Lady Swedes play for the district title | sports
When the last buzzer sounded on February 17 and the Lady Swedes were on the losing side of the scoreboard 43-27, they knew they were not ready yet.
The Swedes received a Wild Card to play in the district final C1-6 against Milford on February 25 at Gothenburg High School.
The Swedes chose to focus on the new life after the loss in Broken Bow, even though they knew that there were some things they could have done differently.
“More than anything else, we beat ourselves,” said head coach Kassie Schuett. “We had moments of great things and really attacked where we felt they were weak but then offensively could not make anything work for us.”
Schuett went on to say that although the team was frustrated, they had no time to stop.
“We had to pick up the pieces, remove this from our minds and be ready for one of the season’s most important matches so far,” she said.
The Swedes have done a lot of preparation this week to host the Milford Eagles, a team they have never seen this season.
“Defending the three will be the biggest thing for us to be successful,” Schuett said. “They have three pretty good shooters from the outside but if we can get pressure and eliminate shots from there we should be successful defensively.”
Despite the youth of her team, Schuett said she plans to use the experience they have to play in district finals to the advantage of the Swedes.
“A majority of the girls on the team have been here before,” she said. “We were in a district final last year for basketball and they were just in another for volleyball. I think the experience is a big advantage against a team that starts two beginners who have not been in a situation match like this.”
Mental preparation is just as important as physical preparation when the stakes are high, and Schuett said her goal is to keep the girls focused on the next session.
“We will make sure we keep our legs, get in a lot of shots and are disciplined in everything we do,” she said. “It is in my hopes to have a quiet week of mental training, to have to think about what is at stake but just go out and do what they have been doing for the last four months and that is to play basketball without any pressure.”
Lady Swedes will host the Milford Eagles in the district final C1-6 at 18:30 on 25 February at Göteborgsgymnasiet.
The doors open at 5.30 pm and no passports are accepted.
Admission is $ 6 for adults and $ 5 for students.
The game will be livestreamed on Göteborg Activities YouTube channel which can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/c/GothenburgActivities.
Swedes End Minden Run
The Swedes met Minden for the third time in four weeks in the first round of the C1-10 sub-district tournament on February 15 at Broken Bow High School.
The first meeting saw the Swedes defeat the Whippets in the SWC tournament.
In the second match at Göteborgsgymnasiet, Minden won two points over the Swedes.
This time, the Swedes took on the Whippets, locked the defense in the second half and won 40-36 to end Minden after the season.
“Every girl on the team played a big role in this game,” Schuett said. “The girls really seemed to stay calm throughout the match and it was great for us to see.”
Schuett said that the Swedish coaches emphasized that the basketball game is a game with runs.
“The most important thing is that when they run we can not lose our heads and think the match is over,” she said.
Kynlee Strauser had 13 points and Ellarey Harm had 12.
Clara Evert had eight rebounds and Ashlyn Richeson had four assists.