One of the things we always enjoy is traveling together as a team. Chicago is one of our favorite cities, so we were excited when we had the opportunity to travel to Moody Bible Institute for three games in three days. The only disappointing thing is the timing - I have to miss the Northland High School Invitational Basketball Tournament and seeing so many basketball campers that were here to play this year. Congrats to the girls from Eagle Heights Christian School and Coach Kerri Barra for winning the championship. Wish we could have been here to see all of our friends from Camp play.
Our first game Thursday night was against the traditional power from the Eastern region, Philadelphia Biblical University. They are a well-coached team by my good friend Drew Watson. The game was extremely physical and a different style from our first game here against Andrews where we shot 37 free throws. Against PBU, despite the physical nature, we only shot 13 free throws. The game was back and forth for the first eight minutes, and then PBU stretched out to an seven-point lead that we trimmed to a 23-27 deficit at the half. We talked in the locker room about the need for coming out and setting the tempo the first five minutes of the second, but didn't follow through and saw PBU outscore us 11-2 in that span and never look back. We trimmed the lead to six with four minutes left, but could never get it closer, falling 58-47. Ellie led us in scoring with 19, and Kate added 12. Rebecca did a phenomenal job on the boards, collecting 12 rebounds. Overall though, it was the offensive rebounds and poor shooting that did us in.
On Friday afternoon we faced Lincoln Christian University. The team warmed up well and seemed excited to get on the floor. LCU scored on the first possession of the game. We pushed after the inbounds, found Ellie on the left wing, and she attacked the rim. She went down in a crowd with a knee injury and didn't return. Pray for her and her family as they get additional evaluations this week while home. It's always tough to see a teammate injured, especially your captain and best player. I had this experience last February with Ellie's sister, Lydia. You don't know how the girls will react. As in February, I was so encouraged with the heart and effort as the girls played hard, smart, and confident, sprinting to a 31-18 halftime lead, leading by as many as 27 in the second, and winning 61-43. It's difficult to single anyone out for their work because everyone rallied. Kate led us with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Miranda stepped up in a big way, shooting 7/8 from the field to score 14 points and made 9 steals. Brooke scored 11 points and had 5 steals. Becky led us with 7 rebounds. After the game we spent a couple of hours downtown Friday night enjoying the shopping and eating on Michigan Ave.
For a number of reasons we were not mentally prepared for Saturday's game against Emmaus Bible College. Ellie's injury, some team sickness, and Kate receiving word of a high school classmate passing away the day before left us very distracted. Emmaus proved to be more prepared than we were, jumping out early and leading 24-21 at half. We came out to begin the second half and pulled even in the first five minutes, and spent the next 6 or 8 minutes building a 10 point lead with 8 minutes left. It was during this stretch that Sara went down with a knee injury and had to be carried form the floor. Please pray for her and her family as well this week. I really think that was about as much as our girls could take, and Emmaus began executing well offensively, we rushed shots, and before we knew what happened we had dropped the game 53-50. I give all the credit to Justin Smith and his team. No team plays any harder than they do, and they reminded us that games are 40 minutes, not 32. Kate led us with 21 points and Brooke added 10. Rebecca grabbed 15 rebounds in the loss that dropped us to 1-3, and more importantly, 9 healthy players.
Because the Lord's ways are perfect, on Friday morning (prior to Ellie's injury) we studied about the admonition to live and play for something bigger than ourselves, not knowing when the ability will be taken from us. The spirit and teachability of this group is unmatched, and I pray the Lord will do His work in our lives as we go through this difficult first semester schedule while thinking about our injured teammates.
We play Silver Lake College on Tuesday night at 5:30. If you're in the area please come by. If not, I'm fairly certain it will be webcast live. Stay tuned to the Northland International University facebook page or twitter account (northlandyou) for webcasting instructions.
Thanks as always for praying for yes. We are excited to see what God is going to do with our team this season!
