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Coach Bobby Knight once stated, "Everyone wants to win, but not everyone is willing to prepare to win." After a summer of preparation by the core of the girls' squad, the time has come for the Blake girls and second-year (14 seasons overall) head coach Greg Heinecke to improve on its 10 and 17 record.
Each and every season brings questions, but this season there are fewer than in the past. With a practically unheard of six seniors - Kaylee Britain, Sarah Carpenter, Lily Conover, Rachel Engel, and co-captains Claire Goebel and Sarah Hoops - Blake returns last year's point guard (junior Rachel Neil) and off-guard (backup point now moved to shooting guard, ninth grader, Rachel Hoops) to combine with the senior class.
As always, life on the hardwood will not be easy in the Tri-Metro: DeLaSalle, Breck, and Minnehaha Academy are among the top teams. The season starts off with non-conference 4A Minnetonka on November 27, followed by Maranatha, a top 1A team, that Friday. Conference play begins at home versus Saint Croix Lutheran on December 7 with other highlight teams of sectional foes Jordan (Dec. 12) and Providence (Feb.9) and a return to defend the Minneapolis Edison Championship the end of December (27 and 28).
With such stiff competition, the ultimate question is how well will the summer preparation pay off; can it get the team over the proverbial "hump" needed to be among the top teams in the conference? The time is now to see what these girls can do. Only time will tell, but hopefully, as George Bernard Shaw wrote, "I want to be all used up when I die," and so will these girls.
Here's to the efforts, energy, and fun of the 2007-08 season. Come catch a game or two!
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