@ Toledo

Our first game of the season was at Toledo.  It was my very first High School varsity game I ever started in.  I was so nervous because of who we were playing…freaking Beth Layton!  We were all excited to play.  Our main goal was to contain Beth Layton, who scored thirty or more points a game.  We held her (as a team) to 13 points.  We were never credited for it.  We were the only team to hold her to that much.  Since we were so focused on Beth, we forgot their post players; they scored about 15 points each.  Most of the game I guarded Beth and her sister Amy.  Our biggest problems were the turnovers.  Turnovers had cost us the game.  Half time was bad.  Willmarth yelled at us.  Asked us why we were playing so horrible and throwing the ball away on our possession.  He questioned our hearts about the game, which he apologized for later on that week with this letter:

Megan, Liz, Katie, Rebecca, Kyle, Val, Jody, Amber, Meeghan, Alicia and Kelliegh

We have been through a lot together.  We have traveled to St. John, played laser tag

in Spokane, traveled to Zillah in the middle of summer, made a thousand trips to

 Tumwater, won money scratching lottery tickets, weaved through the wheat fields of the Palouse at 6 in the morning, shopped at the ghetto mall, and looked for the kangaroo that stole our ball

…..I watched you throw French fries at seagulls, saw you shoot free throws in Key Arena, heard you sing songs about going to eat pizza, and laughed when you drove to the Supermall….in Aberdeen!....We have been together during the good times, and we have struggled together through the bad times….I have watched you forget to block out, and I have watched you outworked teams twice your size…..I have been there when everyone was having fun and laughing, and I have been there when you were in tears….I have been with some of you at the State Tournament, and I will be the first one to hug you after you play your last game for me as a Mountaineer…..I am not the best coach in the league, not even the best coach at our school….but there is one thing that I am absolutely sure about ….I wouldn’t trade you ladies for any other team in the world….I will always believe in you, and I will continue to be your biggest fan, forever….sometime I may criticize your efforts or question your decisions, but I will never question your hearts….When you are through with basketball and you have forgotten all about me, I will still have the memories of you and the times we had…..and I will look back and smile, because you ladies are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am proud to be your coach…..You will improve as a player, and I will improve as a coach, and together we will make the district tournament, and compete for a chance to go to State….and throughout the entire season, I will be having the time of my life, because I am surrounded by my most favorite thing in the whole world……..

You ladies.

Please don’t ever forget how important you are to me, and

 never doubt that I will always believe in you.

Now let’s go play some basketball!

Coach Willmarth

We talked about the game when the coaches left the locker room.  We decided to play as a team and not to throw the ball away and to play smart!  We played a little better in the second half but still lost.  We stayed fairly close to them for a while and then they pulled away from us in the third quarter.  The final score was 68-42.