Girls basketball: Trying to keep the momentum

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The holiday break provides a logical reflection point for the Rosemount girls basketball team.

The new calendar year brings the start of the Lake Conference season. The non-conference portion of the schedule has exceeded expectations.

With two games left before January begins, Irish coach Sam McDonald was just hoping to keep the momentum going into conference play.

“That’s what we’ve really pushed and worked hard toward,” McDonald said. “We want to maintain some of this momentum. It’s our goal to win each and every game you go out and play, and we’ve certainly done things well enough to do that.”

Rosemount (8-1) beat Como Park, 57-34, last week to continue its strong early run. The Irish had one more game remaining — this week at Mankato East — before they open Lake Conference action with a home game Jan. 5 against Eagan.

The players and coaches know the going will get much tougher in the Lake Conference. The Lake features five of the top eight teams in the state.

Rosemount has the momentum it sought. McDonald isn’t sure if it will continue against the tougher competition, but he knows he has the pieces in place to continue the run.

“First and foremost, it’s a combination of great kids and good attitudes, and the skill level,” McDonald said. “They’re savvy enough to understand the conference is coming up and our conference is loaded.

“We’re happy with the great start, but we also know the meat of our schedule is coming after the break. We’re excited to get started and we’ll put our nose to the grindstone and see how we do.

“The conference is almost like a state tournament in some respects when you look at the teams.”

In the meantime, McDonald is pleased with what his Irish have accomplished so far this season.

Against Como Park, Sara Feeser scored 19 points for the Irish and had seven steals.

Elaine Warner had 10 points, 12 rebounds and five steals.

“We were very good in the four facets that we concern ourselves with: defense, rebounds, turnovers and shooting,” McDonald said. “Defensively I thought we played a wonderful game.”

With an experienced squad, the Irish have handled all challenges and hope it continues further.

“They don’t get too high or too low,” McDonald said of his players. “It kind of leaks back to that composure I’ve talked about. When they are playing well they don’t get too full of themselves. When they’re playing a team that is thought to be better than us, they approach it the same way.”

A similar approach will be important with the Lake Conference schedule beginning soon.

Tags: girls basketball, sports