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Girls Basketball: Gators Romp Rams

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By LEE DIEKEMPER/Tribune correspondent

Published: January 23, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - All season long Land O' Lakes coach Laurie Pacholke has stated that she wasn't so much concerned with how her team played in the regular season so long as they played well come February and the postseason.

The Gators are playing well now, though it wasn't easy to reach this point. Frustrated by what she felt was her team ignoring her demands following three losses in four days last week, Pacholke read her team the riot act.

Message understood, much to Ridgewood's dismay. Though possessing similar records, the Gators routed the Rams 70-23 Thursday.

"We played as a team. Period," Pacholke said.

While that is usually a cliché, Pacholke explained what she meant.

"It wasn't a one-man show, it wasn't a two-man show," Pacholke said. "It was a 12-man show. We had different people making passes, we had different people rebounding. I've been hounding the girls all year that they had to play as a team. They finally did it tonight.

"We were playing as individuals. I told them if they wanted to play one-on-five, go ahead. There was a trust issue amongst each other. I told them it's now or never. If they didn't start playing as a team the season would be over in two weeks. I think they got the message.

"If we would have won 70-23 and we had one person scoring 40 I would not have been happy."

Although Ridgewood had rallied from a 19-point deficit to win earlier this season, Thursday would not be a repeat. The Rams trailed by 21 after the first quarter and 29 at halftime.

It didn't help that the Williamson twins, starting guards Aleesa and Daylyn, were not available. The host Gators took full advantage.

"In games we would come out strong when we played together," Land O' Lakes guard Arielle Nichols said. "Then we would shut down and rely on one or two people. Now everyone is getting involved."

Nichols pointed to the Gators' defense as the elixir to their woes.

"Once we got intense on defense, it got easier on offense," Nichols said. "Once we starting working on defense it seemed we didn't need to work as hard on offense."

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