October 14th, 2013              

    I'm old enough to know that you can't blame a loss on the officials, but I am not naive enough to realize that playing your opponent and the officials can make it very difficult to win a game. The Lady Bronchos battled tough today, fighting through a string of bad foul calls (if not bad, at least not called consistently for both teams) to keep the game close. Unfortunately, the Brandon team had a very tall front line, and whenever the girls pulled close those three tall players were inserted into the game, and we couldn't find a way to rebound against them. Add in the inability of the referees to even call fouls at the end of the game when it was obvious to everyone in the gym that the fouls were intended to stop the clock, and it was too much to overcome. Although the game was close, they just weren't able to make up the final 3 points in a 22-19 defeat.

    On a bright note, Samantha calmly stepped to the free throw line today and sank her only two attempts from the line. She didn't have as much luck from the field, missing all of her shot attempts. She also didn't have the usual spring in her step on defense, as she wasn't able to intercept as many passes as she typically does, and she seemed a step slow when attempting to rebound missed free throws as well (that, or the girl that Sam was standing next to was getting a head start - either one is possible).

Game 10 - at Brandon Middle School
	Samantha practicing her new handshake with a teammate before the game.
	Sam once again tipped off the game against a taller opponent.
	Sam reaching up to distract the shooter.
	Sam driving in for a layup attempt.
	Sam catching a pass and facing the defense.
	Sam jumping up to grab a pass from a teammate against a much taller opponent.
	Sam coming down with the pass, ready to make her move to the basket.
	Sam guarding the tallest player on the court.
	Sam getting fouled on a layup attempt.
	Samantha lining up free throw attempt number one...
	...and sinking it.
	Sam taking free throw shot number two...
	...and calmly sinking that one as well.
	Sam fighting for a loose ball on the court.
	Sam leading her team up the court.
	Sam driving around her defender.
	Sam focused on grabbing the rebound.
	Sam dribbling the ball while being tightly defended.
	Somehow a foul wasn't called as Sam was clearly being pushed as she dribbled. This seemed to be a theme of the entire game.
	The result of today's game was a 22-19 defeat for the Bronchos.