CYO YMCA TBA. Kids' Basketball wrapped up this weekend. Lotta abbreviations; lotta pizza.
Our Marian A CYO team finished on a roll this year. We had a great team of 6th and 7th graders with a wide range of size and skills. The league was strong this year, but we were strong too. All of the guys were aggressive competitors who practiced hard. In particular, they seemed to enjoy competing against the Marian B squad in scrimmages. We started the regular season losing two games by a total of three points to a couple of teams that ended up having very good records. Then we lost a couple more games by larger margins; one to the team with league's best player and the other in a game in which we played poorly. But then we started to win. First we beat a pretty good Blue Devils team. And then we beat our cross town rivals at Saint Tarcisius. We put it all together in that game. They were a big team and it was close at the half, but then we went on a scoring spree they couldn't stop. We won by 18. We finished the season strong, though we did lose a couple more close ones to the top teams in the league. But we were competitive. All twelve of our guys played key roles down the stretch; some with offense, some with defense and rebounding.
When the playoffs started we were ready. We took down a tough Bearcat squad from Wellesley on the road in our first round playoff game. We won by four in a game that was close throughout. All the players contributed mightily. I was really proud to see our guys come together and play their best when it counted. In the quarterfinals we took on the undefeated regular season champs, the Eagles. But we weren't intimidated. We played them tough all the way. The Eagles ended up winning by 9, but it was a close game. Our guys fought hard 'til the end. We wrapped up the season with a pizza party Saturday evening. Good times. Kudos to my assistant Skip and to all the parents for their time and effort. We've been going since early November. I'll bet we had 35 to 40 practices, scrimmages and games -- a lot of ball. We played in school gyms, church gyms, in an athletic club beside a swimming pool, and even at a college. I really enjoyed coaching this group of kids. I hope all the guys had as good a time as I did.
Then Mariana had her YMCA Red Rockets end-of-season pizza banquet Sunday afternoon. She was in a 2nd and 3rd grade developmental league. They have practices and games but they don't keep score. The emphasis is on learning and being good teammates. There are even rules to make sure kids pass the ball. Every effort is made to make sure all the girls are involved. Her coach was a nice lady who helped all the kids have a good time. At this age, having fun is the priority. I think most of the girls will be back at it next year - a little bit bigger and ready to compete some more - and to claim more trophies and eat more pizza.
And lastly Franciso had his TBA Final Four on Sunday. This was a 5th and 6th grade developmental league. This was a good league for him to be one of the leaders on his team, since he's one of the younger players in the other league. It turned out to be a fun time. They played man-to-man defense, which kept the pace of the games fast. There were ten teams and the games were 40 minutes, which is long for kids' games and allows for lots of playing time for all the kids. Francisco's Orange team had a great season. They finished the regular season in first place with a record of 7-1. Then came the playoffs. They were the top seed. They got through their first round and semi-final games challenged but unscathed. Then they met their match in the Finals (played at the high school and broadcast on local TV). They played the Blue team they'd beaten earlier in the season by only 2 points.
This time around they fell behind early and had to fight their way back. Finally in the third quarter they got their first lead. After that the lead went back and forth several times. In the last couple of minutes the Blues made the key plays and earned a 4 point victory to claim the tournament championship. Naturally the championship game was followed by a pizza banquet.
Basketball is my favorite sport and I enjoy passing on my love for the game to my kids and others who are interested. We'll see you all next season!
