The game started with the French team being somewhat tentative while we came out our usual aggressive selves. They had not arrived at the tournament site early enough to see us play our first game against Dorian, Kansas. So to a certain extent, I imagine we were an unknown commodity to them. They had drawn the tournament favorites and host team [Peck's All-Stars] in their first game, so they were probably pumped up for that game. They had little to go on outside of what they might have heard from our first game with Dorian. We had come out firing against Dorian (another one of the tournament favorites), played very well. We played a running game with aggressive defense, so maybe they felt the need to start conservatively by feeling us out and avoiding getting into a track meet with us.
Whatever the case, it was apparent they were not ready for Karen. While their 6'5 forward was athletic, she was a very fundamental role player on their team. Karen was very different from most tall female players at that time. She didn't play basketball because she was tall. She played basketball because she loved it. She had fun. If she had been 5'3, she would have still been playing basketball. This described Karen and everyone on our team, which brought a particular style to our game lacking in some of the other tournament teams.
These girls were getting gym time, and today if the boys wanted the gym, they would have to call 'next' and win it.
We pushed the ball down the court on every possession. Our frontline was beating them to almost every rebound. Our overall hustle was a surprise to them; it was like they expected to get every rebound over such a small lineup. At one point, Monique went up over one of the 6'8 girls for a rebound and yanked it away from the girl so hard it was like the whole gym gasped in fear she might have ripped the girl's arm off. Our 2-2-1 was working much better than we expected. We kept the 6'5 forward from getting into a rhythm and cut-off their guard penetration and outside shooting. Early in the first half, whenever they rotated the ball to the corners, we let them have the outside shot, and they were not hitting it enough to do real damage. When their big girls did drop it down inside to each other, or the 6'5 forward on the baseline, Karen swatted away several shots and altered the rest. Eventually, they started settling for more of those outside shots from the corner. Even when Karen came out for a breather, they hesitated to go back inside against Miranda, Rocky, or Kim. Our team had never played against this kind of height, but all our girls knew how to jump. Our bench played well; any let-up in talent or size was made up for in hustle.
The French team did start working the ball more around the perimeter, but we never bit on the big girls shooting. We weren't coming out to pick them up, so the guards weren't getting any spacing to penetrate.
Our game was the first of the day. Most of the girls had met the Bahamas' women's team the day before. At the beginning of the game, the gym was still pretty empty. If there had been anyone cheering for us, it was probably only them, but by halftime, the gym had filled up and was going wild as we were giving the much-favored team problems.
By the end of the first half, it was a very close game, and we were in a good position. We weren't winded, hadn't suffered any damage to our defense or confidence, and no one was in foul trouble. Things looked good; until we got to the locker room.
By the time we made it to the locker room, Karen was bawling like a baby; she was howling about how the big girls were beating her up—elbowing her, holding her, etc. No one could calm her down until Mrs. Woodard stormed into the locker room. Karen's mother was an impressive woman who could practically look Karen straight in the eye. As she started in on Karen, the rest of us moved to the other end of the locker room. No one wanted in on that argument. The fact is, though, Karen was right. At the defensive end and on the boards, she was killing them. At the offensive end, she killed them when she had the ball, but they elbowed her, forearmed her, and everything else when she didn't. If she came across the lane, they bodied her, grabbed her, and pushed her. Karen had never really played with players this big; none of our girls had, but with most of the girls, they had always played against people their size. Still, even if Karen played pick-up games with the boys, she was usually one of the court's taller players.
As Mrs. Woodard and Lyman calmed Karen down, we went over our game plan again. One thing I always like to do with my teams during time-outs and halftime is to start by asking them what did they think the other team was going to do. What adjustments were they going to make? It seems to get everyone on the same page faster. We knew they would try to get their guards into the game with their set shots more. We knew they would probably be contemplating trying to pull us out of our zone, and we knew they were going to go at Karen more inside. Outside of the damage to their egos when Karen swatted their shots, they had nothing to lose by attacking her. We talked about how we would attack them if they came out of their zone, primarily by isolating Miranda and Monique on the wings and penetrating.
All in all, we felt good with our zone and would keep with our original game plan. In the first half, when Karen came out of the game, they had tried to go inside on us to no avail. Miranda and Rocky had deflected and intercepted a few passes when the big girls got position on them or tried to go over the top. We even affected some of their shots then, so they were a little gun shy about trying it again.
By the time we came back out on the floor, Karen had calmed down and had her game face back on. My only worry was that she might be too mad and get in foul trouble early, but she was under control and picked up where she left off, as did the rest of the team.
We had a gimmick defense we called "chaos" that we usually went into a few times each game. After we scored, we would hustle downcourt and set up in a 3-2 zone but with the center and forwards at the free-throw line extended and the guards on the baseline. As the other team's guard walked the ball upcourt unopposed, they would usually be left alone as the inbounder preceded up-court. When the ball got to the center circle, our three defenders at the free-throw line would step towards the half-court line one step to freeze the ball-handler as if they were going to try and trap her. They would then step back as the guards (Canandra and Stricklin) would flash past them to trap the ball-handler. As soon as the guards passed her, Karen W. would drop back into the lane to protect the basket. The forwards (Monique and Miranda) would match up with any help coming to the ball-handler, and the guards would continue to the ball-handler for a trap. The ideal was that the awkward formation would cause the ball handler to hesitate, the guards shooting up from nowhere would create chaos, and the trap would force a turnover or an over-and-back violation. Additionally, when the other team managed to get the ball into the frontcourt, Karen's presence would create just enough hesitation for everyone to get back into our normal 2-3 zone.
A gimmick play like "chaos" wouldn't work at all basketball levels, but it's a dandy at the parks department level. We didn't use it against Dorian in the first game and were reluctant to try it on the French team because they were so well-coached, but we felt we had a slight psychological edge. I figured because we had disrupted their game so much, and their coach seemed to be a fiery kind of guy; he was probably laying into his big girls about settling for long-range shots, the guards not penetrating, etc.
We felt they were ripe for a little "chaos."
It worked. We got an over and back and a couple of turnovers, and even when they got the ball over half-court, we recovered well. We ran it until they took a time-out. To neutralize any adjustments they might make, we went back to our 2-2-1 zone.
We knew the French coach would make them take the ball inside whenever Karen was on the bench for a rest. Still, the facts that the big girls favored the outside shot over the inside game and that they were a little gun shy of Karen worked to our advantage when Karen came out. The French girls didn't even look inside while Karen was on the court, and when she came out, it was a few trips up and down the court before the coach could get them to go back at Miranda and Rocky. It bought us a couple of minutes that we needed, but eventually, they started to work it inside some. Miranda and Rocky managed it well and held their own, but it did begin to open up things for the 6'5 forward. There was no height to follow her as she moved without the ball, and eventually, she started scoring from inside the key.
During that time, the French team managed to build a small lead that grew to about nine points. We made several runs at them in the last five minutes and closed the gap several times, but we were running out of gas and having to foul. When we came out of our zone, their depth and coaching showed as they spread the floor well and made their free throws.
We eventually lost by that nine-point spread, but that game was so much closer in many ways. Throughout the game, we had shut down their guards and the big girls, but as someone once said, about 7'4" Tom Burleson of NCAA Champion North Carolina State:
"...at the end of the game, when everyone is tired and winded, he's still 7'4" tall."
As the girls executed the game plan very well, the difference in the results came from our inability to bring them out of their zone defense. We never established sufficient enough of a lead to force them to play us man-to-man. We had a spread offense, a modified four-corners, which created isolation for both penetration and post-ups. We never played anyone who could defend it. Their big girls would not be able to match-up.
Karen W., Monique, Miranda, and Canandra had dominated everyone they matched up with during that tournament regardless of their size, age, or resume. Paula, Rocky, and Karen Strickland had demonstrated poise and confidence. Kim and Allison showed patience and grasped every opportunity when given a chance. I can't remember if and when everyone played, which I think they did. Still, regardless everyone contributed not just to the games but the effort.
At the end of the tournament, Karen Woodard was selected to the All-American [All-Tournament] Team. Many felt and expressed to Lyman and me that they thought Monique and Canandra were also clear choices to be on the team. The fact we had four players receiving votes probably diluted the chance of a second player from our team making the all-start team.
When we returned to Indianapolis, we used what was left of the car wash money to throw a dinner for the team. We invited the neighborhood and the girls' families, and there was a large turnout. We eventually had the picture from the city championship blown up and mounted high on the gym wall.
Northeast Community Center closed due to budget cuts soon after I left there and was bought and occupied by Grace Missionary Baptist Church. I went back by there precisely 30 years since the team played there and took the above pictures. The church built a new building behind the center, where we had held the car wash in the parking lot. The center now serves as an annex for the church.
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