Those are the words that will carry the North Royalton Girls Basketball team through the 2017 portion of their season. The squad starts the second half of the season with a record of four wins and six losses.
The Lady Bears are battling through what any coach at any level of basketball does not want to deal with, the dreaded “Double I’s”, Injuries and Inexperience.
But, North Royalton Girls Head Coach Matt Stricker says his team is not ready to wave the white flag. No way.
“The coach of every team we have played against this season has told me how impressed they are with the heart this team plays with,” said Stricker. “We’ve been dealing with injuries all year, we’ve had people out. Our motto all year has been the next person has to step up.”
Basically, the Lady Bears are playing with an eight-person rotation. Only two of those players are seniors. That limits Coach Stricker from playing a full-court press. Because of injuries, the tallest player for the Lady Bears is 5-foot-8-inch senior Gabby White. Instead of going-after rebounds, the Lady Bears are proficient in “boxing out” making sure the other team doesn’t get missed shots. “We’re playing teams that usually have girls’ 6-feet tall and taller. We put bodies on them, but sometimes it’s not enough,” said Stricker.
The Lady Bears rely heavily on White, a Division One basketball recruit who will attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. White plays point guard and defends the best player on the opposing team.
“Gabby is an all-around player. Gabby runs the point, she’s our leader on offense and is really a coach on the floor,” said Stricker. “She has the same confidence in her teammates like I do. This is her first year as a point guard. It’s the same position that she wants to play in college.” In a recent game against Strongsville, Gabby was double-teamed the entire night. “She’s going to see a lot of that,” said Coach Stricker.
North Royalton has plenty of Suburban League games in this second half of the season. Of the 12 games remaining in the regular season, nine are against Suburban League opponents. The in-and-out of conference play doesn’t seem to bother Stricker. “It’s like next team up for us. We get our schedule and go out and play each and every day,” said Stricker. To start the New Year, the Lady Bears have a 2-3 Suburban League record.
“No matter what our record is, I’m having one of the most fun seasons I’ve ever had coaching. To be honest, it’s because of the heart and the effort these kids give me each and every day. I tell them to believe in themselves and believe in what they can do.”
The Lady Bears still have plenty of goals for the remainder for the 2016-17 season.
“Our goal is to keep getting better. And each and every day we are getting better. We’ve had players, who have missed a number of games, but we keep stepping up and the players are giving me their best efforts. We’re getting ourselves ready for the tournament and hopefully we can make a run.”

By JOE JASTRZEMSKI
Contributing Writer