So, the whole idea to play any games for my alleged Birthday Lockdown Throwdown was all a figment of my imagination. The only games played this weekend were played by girls.. on the hardwood.
First off, we planned on both girls playing in AAU, but thanks to certain events *COVID* everything was scrapped, and we pieced together Summer, Fall, and Winter seasons together.
This year we had planned on giving the same program a chance. We loved the coaches, the program was quick to refund our checks from last year, and they had a few players Maja simply wanted to play with.
Unfortunately, there was no team for Millie to play on, plus there were a few individuals going with the other local AAU program. The girls had played in that program's inaugural season, and we left with a bad taste in our mouths. However, two of Maja's good friends were trying out for that team and the rest of the team was composed of the studs for the other teams Maja played against over the winter. Best yet, Millie had a team with her one friend (Ironically, who played on the "evil team" from my 2019-20 basketball rants. Time heals most wounds.)
Tournament Weekend #1 A local tournament - Pool play with formal playoffs on Sunday. Of course they threw Maja and Millie's two pool games each at the 8am and 9am and at different sites, so divide and conquer for my wife and I.
Millie (4th) - Only three teams, so limited play against two teams from another relatively local program. Her teams demolished them in three games (2 pool + the championship) by a combined score of 106-10 to win the division.
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| First hardware of the season |
Maja (6th) - Two big wins on Saturday, including a two-point upset over the alleged #2 team in Pennsylvania. Not bad for a squad of only girls quickly cobbled together. Sunday was a bit of a different story, Sunday started with a trouncing of the same (non-ranked) team they played on Saturday, but a heartbreaking loss to a local team who eventually lost to that #2 team in the finals. They had their work cut out for them, but things looked positive.
Move onto....
Tournament Weekend #2: Travelling down to the old Glen Mills School this weekend for an All-Girls Tournament. (Glen Mills was a rough and tumble reform school for boys before their shutdown in 2019. It's turning out to be a season on odd ironies.)
Before covering the girls, let's add in the odd complication, that my wife had travelled the week prior to visit a friend in Texas. She was scheduled to return late Friday night at our local airport. and we were to fly on down the the Philly area together on Saturday morning for an 8am game. I get a call around 5pm that she missed her flight, and couldn't come in until 12:45 the following afternoon. The good news, the airport was Philly. The bad news, Millie had a 12:20 game. We could divide and conquer the girls' respective third games of the day at 2:30, because they played at the same facility, but we began to worry about logistics for Sunday, as we only had one car.
Maja (6th) Saturday - Of course Maja's team gets an 8am game, and of course it's the one game not played at the Glen Mills rec center, rather their old gymnasium down the street, and not the easiest place to get in.
Once inside, they set the tone with hot defense and a slow offense that finally built steam by the end of the game. A great output for seven players, as they called up a fifth grader to expand the bench.
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| Maja's team is the Junior Clutch. Not a bad day. |
Mille (4th) Saturday - With two key players missing from this tournament, they added a few girls who played fifth, but met the age restrictions (essentially, they couldn't turn 11 during the regular school year. Technically, if Maja had been born a month later, she would qualify for 5th grade).
The missing players, and an over-reliance on one the fifth graders skewed their game play and created a some tougher competition. Thank God I missed the second (12:20) game when I left to pick up my wife. It was a 1-1 jump-ball infused snooze-fest at halftime. Thank goodness they woke up.
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| Millie's Pool Play Results |
Most of the teams stayed at the same hotel for Sunday's playoffs/championships, and any chance of friendly game of Fluxx inside the hotel room evaporated with the camaraderie of the girls. One, they're a well-behaved bunch, left to their own devices in the hotel with nary a complaint of comment (as of the publishing of this post). It's a good group of girls to hang out with, there's no obvious cliques, especially with 6th grade.
Millie (4th) Championship Sunday: If you notice Millie's schedule, there was one pool game to start Sunday morning. The York Thunder were automatically going to seeded first, thanks to point differential, but it was when we realized that the 2nd/3rd playoff game was against the dread Lady Wolfpack. The Wolfpack were a very good team from up in our neck of the woods. They had already defeated Millie's winter team in tight game at the Back Mountain Tournament (I realized they wore their Clutch winter league shirts), so it was a perfect time to exact revenge, which they did 18-10, allowing them to move onto the Championship against the Thunder.
This created a joyous, but troublesome logistical nightmare. Maja's team had won Group A pool play, and was scheduled to play the winner of Group B pool play at 2:30, at an off-site location about 15 minutes away from the school. Millie's championship game started at 3:35 back at Glen Mills. After grabbing lunch, we gave Millie to her teammate's parents for safe keeping, as I handed to keys to my wife to try to get both games in without missing either part.
Disaster struck almost immediately upon parking in the off-site location's lot. All games at that site were at least 70 minutes behind. After hoping and praying that game ahead of Maja's would complete faster than expected, we made the decision to divide and conquer. I drove back to Glen Mills for Millie's game, while my wife stayed to watch Maja's. Neither of us were disappointed.
Millie's game with the Thunder played up to the billing. Despite falling behind 8-4 at the half, the Clutch kept running their plays and playing solid defense. It came down to a 3-point play in the finally seconds that couldn't materialize. They played their hearts out, fell short 16-13, and is ready and raring to go for a rematch if they ever do meet.
My wife got to witness the only championship to the organization played. It would unfair to call the other team thuggish (there are certain additional connotations with that term), but dirty might be an understatement. With Clutch getting Bonus early in each half (foul shots on every foul, shooting and floor/hand fouls), they pulled away with their lives 22-14
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| 6th Grade Champs (Pink Division) |
As further consolation, each team in Group A got to play their respective place holder in Group B. (2nd vs 2nd, 3rd vs 3rd, 4th vs 4th) Each team from our Group won their games, proving we had the tougher road to travel.
Things don't get easier, as the girls trek back down to Philly for a tournament in King of Prussia. Good news, my wife isn't flying anywhere this week, but Maja has here one and only dance competition at home, oddly enough at the Mountain Laurel Resort, home of Mepacon. She might not miss any games, but my wife is taking point at the 90-drive each way to get her there. It's the one time as a parent that I hope she isn't indispensable on the team and they can get wins without her, if need be.
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