Post by likinmo on Jan 27, 2013 10:55:31 GMT -5
The Licking Lady Wildcats have had a season that most teams hopefully will never have to endure..Early on in the season they saw their outstanding Junior Emily Smith sustain a season ending ACL injury. So the team had to make some changes and the young team stepped up to the challenge and pressed on. They knew thats what needed to be done in order to keep this team together and on the right track for a successful season. Then about two weeks later another post player and starter Ty Bisker was going hard to the basket and twisted her knee and also tore her ACL. She was also now done for the 2012/2013 season. This string of bad luck had the team up against the ropes...BUT as great fighters do they dug deep...they bonded like ive never seen a team bond before...its like when you have one piece of paper its easy to tear but when you put that same piece of paper in a phone book with more pieces of paper you can not tear it. This past week would put this young team to the test as they would head south to th 23rd annual Mansfield Tournament..The first night would see the ladycats take on Lutie. Lutie is in a rebuilding year and the ladycats were able to get all 12 players in the game and every girl scored. The second game for the ladycats would see them taking on the teams rival the Houston Lady Tigers it was a back and forth match for the first half of the game until The Ladycats went to the locker room and refocused and came out in the third period with a fire that put houston on their heels and it was the ladycats on to the championship match. In that match it would see licking taking on the willow springs bears. Now the last time these two teams met saw the ladycats come from behind and beat the willow bears with a last second shot at the buzzer. So licking knew that this team would be looking for revenge. At halftime it was licking up 23-16 but here was the test could licking keep up their intensity in the 3rd and 4th quarter.....well that would be answered in short order as the lady cats would come out in the 3rd and stretch their lead to 11. The 4th would see willow make a run and step up their pressure but the young ladycats would not wither. Licking would never give up the lead and went on to put this one in the books. It was Licking 49 Willow 43...I say its not so much about the tournament win as it is about reaching down deep and believing in yourself and your teamates no matter what adversity may come your way!