Parkers Chapel falls short

Parkers Chapel's girls basketball season came to a sudden end. The Lady Trojans' best player, Lauren Brumley, watched from the bench as her teammates struggled in her absence in a season-ending loss. Sound familiar? No, I wasn't talking about Tuesday's 44-24 loss to Bearden in the 7AA-East District Tournament. I'm talking about last year when the Lady Trojans lost in the regional tournament after Brumley, then a sophomore, got into foul trouble and fouled out. Brumley missed Tuesday's loss after sustaining a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 7 against Norphlet. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Several players who struggled getting the basketball up the court without Brumley last year, struggled again on Tuesday. Dribbling the ball with your head up isn't a skill that's learned in practice. You learn that in the backyard on your own. It doesn't take a gym or a camp or another person. All it takes to work on your ball handling is a ... basketball. Well, that and a desire to improve. I'm not picking on the Lady Trojans. There's not a girl in South Arkansas who doesn't need to improve her ball handling skills. But, how many times will the same girls fall down the same hole? If you don't enjoy getting your heart broken two weeks before the state tournament, do something about it. If you care, pick up a ball, go outside in your driveway and work on the fundamentals. Hopefully, Brumley will be back at full speed for her senior year. Some of her teammates will be back, too. It takes a team to achieve success. But, a team consists of individuals who have to hone their individual skills away from the team, on their own when no one is keeping score. For two straight years, the Lady Trojans have left the court in tears because no one was able to pick up the slack when the primary ball handler and scorer wasn't around. If it happens next year, there will no one to blame except for the girl in the mirror.