15 Red…Penn State…July 5-8        The Starters 15 Red made the trip out to State College, Pa over the Fourth of July weekend for their second to last tournament of the summer. The gyms were beyond hot and the competition was tough. They opened the week on Monday night at 8:20 p.m. against the N.Y. BX. Unfortunately, it is difficult to win a game only scoring 19 points. The effort was there, but the offense was not. The second half was an improvement from the first, but the damage was done. The final score was 41-28, a tough start to a long week.
       15 Red was optimistic going into game two and was ready for the challenge from the Penn/Ohio Storm. The first half was not a pretty offensive display making only one basket and only scoring 6 points. We did hold the Storm to 21 and 19 points in the halves, but 15 Red only scored 20 points total. The final was 41-20.
       Tuesday evening the Starters were sitting on a record of 0-2. They were ready to turn things around and get a win. Their opponent was a team named the Capitals. They were big and also looking for their first win. The Starters found themselves in a battle. The biggest battle was not their opponent it was their shooting. The Starters shot 0-15 from 2 point range and 5-18 from the free throw line in the first half. Thankfully, the Capitals also were not an offensive power house allowing the Starters to stay in the game with the half time score of 11-10! The second half did improve for the Starters shooting 10-21 from the floor. Kristen Van Gilst stepped up to the line and hit 4-4 in second half from the stripe and Haley Cole scored her 8 points in the second half. The defense of Olivia Sutherland, Genelle Green, and Haley Cole really helped get the offense going for the Starters. The Starters held on to win the close game, 35-28.
       The Starters took the floor again on Wednesday to face the Wilmington Tigers. It was a hard fought game from beginning to end. Down four at the half, the Starters knew what they needed to do to get themselves in position to win the game in the end. Genelle Green scored 12 points and Haley Cole had 8 points. Maggie Donahue had a great second half with 8 rebounds and 3 steals, but it was not enough. Megan Schuppe went 3-4 from the free throw line and pulled down 7 rebounds to help fight for the 15 Red. Unfortunately, there were some poor decisions made at the end of the game and the Starters fell to the Tigers, 46-44.
       After a great team dinner, the Starters were back on the floor Wednesday night against the Higher Ground Warriors. Another brutally hot gym, but the Starters were not going to let that stop them from getting a win. 15 Red came out strong and played very well. The Warriors were very athletic and quick, but the Starters shut them down early. Maggie Donahue played excellent defense and Olivia Sutherland get the offense flowing with 5 offensive boards. Kristen Van Gilst had hit an early three to get the Starters going. The halftime score was 30-12 in favor of the Starters. The Warriors did not have a chance in the second half. Haley Cole came alive scoring all 10 of her points and Rachel Franzluebbers got herself in position for offensive boards and two put backs. Kathleen McCormack had an all around strong game playing tough defense and scoring 6 points and pulling down 5 rebounds. Haley Northup had her best game defensively of the week against the Warriors working hard for four rebounds and three steals. Genelle Green really did a touch of everything scoring 15 points, grabbing five rebounds, had four assists, and tallied 5 steals. Megan Schuppe had a great game scoring 8 points and dominating the defensive boards with 8 and she also had three steals. It really was a team effort and a well played game by the Starters. The final score was 52-22.
       Thursday late morning was the final game at Penn State for 15 Red and it was against the N.Y. Saints. The Starters were fitting for a record of 3-3, but the Saints were going to do whatever they could to stop that from happening. The halftime score was 23-17 with the Starters down 6 points. The second half did not start off very well with the Starters falling down by 9 points quickly. The fight to come back was led by Genelle Green, Maggie Donahue, Kristen Van Gilst, and Megan Schuppe. Kristen Van Gilst went 6-8 from the free throw line, Genelle Green went 7-11, and Megan Schuppe went 8-11 hitting 3-4 from a double technical received by the coach from the Saints. Maggie Donahue took control going to the basket and scored 6 straight points with the help of the 7 steals from Genelle Green. Rachel Franzluebbers was a string defensive presence and also finished on the offensive end hitting two key shots. Kathleen McCormack had two big steals that helped the Starters turn the game around. After a very interesting and exciting second half, the Starters pulled away and won the game 51-43, outscoring their opponent in the second half 34-20.
       The Starters finished a very tough week of basketball 3-3. It was a great week for 15 Red including a very fun team dress up meal. We are very proud of the way the kids stepped up this week and fought through the heat and gym conditions. The very big negative of Penn State ending is that we now only have one more tournament together. It has been a very fun summer and we hope to have another successful weekend to wrap it all up. Thank you to the parents for all your support and for spending 6 hours in the car with your wonderful children. It really has been a pleasure coaching each one of them!!! See you all on Monday the 19th at 6 pm at East Catholic for our final practice.

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