PROSPERITY — The Mid-Carolina Middle School girls basketball team ended their 2018-19 run with an undefeated 13-0 season and championship win after defeating Hickory Tavern 42-30 on January 31 at Clinton Middle School.
Last season, the Lady Rebels fell short to Hickory Tavern in the championship taking the runner up spot.
“In the playoffs we played the first round and won, then we got a bye in the second because we were a first seed and we ended up playing Hickory Tavern who was the team that we lost to last year in the championship so we were runner up last year. It was a pretty good feeling to beat them this year, we were ahead the whole game, everybody got to play, it was a pretty cool experience for everyone to get in because sometimes in the middle school level that doesn’t happen,” said Head Coach Mike Schaeffer.
Going into this season, Schaeffer said he was worried the team would struggle, having lost eight of his players.
“I was a little worried because we lost eight girls to the junior varsity team and we only had four girls that actually returned to the team so I thought in the beginning of the season we were really going to struggle a little bit,” he said.
To prepare for the new season, Schaeffer wanted to make things simple for the team and to focus on the basics of basketball.
“What I wanted to do was just simplify it, just sort of have one play that we can consistently run on offense, one to two plays for offense, just simple sideline in bounds plays, everything I wanted to make simple, we did a lot of layups in practice because I feel like, especially in middle school, just stuff like handling the ball and making layups is probably the most important thing,” Schaeffer said.
The last time the team went undefeated, according to Schaeffer, was in 2006-07 (14-0) under the coaching of Mike Stroud, who is now principal at Reuben Elementary.
Schaeffer attributes much of the team’s success to the YMCA and Newberry County Recreation for getting the girls involved in basketball.
“They come to the middle school already knowing how to run a defense and things like that, but participation in general, when I first started we would have 14 girls try out, now we have 28 girls try out, you’ve got a lot more girls wanting to get involved in basketball,” Schaeffer said.
With the 2018-19 season wrapped up, Schaeffer will be losing six of his eighth graders and will have six seventh graders returning next season.
“It’s going to be hard to fill those eighth graders that are leaving, there’s a couple already that are going to be in sixth grade that we’ve had our eye on, that have played for the Y,” he said. “They are going to be missed, but the junior varsity team who also went undefeated, should be just as good next year.”
The season also proved to be a milestone for Schaeffer who has never had an undefeated season since he began coaching in 2008-09.
“It is really hard to keep that going, that’s something that kind of looms over your head for a while, it’s like okay you win three games, then you win five games and you win seven games, you kind of think ‘oh geez, we’re undefeated’ and that’s an awesome feeling, but in the back of your mind you’re kind of like ‘wow, this could be something’ you don’t want to have that one loss so it’s always there in the back of your mind,” Schaeffer said.
