They did an excellent job defensively. They only had five points in the first half. Our defense really did the job the whole game.

I thought we did a really good job of playing defense in the second half. We picked up the pace a little bit on defense in the third quarter and were able to force some turnovers. Overall, it was a good game for us.

Sometmes when you pull knives on people, they get this impression that you're going to hurt them, and then they're completely terrified. Crazy, I know!"

"Okay," said Nick. He turned to Jamie & popped his left wrist sheath again. "Look."

Jamie backed up. "Which part of 'completely terrified' did you translate as 'show us your knives, Nick'? Don't show me your knives, Nick. I have no interest in your knives."

Nick rolled his eyes. "This is a quillon dagger. That's a knife with a sword handle. I like it because it has a good grip for stabbing."

"Why do you say these things?" Jamie inquired piteously. "Is it to make me sad?"

"I didn't have you cornered," Nick went on. "You could've run. And this dagger doesn't have an even weight distribution; it's absolute rubbish for throwing. If I had any intention of hurting you, I'd have used a knife I could throw."

Jamie blinked. "I will remember those words always. I may try to forget them, but I sense that I won't be able to.

Our defense helped set that up and our offensive line fired off the ball.

It's pitching, hitting and defense that wins. Any two can win. All three make you unbeatable.

keeping pressure on the ball, controlling the opponent's set plays and team defense.