Random Things

The junior high basketball season is officially over.  At the end of the season, we had a parent vs the team game and a potluck.

There was a lot of switching in and out.  The parents had the height advantage and there were some guys who played college ball who were still in good shape.  There were also a lot of parents who kept the game within range for the kids.

The  kids did a great job rotating players in with a good attitude.  They coached themselves and did very well.

Thomas had practiced with the team all season and he finally got to play with them.  I think he really enjoyed that.  His plan is to grow 3 or 4 inches before next year so that he will be tall enough to get to play with the JV or varsity team.  He needs to add a few pounds too.

 Some of the parents were very sore the next day after a few hard falls.  Everybody had a great time and a good time was had by all.  The potluck was very nice too! It was a successful season!

This friday  was the annual Celtic Ball with the Speech and Debate team.  The guys love it!  Usually most of us get to go.  This year I had the bookends with me in Amish country and Michelle wasn't feeling well.  Paul decided he would rather go to his own activity.

 Thomas and T-Bob love to go and do the country dances.  T-Bob danced every dance!  They look good when they get all cleaned up.  One of the rules at the dance is that the guys aren't allowed to ask the same girl to dance more than once an evening unless they are a sibling or in an established relationship.  It is a really fun time.

 Every once in awhile this is what we see out our window.   If you have read my Amish articles, you should be able to identify the type of Amish in this buggy.  Can you do it?

We had visitors yesterday.  It was so nice to see them again.  The Hyltons were in town.  Will wanted to be on the blog!  The visit was duly noted and recorded.  The guys had a good time walking to the back of the property and exploring.  They took Dallas with them and he came back with mud up to his shoulders.

Poor Michelle had to bathe him before he could come in the house for the night.  She scrubbed him down and he smelled purty when she was done.

 She had to wrap a towel around her to protect her clothes.  It was pretty cold out for an outdoor bath.  The temperature was below freezing.  Incidentally, by this morning all the ground was once again covered with a nice bright covering of snow.

The boys have once again been enjoying the heat from the fireplace.  They find it cozy to read or play games there.  So nice!

Tomorrow, we go and pick up our chicks and work on our seed starting and other farm projects as well as the daily chores of getting laundry done, cooking, etc.

The (ALMOST) Last Basketball Post of the Season

CCS played WCA for the second time.  Alas, it was a hard fought game but the injuries stole the victory from the good guys (CCS).

Trevor was hurting so bad that he couldn't run and could barely shoot.  He had to give up playing half way through the  2nd quarter.  He needed to see his chiropractor.

T-Bob shooting a foul shot (#13 is Adin B.) He was the last starter to sit.

T-Bob played most of the game until both teams gave up making it competitive and they put the fifth graders in.   By the end of the game, the final player on our team scored.  SO everybody scored at least one basket this season.

The fifth graders were glad to get some playing time.

Here is the final score.

But wait this post isn't over.....  There was a Junior Varsity game that followed.  The JV team also was struggling with injuries, so they pulled up some of the Junior high players!

See, T-Bob got to play on the JV team.

He was under-sized, but he managed to hold his own.  He snagged some rebounds and even stole the ball a time or two.

The JV team didn't fare any better but T-Bob was glad to get the chance to play on the next level.  He sure was tired  by the end.  He played most of the Junior high game and then about half of the JV's game.  He sleeps well.  After a season of basketball he can now fit into Thomas's old suit for speech and debate.  All that running and playing was very slimming for him.

T-Bob and Thomas are looking forward to practicing basketball this summer and playing again next year.

CCS vs First Baptist - Take Two

We had a number of games cancelled because of cold weather and snow.  This one was rescheduled and finally took place last week.  Our team was really struggling as many of our best players were injured.  Even T-Bob was having problems with his ankle.  There was a lot of limping going on.  At the end of the first quarter we were down 8-4.

Our guys were determined to keep going despite the injuries.  They played hard.

At half time, we were only down by 2.  The other team only scored two points in the second quarter.

The second half was a different game.  Our team came out and started shooting well.  Chase even started shooting threes and made several.

Chase was so outmatched size wise.  This makes defense a challenge as well as driving with the ball.

The third quarter ended with us  having a ten point lead!  The guys were so excited!

They kept going and eventually pulled out to a 15 point lead.  There was about three minutes left at that point.  The coach pulled his starters and put in the 2nd string.  The other team put on a hard press and it wasn't long before they were making a rapid comeback!

 They were within four points by the time the coach got the starters back in.  T-Bob and the other starters got the job done.  They broke the press and made a few quick lay-ups.

The other team had to start fouling in order to try and catch up.  Trevor was the one they fouled and  he made them pay for it!  He drilled free throw after free throw.  

The team pulled back out to a big lead.  They ended up winning by 16 points!

CCS v. Open Door

This game started out so well.  The Warriors jumped out to a 8-1 lead.  This game was scheduled earlier but had been cancelled because of bad weather.   It was rescheduled on short notice for a saturday afternoon.  We were missing some of our players and others were unable to play because of injuries.  In other words,  the bench was VERY thin.

The other team was composed of mostly large 8th graders.  Our guys played very well, but they wore down as the game progressed.  

At the end of the first quarter we were still up by 3 points.

T-Bob didn't play in the first half.  We had a weird thing that went through our family.  We weren't nauseated or anything but we had bad stomach pain for a day or two.  T-Bob was in the midst of this ailment on saturday when this game was scheduled.  Our bench was so thin that the 5th graders even got to play some.

At half time, we were down by 2. 

This little guy thought he was going to play a game of basketball with the teams shirts and skins.  He was obviously on the skins team.  His sister put his shirt on him and he immediately ripped it off.  He was very determined!

His Mom came down and put his shirt on and insisted that he keep it on.  He was not a happy camper and put on a first class temper.  Mom won!  Good for her.

T-Bob decided that it wouldn't hurt any worse to play than to sit on the bench.  He got up and in the game.  He was moving a little slow, but he got going faster the longer he played.

At the start of the second half, we had four of our starters in the game.  They were worn down as they really missed having T-Bob in the first half.  They had to play harder to keep up.

By the end of the third quarter, the team was down by 7.  

The other team played rough.  The refs weren't calling many fouls.  The other team was always hanging on our guys, hitting, slapping and holding.  The guys were pretty frustrated.  They kept a good attitude and didn't retaliate.  Our league is not blessed by great refs.  If they were very good, they wouldn't be reffing junior high basketball.  :-)

This was the final score.  I think both teams were glad when this game was over.

CCS Runs into a Buzzsaw

Thursday evening CCS had a game down in Amish country. They played a large Christian school.  They were a very good team of all 8th graders (About 18 kids on the team) against our little team (12 players including a couple of fifth graders) of 5th-8th graders.

  

The game started out pretty well and we kept pace through the first quarter.  This was a tournament game and the team was hopeful.  If they won they would go on to a game on the weekend in Toledo.

CCS was leading at the end of the first quarter.  It didn't last long....

The opponents team was really tall.  T-Bob would not have been  one of the taller players on their team.  The other team was able to rotate their players in and out to keep them fresh.  They wore us down pretty quick.  Player #32 was about 6' and weighed around 180#/  He was a big guy!

At halftime we were down 16-9.

We really struggled both offensively and defensively.  We didn't get into foul trouble.  We just weren't able to get good shots off.  They played tight defense and were able to rebound well with their height.

At the end of the third quarter their lead had grown to 8.

The coach gave the guys a talking to, encouraging them to persevere.

Alas, Trevor, our best player, got his head kneed and he had a terrible headache afterward.  It really took the steam out of our team.  We also had an issue with the officials at one point.  Our player was fouled while shooting, they gave us the free throws, but they didn't give us credit for the basket.  They said they didn't see it go in the hoop.  How can TWO officials miss that?!!!  We need to get some younger referees in our league!

The team played their hearts out, but it was too little.  They were worn down and didn't have the size to compete with this team.

They lost by 16 points.  They made a respectable showing, they showed a Warrior's fighting spirit, but they weren't able to overcome.