Our First W.

Versus Roche.

Tweet   
  We are slowly making our way though the list of 'firsts' for the season. First practice. First injury. First game. First home game. MY first game. All checked off the list. And we can finally put a check mark next to first win. Not always ideal to wait until the third game of the season to get your first win, but things don't always go as you expected them to, do they?

  Saturday night my team played host to La Roche, a team from Western France, near Nantes. They were undefeated on the season, and as you know, we were win-less in two tries. So we had our work cut out for us.

Second half jumper.

  The weather in Northern France had been unseasonably warm all week. We're talking 75-80 degrees (20-25 C) and sunny. Now I've only been here a month, but everyone here tells me that's highly unusual for late-September weather. To me, 80 degrees is perfect if you want to spend your day on the beach. But the second you step into the gym at DMBC Dunkerque, you wouldn't be a happy camper. I equated it with playing in a sauna. (Maybe it wasn't QUITE that bad, but it was toasty warm!) It was definitely a struggle to practice during the week. Add in the heat from the previous days, and the extra bodies in the crowd, and you have one hot gym on your hands.

A little cross-over.

  Friday night's practice was a tough one. My calves and quads were cramping up pretty badly. So to avoid this from happening during Saturday's game, I drank as much water as I possibly could leading up to tip-off. It's a good thing too, because I think I sweat all of it out (and then some!) over the course of the game.

  Our coach talked to us before the game about how La Roche likes to start off quick and aggressive. So it was important for us to be ready to play right from the start. We took a small lead to open the first quarter, and everyone settled into the rhythm of the game.

  I always think it's interesting how the first couple minutes of the game is so different from the rest. The pace is so fast, people have nerves/adrenaline, both teams are getting a feel for how the other plays. Once that all wears off, the true pace of the game takes shape.

Looking on from the corner.

   I'm usually the kind of player that can play 35-38 minutes of a 40 minute game with no problem. Sure, it'd be more ideal to play closer to 30 and have fresher legs while you're on the court. But cramps and fatigue usually aren't the things I have to battle during a game. Wow, was Saturday different! The heat zapped your legs fast. I asked for a sub (for maybe the first time EVER) with two minutes to go in the first quarter. Asking for a sub is funny. The competitor inside you ALWAYS wants to be out on the court. But sometimes when you're tired, you do your team more harm than good. I was at that point on Saturday, and needed a quick breather.

Tired.

  We maintained a 6-12 point lead for the duration of the game. That makes it sound much easier that it actually was. At the end of the third quarter, I thought to myself that I had never been so tired during a game, and wondering how on earth I was going to finish it out. Not a good thought as we were about to start the decisive part of the game! But I also took comfort in thinking, 'if I'm this tired, everyone else has to be this tired too!'


  My teammates and I all dug down deep, and found the energy to close out the game with a win. I'm sure the last 10 minutes of the game wasn't the prettiest basketball ever played, but it's safe to say the heat had fatigued each of the 10 players on the court.

3 point line is too far now!!! :)

  It's funny how winning makes everything 'better'. You enjoy your Sunday off that much more. The week of practice ahead doesn't seem as monotonous. Your sore muscles don't quite hurt as much. Yeah, we still have lots of room for improvement, but winning that one game is a nice little incentive to keep working.

  On a side-note, my friend Hilary wrote a blog today about fracking (hydro-fracturing). She is working on raising awareness on the issue because it is threatening the water supply in many areas of the U.S., and most-recently the New York area. Take a look! Say No to Fracking

  Hope you all had a great weekend! See you tomorrow ~ Sabrina