Girls Basketball Team Sets Many School and Personal Records
Team Finishes the Year 3rd in State With Only One Loss on the Year
by Cami Bruckman
The Silver Lake Lady Mustangs basketball team had one of the most successful seasons in school history. It was one that will be remembered for many years by the team, the coaches, and the community as the ladies finished their season on Saturday, March 6th in the Class D-1 Consolation Game in Lincoln.
The team achieved their first goal of winning the Holiday Tournament for the seventh year in a row. Their goals continued to be met as they went undefeated and earned the number one seed going in to the conference tournament. During the TVC Tournament, they defeated Red Cloud, Shelton, and Lawrence Nelson to earn the title of Twin Valley Conference Champions for the third year in a row. After defeating the Shelton Bulldogs at the end of their regular season, the team also earned the title of regular season TVC champions for the first time in school history. They finished the regular season undefeated, 20-0, with a win against the Giltner Hornets at home.
For some people, they might think that after regular season ended, the basketball was almost over. But for these Lady Mustangs, the “real” season was just beginning, the post-season. In the after-season, the team won their first round sub-district game against Palmer, and then moved on to defeat Harvard to advance to the district finals in Grand Island.
Going into the district final game, the Lady Mustangs already knew they would be going to state, as even with a loss, the team was assured a wildcard with their power points and sitting as the number one seed in the state. However, the Lady Mustangs did not want to head into the State Tournament with a loss and thus, ruin their record of being undefeated. The team did just that as they defeated Osceola in the district finals easily by the score of 62 -27 , and kept their number one seed heading into the State Tournament.
In the first round of action at state on Thursday, March 4th, 2010, the Lady Mustangs took on the Brady Bulldogs at Lincoln North Star, easily winning by the final score of 59-30. This guaranteed them two more games, and advanced them to the semi-finals on the following day. Against the Elkhorn Valley Falcons on Friday, March 5th, 2010, the Lady Mustangs saw their dream of competing in the finals and avenging their 2nd place finish in the 2008-2009 season. The team fell for the first time of the year and the title of D-1 State Champions was now out of reach as Elkhorn Valley defeated Silver Lake by the score of 51-62 and handed the Mustangs their first loss of the year and went on to win the title of state champions.
With their first loss, the team and the community was unsure how they would react to playing in a consolation game when they had their “eyes on the prize” all year. The consolation game found the top two seeds in the tournament playing each other – the number one Silver Lake Mustangs and the number two Humphery Bulldogs. The Mustangs responded well however, ending their season on a winning note, and defeating the Bulldogs, 47-38. The team earned third place at state, and the community and team held their heads high as they received their third place medals and team trophy on Saturday, March 6th, 2010, ending the best season in school history.
"This season was a coaches dream. We broke numerous team records and made all of our team goals but one. I know we did not finish the season the way we all wanted but it does not diminish what we accomplished together this season. It was a season that will be forever remembered in Silver Lake History. All a coach can ask from his players in to give everything they have on the court. The girls did, every game, all year long! I want to thank all the girls for their hard work and dedication. I am so proud of all of you," the words of head coach Keith Crowe.
At the end of the season, Silver Lake had four players who averaged at least 9 points or more a game. Cami Bruckman averaged 15.1, Bailey Morris was at 10.8, Shelby Rupprecht had 9.38, and Kayla Timm was right at 9 points. Morris was the leader in steals with 119, setting a new school record, and led in assists with 151, also beating the record for the most assists in a game with 14. Seniors Rupprecht, Timm, Chloe Gibson, and Bruckman all dominated the boards for the Mustangs for the year. Rupprecht had a total of 156, Bruckman had 151, Timm grabbed 147, and Gibson had 137.
As a team, the Lady Mustangs had the most team assists in history with 420, while they averaged 58.5 points a game and only gave up 31.3 points. The team beat the previous school rebound record with 35.1 rebounds in one game and 912 as their team total.
Even though the season didn’t end the way the Lady Mustangs wanted it to, they have a lot of be proud of. They ended the season with a final record of 25-1 and a third place finish at state. They beat numerous records including 24 consecutive wins, an undefeated regular season, the best record in school history, the best scoring average in games, and many more personal records. On average, the Lady Mustangs beat a team by around 27 points.
The 2009-2010 season was one that will be remembered by the players, coaches, and fans for many years to come. As an outgoing senior, it is a year I can assure you that I will never forget. Congratulations to my fellow players and coaches on an incredible season, and thank you to the fans for making it the best one yet!
