March 27, 2015 at 12:32 p.m.
Youth basketball teams prep for state tournament
Youth basketball teams prep for state tournament
After months of hard work, the Rhinelander Basketball Association's fifth- and sixth-grade girls' traveling teams have qualified for the Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament and will compete this weekend.
Melissa Ouimette, who coaches both teams, said they earned their way into the tournament with an entire season's worth of impressive play.
"The tournament features the best teams from around the state," she said. "They take a look at the record of the teams throughout the season, and the quality of the opponents they played. At the start of the season, you can put down if you want to play A-rated teams, B-rated teams or C-rated teams, and they match you up and put you up against that caliber team. If you choose A-caliber teams and do well against them, then you get asked to come to the state tournament and that's where my teams fell."
For the younger of the two teams, a trip to the state tournament seemed inevitable, but Ouimette said the sixth graders came on at the end of the regular season to earn an invite.
"My fifth-graders did extremely well against A-rated teams and they were asked pretty early on in the season," she said. "My sixth-graders hit a bump at the start in the first two tournaments, but after that, they really turned it on and beat a lot of A-rated teams and they got asked to state then."
One hurdle the sixth-graders will have to face will be competing without Ouimette's leadership. Because the fifth-graders qualified for state so quickly, she filed the paperwork and committed to coaching them at state. Since both tournaments are taking place simultaneously, the sixth-graders in Merrill and the fifth-graders in Appleton, she is unable to coach both teams.
Fortunately, she was able to call in some reliable backup help in the form of Dave Schiek and Pete Metropulos. The duo will coach the sixth-graders in Merrill.
"(Dave Schiek) has been to at least 75 percent of my practices," Ouimette said. "I asked him to start helping me coach a little, and when I found out the sixth graders were asked to compete at state, I told him he'd have to coach. He'll do a great job."
Now with months of hard work behind them, the season's most important tournament is finally here. Ouimette said she thinks her teams can both make some serious noise at state.
"If they play the way I know they can play and the way I see them play hard in practice, they can do great," she said. "They've worked hard all season. I guarantee these girls have worked harder all season than any other team in the tournament. We practice four or five days a week and we go two hours. We do two hours for each team, with one hour overlapping in the middle for both teams. We're in the gym for three hours and some girls stay for the whole session. If my girls play the way they've been playing in practice, they should be right there along with any one of these top teams.
The only element of the game Ouimette is a little nervous about is her team's mental approach. It's the biggest stage they've played on all year.
"If they go out there and get a little nervous, it could be a problem," she said. "The teams at this tournament are going to be very strong teams that have played well all year long. These girls I've been coaching can play at that level. I just hope they stay calm out there and play to their capabilites. That's the one little part I'm a little nervous about."
Both teams have played against quality opponents all year long, and that experience will come in handy at their respective state tournaments. The fifth-grade team competed in a tough tournament last weekend to help with some preparation before state.
"The fifth-graders went down to Madison last weekend and we played against some really strong teams," Ouimette said. "We played against Germantown and Brookfield, and we beat them. We played against Winnebago and Middleton too. We ended up taking fifth place out of 11 teams in the tournament. In two of those games, my fifth graders came out and played phenomenal. We pressed for four quarters, we played like we did in practice and we handled their pressure. We did great. In one of the games though, they came out and acted nervous and intimidated. That's what it's going to boil down too. They need to be confident and know that we practiced the right things. They need to be calm and cool, and they'll do great."
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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