This past Saturday the St. Louis Surge lost in the Regional Championship game 91-76 to the Elite Flyers. The last time these two teams crossed paths the Surge won 93-88. Their rematch lived up to what Surge head coach Tony Condra called a rivalry game.
Surge point guard Rebecca Harris said during shoot around that the Flyers had an axe to grind with the Surge – especially since the Flyers coach Brittney Koch-Dowell was let go by the Surge.
“This is war,” Harris said. “Man, I’m ready for battle. I wish I had some of the black paint to put under my eye.”
I approached Brittany Koch-Dowell for an interview before the game and not only did she refuse the interview, she also refused to shake my hand as I extended it to her.
Once the game began, it clearly looked like the Surge was just out of sync on offense. They blew several point blank shots at the basket and easily cheated themselves out of 24 uncontested points right by the basket. The Flyers deserve credit for their type of play, which reminds me a lot of the New York Knicks in the mid-1990s.
Led by Kari Koch- Dowell – who won the Midwest Region Tourney MVP – she put on an impressive shooting performance.
She was finishing in transition with either hand and challenging Surge defenders to slow her down. Surge coach Tony Condra threw different people at here and it was just her night. The Flyers also got great contributions from Channon Haywood and Hasina Muhammad. The Flyers will move on to San Antonio Texas for Nationals, while the Surge wait and see if they still get a wild card berth.
After the game Surge players and family members were disappointed about the loss. “How in the hell were we going to win? We missed 43 shots,” Condra said.
The Surge just never got into any kind of offensive flow or rhythm – and never went on a sustained run.
They cut the lead to as close as 9 points in the fourth quarter with plenty of time remaining, but just couldn’t string together enough stops. They also had several unforced errors and erratic free throw shooting. The Surge came into the fourth quarter in the bonus and drew fouls but couldn’t cash in at the line.
For more information about Surge go to @STLSurge on twitter for updates.
And congratulations are also in store for Surge Tony Condra who is now Director of Girls Basketball at Matthew Dickey Boys and Girls Club.
