Rescheduling

We ended up not having basketball games last night. The other school apparently forgot we'd rescheduled the original games (which were to be on the night of our school play), so now we have to reschedule the rescheduled games!

Second-hand Report

Jeff and I missed the games last night. We went to a dinner where he was honored for his First Amendment legal work. But we kept up via text messages from Nathan!

We're beginning the second round of district play, so at least we knew we wouldn't be missing much last night. And we were right. Two blow-outs by a school known for its basketball, just like last time we played them. I don't remember the final scores, but suffice it to say, we were never in the games. Elizabeth had 5 points. Aaron had 3.

We do it all over again tonight. This time with all three playing. And it is Senior Night, the last home game of Elizabeth's basketball career. I'm sure it will be bittersweet.

A Win!

The Middle School boys played a great game tonight. It was a close one, we ended up winning by 3 points!! It was very exciting. Nathan played really well, with good passes, several steals and good shooting, too. He ended with 15 points. Must have been the new uniforms that FINALLY came in!

Only one more middle school game, then a tournament. But I won't be sad to say good-bye to the middle school game.

More Basketball

Yes, it seems like all we do around here right now is basketball. Last night was yet another of the marathon game nights. And as usual, it was not a night to remember. 

Middle school just looked a bit off. Of course yesterday was a holiday, so they've had no practice over a long weekend. Maybe that's why. Nathan only had 2 points.

We knew ahead of time that the varsity girls game would not be pretty. This school went far in the playoffs last year (maybe to the finals?). But we didn't expect an aggressive full court press until the game was 24-0! Then they pulled back the press from the baseline to halfway before the half court line until we were down by more than 30! Finally, they just ran a half court defense. We only scored from the free throw line until late in the third quarter. Elizabeth ended tied for leading scorer on our team, with 5. She made two lay-ups (against, I think, their third string team) and a free throw. Not our finest moment.

Varsity boys started off good. They actually won--the first quarter. It went downhill after that. Both our big upperclassmen were cold. Aaron only scored on a lay-up and took no charges, but he did have a few assists and was under the basket banging around for rebounds (he got a few) with guys much bigger than himself. But he hates losing. They are all discouraged. But young, small teams just often miss the mark in this sport.

They all have two more games this week (yes, it's a crazy week), but then we're just a couple of games away from the end of the season. 

An Ugly Loss

We played a small public school tonight--just the varsity boys--and it was ugly. We lost 68-30. 'Nuf said. (In case you are wondering, Aaron had 2 points and no other highlights.)

Back to Back to Back--Again

Two down, two to go on the back-to-back-to-back game nights! Last night the middle school teams had success while the varsity teams struggled.

Nathan's team won handily. He had his best game this season, scoring 11 points. He claims it was because Jeff wasn't there! He also had some nice passes and a couple of steals.

Elizabeth's tiny-in-stature-but-big-in-heart team couldn't do much against the big, tall girl that played inside. Her arms just went higher in the air than everyone else's! Elizabeth was banging around under the basket with her for much of the game, but 5'5" doesn't compete well against 5'9" or so. Add to that another girl who could shoot well from the perimeter, and we ended down by 20 points. Elizabeth had 4 points. One of the other seniors had 10. And that's all we scored!

The varsity boys trailed by 10 or so for most of the game but mounted a run at the end and actually pulled within 3 with 3:00 to go. But fouls killed us in the end and we lost by 7. Aaron had a good game, again tying for 2nd leading scorer with 6 and taking another charge.

I sure hope at least one of the varsity teams can pull out a win this season!

Basketball Marathon

Four times this season we will play back t0 back t0 back basketball games. Tonight was the first of those marathons. And none of it was pretty.

Middle school boys trailed the entire game, losing by 7. Nathan played well, scoring 5 points.

Varsity boys came out flat and trailed by nearly 25 points at the half. Second half was better, but by then the hole was too deep. Aaron tied for second leading scorer (again!) with 6 points. He also took 1 charge (and should have had 1 or 2 others called!). 

But the varsity girls played the heartbreaker game. They came out looking great, having added a couple of junior and senior girls who agreed to fill in (although one may stay) while Elizabeth was hurt and another player out of town. At one point we actually had four experienced seniors on the floor! Yes, Elizabeth was out there. No, she wasn't released to play yet. But have you ever known Elizabeth to be stopped by telling her "you can't"?

Anyway, they played great. They hustled. They scored. (Elizabeth had 4 points and 3 or 4 steals.) They led the entire game. Until the last 40 seconds. Actually, the last 2 minutes were a nightmare. I think they called 10 fouls on us and none on them. We literally couldn't get the ball back! With 40 seconds left to play, the other team went up 29-28 on free throws. We went down and couldn't score. They brought the ball up again. With just seconds left, Elizabeth fouled, as she should. When she did, the girl threw the ball at her and the ref T'd up the other girl. Then there was a huge delay as the refs discussed, because, of course, time had now expired. Finally, they gave the other girl 2 shots (double bonus) for Elizabeth's foul, then said Elizabeth would get 2 shots for the Technical foul. The other girl missed both of hers. Then Elizabeth shot--and missed both of hers. It was awful. She is usually such a good free throw shooter. Of course, she hasn't shot in the four weeks she's had her cast on. 

But the story ends on an up note. We were so proud of the way Elizabeth handled herself. After missing the shots, she was the first one across the court to shake hands with the other team. And afterward, she wasn't mean and nasty to us. She could smile and laugh and accept compliments on her play. So while she hated losing the game, she won in the arena of character. And that's what matters in the long run.

The Longest Away Game

Unlike football, our basketball away games aren't too bad, distance-wise. The longest is our trek to Sherman, about an hour away. What makes the trip so awful is that this district opponent is a formidable basketball school. Their teams, both girls and boys, are consistently in the last few games (or winning) the TAPPS state tournament.

 We got that one over with last night. (At least the one where we have to travel and get beat. They come here to beat us in a couple of weeks.) Their girls' coach was actually very kind. With their TWO 6 footers, they could have tromped on us much more than the 60-something to 17 win. But they pulled off their press early and sat their starters often. It nearly killed Elizabeth to have to sit on the bench. One more game as spectator, then hopefully she will be back in the fray.

The boys game was very physical, but our boys fared better than expected, coming away with a 64-44 loss. Aaron returned to second leading scorer with 9 and took 2 charges. They are playing better and better.

Off with her . . . Cast

The cast came off today. That was the good news. The bad news is that the doc said she still couldn't play basketball until he sees her again and makes sure the break is completely healed. (It's at 80% now.) Originally he said that would be two weeks. Then, when he heard the situation, that almost half her senior season of basketball would be over by then, he said he'd see her in 10 days and maybe he would release her to play then. That means she will miss two games next week but could hopefully be back by the third game. In the meantime, he said she could dribble and shoot, but without any contact from others. Those hands are important to her cooking career, so she needs to heed his advice!