jeopardy for our regular season, it may be wiser for me to allow it longer to heal.

This is not bad news for the team! We have a wonderful team filled with amazing talent! Every single one of our team members is vital to the team and the performance of the game! I absolutely LOVE our team- each one of you girls are my sister in Christ. And I have to say- I'm sure you'll agree- that not only do we have the BEST basketball team ever, but our Coach is awesome! He's not JUST a coach, but he really makes an effort to relate to us and is more like a team-dad! Thanks Coach Ty!

So whether or not I will be able to play in the Cmas Tourney, each one of you has the capability to play to the best of your ability and I pray that God will give you all the strength to play your hardest and to encourage your teammates, building them up spiritually and mentally! Keep that in mind at the practices preceding the tournament and as the Christmas Tournament comes closer. We have the power of Philippians 4:13! =D

I love you all so much- hope you have a WONDERFUL Christmas!

♥ Merry Christmas Ladies!! ♥

The Perfect Ending

If I were to imagine a storybook ending for Liz' final game at Covenant, I don't think I could have scripted it any better than what she experienced last night.

As if three 3-pointers, 4 assists and 1 steal in a nine minute span (with a torn ACL) wasn't enough, the crowd chanting "..we want Liz.." was the icing on the cake for her. Thank you for that memory that Liz (and mom & dad) will remember for quite awhile.

The Last Minute

There is a saying in basketball that a few coaches have used as motivation over the years. It goes “…if you knew that this game would be the last game you would ever play, how would you play?…”. It kind of makes you stop and think about how you usually play versus how you would play if it were indeed your last game. Tomorrow night, Liz will play the final game of her high school basketball career in front of our home crowd. Against my better judgement, I am going to allow her to play for one minute just to be able to say goodbye to the game that she loves so much.

Slaying the Giant

Before I get started, let me be clear about one thing…I HATE TO LOSE MORE THAN I LOVE TO WIN. However, there is on occasion a loss that isn’t necessarily a bad thing and last night’s 6-point loss to Bethlehem was just such a game.

In the eight-year history of the Covenant basketball program, the Lady Lions have never beaten Bethlehem. To give you an idea of how good Bethlehem usually is…last season they lost most of their games and they still beat Covenant by 33-points. Call them our Goliath if you will, but I felt pretty good at the end of last night’s game because we are getting closer to slaying the giant. I saw some good things from our team. From a scoring standpoint, we had four girls with 6-points each, which is an indicator of a well-balanced scoring attack which we have been missing since the season started (meaning that we are starting to find our identity on offense).

I can feel the ‘Mo (momentum for you younger girls) building up and I think we will be primed to unleash some fury against Emmanuel on Friday.

HOORA!

God is REALLY-REALLY in Control - Pt. III

I received a most unexpected e-mail this morning from Coach Jackson at Montreat Christian College in North Carolina. Back in August, he and I had traded a few e-mails back & forth regarding Liz and he had watched some game film on her. His assessment of her game was brutally honest and to the point: She didn’t look exceptionally quick and her size would likely be a detriment. He said she needed to have something that set her apart from the others competing for the same scholarship.

Needless to say, Montreat was no longer interested.

Okay…back to my unexpected e-mail this morning….Coach Jackson wanted to know if Liz had decided on a school or committed to play anywhere yet. Hearing that he was interested made me feel good, but it was too little too late. I reluctantly wrote him back informing him about her injury and fully expecting to receive the “sorry about that” response. But instead, he said they were still interested in her and that he wanted me to forward some additional info to him.

More updates soon!

First-Round...First-Minute.

By the end of their third possession, they knew…and we knew that they knew, and that’s what made it so enjoyable.

Few games in our conference will illicit the passion, intensity, and electric atmosphere that the PCCS vs. Covenant match up usually does. This use to be a great rivalry. You know, the type of game where the fans (or at least the PCCS fans) treat the game as if it were a life and death matter. Where the hatred is so intense that a couple of parents can always be counted on to have an emotional meltdown in the stands and start screaming obscenities at the referees. Well, if last night’s game was any indication, this rivalry is all but over for the next couple of years (or at least from Covenant’s viewpoint).

You see, it’s tough to despise a team that can’t beat you.

God is in Control - Part II

WOW! was my over all impression of the Andrews Institute in Pensacola. I had heard that Dr. Andrews was one of the top sports medicine surgeons in the nation, but I figured some of that was probably just hype. Boy was I wrong!

The waterfall and 15 foot tall palm trees in the lobby should have convinced me that this wasn't your typical doctors office. As a matter of fact, his building was as big as a Wal-Mart, yet I was still skeptical. As we walked though the hallways, we saw autographed picture after autographed picture from athletes that we routinely watch on TV, each with their arm around Dr. Andrews with words of thanks and praise for him for the repair on their ankle or their knee or their wrist. The list was long, but some very notable athletes from the NBA (Chales Barkley and Micheal Jordan), NFL and MLB, as well as some common folk like George Bush Sr. (yep!).

I think God has her in some pretty capable hands!