3rd Place for Eme's team!!
This girl finally,
finally found her niche. She took to basketball like a duck to water. She was confident, aggressive, and quite accurate for a little eight year old who had never played before. Want her to steal the ball? She would. Want her to shoot and score? Okay. Want her to make amazing passes to others? Sure thing. It was thrilling to watch her just jump onto the court like it was where she was meant to be. Not much comes easy to her, so this was just delightful to see. She was
very happy with their 3rd place win.
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Masyn's team won 1st place!
Masyn was chosen to play with the 5th grade girls' team this year, though she is a 4th grader. They were really low on girls, and the 4th grade team had plenty, so they moved her and her friend, Hailey up (Hailey's in the picture above with Masyn). This team has four dynamite players on their team who have played together for years. They. Are. Good. And so they took these two little fourth graders under their wings, and my goodness, was it fun to watch. They took the championship in some very nerve-wracking games, and just had a great season. Masyn is about as aggressive on the court as she is off. In other words, she's not. She's learning, and is really accurate in her shooting, but is often overtaken by the defensive players. She'll get there. She scored twice during the tournament, and it was so sweet for her. Loved her coach. Loved her team. Loved to see her giving her all.
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Trevor's team won first place!
This team--well, I don't even know how to begin with this team. They were expected to take 3rd in the tournament. They haven't beaten Calhan in four years. Four
years. They had already lost to them this season, and also to Limon. By quite a bit. But my oh my, did they dig in for these final games! They beat Limon and went on to play Calhan for the championship. It was not looking good in the first half. The boys were really struggling and not making their shots. You could see Calhan's confidence sky-rocketing, and our boys really getting bummed out. At one point, we were down by seven points. And then Logan made two three-pointers in a row, followed by a lay up by another boy, taking the lead by one point. They alternated with the lead until the very last few seconds, when Calhan scored, putting them ahead by one point. ONE POINT! In the last second, Trevor's friend Josh (above, #11) went to make a lay-up and missed it as the buzzer went off. Everyone was so heartbroken. And then we heard the whistle--he had been fouled and would be shooting two! He was so incredibly calm. I have no idea how a 12 year old has that much composure, but he did. First one went in--
nothing but net. Tied game. When the second one went in as well, we just couldn't believe it! That was probably the best game I've ever watched (well, at least the one I was most emotionally involved in!). So, so fun.
We enjoyed every moment of the season, but boy were we glad to see it end! The schedule was exhausting with three kids each practicing in different locations and at different times twice a week, plus games. I loved how they loved it, but we are enjoying our down time now (before baseball season starts). While it was incredibly busy, I can't help but remind myself in the midst of it, that they are little for such a short amount of time. These are the best years.
The best years. We will most definitely be all in next November as we watch them learn and grow and thrive. I'm truly giddy with anticipation of their futures, and what they might hold.
Precious, precious childhood.
