Gary Giancola Quotations

We brought them up to give us energy on the floor. I thought they did a great job in their first varsity game.

We're still making adjustments in personnel to get to where we want to be. But we need to play better defense, no matter who we've got out there. Our interior defense needs to improve. Our help defense needs to get after it, if we're going to get back to where we were last year.

We're looking forward to having the opportunity to play for another trip to the sectionals.

We're looking to play our game and go right at them. If we can get better play out of our back court, especially on defense, and play smart basketball, we could start holding teams in the 40s and 50s.

We're happy with the No. 2 spot and the possibility of hosting a couple of playoff games. We're the defending champs and will have a target on our backs. We need to be ready to carry that.

We've seen all the teams once. We have some of the better teams at home this time. We're looking at that No. 2 seed in the regional.

Mike really came to play. He had 26 points in three quarters. He's really starting to step up his leadership, starting to play like a very determined senior.

I give Ironwood a slight edge. I admire these kids. They're always working on their game. They've got a good group and can put five quality players on the floor and anyone of them can score when they need a score, or lead them in scoring.

We sustained our intensity for four quarters. We started the same way we did in Glidden, but there we took our foot off the throttle in the second half and just coasted. Last night we concentrated on keeping our intensity up. We had an exceptional third quarter.

I thought we played terrible. The way we've been playing so well, we shot the ball terribly. And then we forgot to play defense. We left our guys too much, we got lazy, we gambled, we weren't disciplined enough on defense.

I think we match up fairly well against them. They play a style that like we play. They don't race up and down the floor and run-and-gun. They work the possession and take good shots. They have an excellent coach who is Hall of Fame material. They're fundamentally sound and don't turn the ball over. They turned it over only eight times against Grantsburg. We have to play every bit as good as we played Saturday, and we may have to pick that up a notch.

Thankfully, we were ahead the whole game, I'm not sure what would have happened had we fallen behind. Give them credit. They frustrated us offensively. We're just happy to get another big conference win.

I thought Mike did a great job running things. The team was more focused and confident with him at the point.

That's the kind of scoring we've been looking for from these guys all year.

Mercer's defense had something to do with that. We had been shooting well. They forced us to a perimeter game and clogged up the lane.

Mercer played very well. Give Mercer credit. They came in here and played some hard defense and had just enough offense to win.

You can feel the electricity in the school and the community. I feel it more this year than last year. The way we're playing, I like our chances.

We expect an even stronger opponent. That's the way the tournament works. Every game is up another level.

We played very good team defense, especially in the first half, but on offense it was just the big three for us. We didn't get enough guys involved. They have to look to score.

We had a little team meeting and our senior leadership stepped up and we got together as a team. We've learned from our low points and took our lumps early in the season.

We had our best half of basketball all year. Our defense was outstanding. We started to go a little individual in the second half.

We needed more offense from Cory and he'll do better away from the pressure of handling the ball all the time.

We need to take care of business against Wakefield to give ourselves a chance in the final. We can't be looking ahead.

We've been getting good defense from the rest of them, but last night we got the 9s, 7s and 5s in the scorebook that really help us offensively.

We've bonded together as a team. They enjoy being around each other. This time always hurts. You lose that last game. For seniors, especially at this stage, it hurts.

We like the mix we have. Balance is the key. We like to control tempo and play in the half court. Right now, everything is on the up and up. But this is sudden death for every team. So we know nothing is going to come easily.

We put the game away in the third and cleared the bench in the fourth quarter. Everyone got good minutes.

We had a really strong third quarter. We were able to get a lot of guys some playing time in both the third and fourth quarters.

This was every bit of the game I expected it to be. You could tell from the get-go that we had the talent to stay with them. But they had the depth. We didn't have enough in the tank.

Those threes really got us going. We played pretty well in the second half and got a lot good minutes from our bench.

We just needed a time out to settle them down, and remember how we play the game.

We were like a rookie teacher with a bunch of nervous kids on a field trip last year. We were sort of overwhelmed by the experience. We've learned from that and know how to prepare better. We need to keep our level of play up where it's been and we'll give ourselves a chance against a very good Glenwood City team.

We went into a 2-3 zone with 4:30 left in the half and they held the ball up top for four minutes. We didn't come out and they stood there and the clock just ticked away. They started working for a shot with 30 seconds left. We got the steal, but again rushed a shot and came up empty.

These seniors have really brought the program to a new level. We've got a great group of young men here who are focused and working as a team, and it shows in the results.

They didn't outwork us, they didn't outplay us. That's what hurts so much.

They're solid. They've got thick, physical, athletic kids.

They're our big three and that's what we need and expect from them. We had some nice balance underneath and we're going to need more of that as we go.

It's a battle for the No. 2 seed in the regional.

It's homecoming and I expect us to play with a lot of emotion.

It was a good first game for us in the tournament. We had some nerves early on. But we got stronger as the game went on. It was a pretty good showing for us all the way around.

It was a good all-around effort for our kids. Solon Springs came in here playing good basketball and our kids did a really good job on both ends of the floor.

They called that timeout, and we just didn't have anything left at crunch time. It was obvious to see their rotation of nine (players) was more beneficial than our rotation of six. We didn't have anything left. If we could've gotten the lead at crunch time, they would have had a different look in their eyes.

I'm confident we can play with them the way we're playing our man defense. These guys have got their sights set on getting to that Kohl Center. They really believe it.

I can't be more proud of the kids. They represented their community and their conference very well. This is a special group of seniors that brought this program to a new level. They'll cherish these two trips to sectionals for a long time.

The key was in the first quarter when we got off to such a good start. That got us going.

These kids were on a mission tonight. We came out strong, but had a couple periods where we let up just a little, allowing Cameron back in the game.

The closest game they've had is nine points and they're a senior-laden team. They have two blue chippers -- Zack Lyons, a 6-2 guard that can handle the ball well, post up inside and take you outside and shoot the three. Jay Meyers was the quarterback on their tradition-rich football team. He's 5-11, thick and can score inside and out.