The Gaston girls basketball team is doing something it hasn’t done in years – winning.
The Lady Greyhounds have won six of their last eight games and are looking down on the Northwest League standings instead of up. Two weeks into its league schedule, Gaston (14-3, 4-1) sits in a tie for second place.
And yet, head coach Jamie Medley isn’t ecstatic. For her, the last two games have been interesting to coach. A 62-49 loss to De La Salle on Thursday was changed to a win by forfeit, and undefeated Portland Christian flushed the Greyhounds 80-20 on Saturday.
“That was a frustrating game. The De La Salle girls were talking trash, especially toward the end of the game,” Medley said. “It knocked our girls out of rhythm. It’s hard not to get a little frustrated when a girl is in your face cussing at you.”
Both teams battled foul trouble in an extremely physical game, but De La Salle pulled away in the fourth quarter behind freshman Whitney Burch, who scored five points in the frame.
“She gave them a huge boost, but she had already played for two quarters in the junior varsity game,” Medley said. “That’s illegal. The girl had played six quarters on the night.”
The OSAA participation limitation rule states that an athlete cannot play in more than five quarters per day.
After the game, Medley went to Gaston athletic director Jerry Mattee, who spoke with officials from both De La Salle and the Northwest League before declaring the game a forfeit.
“We ended up losing, but we got the forfeit,” Medley said. “[De La Salle] knew what they did was wrong and they wanted to do the right thing, so I don’t want there to be any hard feelings.”
Medley said it was a challenge trying to keep her team focused with the rough play. Jessica Garner led the Lady Hounds with eight points, eight assists and eight steals.
“There is a fine line between keeping intensity and buying into the other team’s behavior and losing focus,” Medley said. “I was trying to get them to be calm in that situation and rise above it and play basketball. They still need to have intensity and emotion, but with maturity and experience the girls will learn how to deal with that.”
On the sideline, Medley said she wasn’t fazed.
“I laugh at it all,” she said. “De La Salle was just being silly and immature. Of course I’m passionate, but I’m not going to let myself go.”
“The minute I lose composure, the team is going to feel all of that. They need me to be calm and under control.”
Although they walked away with a win, the Lady Hounds were outscored 19-6 in the final quarter against De La Salle, and that seemed to carry over into the following game against Portland Christian.
The undefeated Royals – who have beaten teams all the way up to class 5A this season – led 37-7 at the end of the first quarter and 57-9 at halftime. On Monday, Medley sat with her team and explained that everyone has bad days, but only they can control how bad.
“I tell my girls, look at P.C. and then look at us,” Medley said. “You can’t just change in the locker room and play the game. The P.C. girls all sat together and watched the junior varsity game. Our girls were off talking to their boyfriends or goofing off.”
Medley carries high expectations for her team. Early in the season she would let them know when she was disappointed, but now she only reminds them that while they are held to a higher standard, they should remain confident in their abilities.
“We go through these confidence issues. They think, ‘I’m good, I’m good, and then not so much,’” Medley explained. “And I say, ‘Look at what you girls have accomplished, you should be confident that you are good basketball players.’”
“They are winners and they want to win, and none of them are happy with losing.”
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