Basketball in this new reality continues to be at the whims of fickle gods.
Millie: COVID and an ice storm killed her Hazleton league games. Her AAU Winter League remains a motley assortment of characters with the organizers making special guest appearances from other players to fill in needs as they come. It's literally four good playes, one from each grade 4-7, and 4 players who might not make a team on the Mountain Top rec league (and everyone gets a spot on that league). Scores are unimportant in this league, as Millie gets to (a) interact and get challenged by some of the older kids on offense and defense and (b) continue to learn how necessary it is to communicate with all teammates.
Speaking of "all teammates" the local rec league had the showdown of the year, between her team and her best friend Annika's team. I initially felt pity for Annika's team. They were short a player compared to other teams, plus their last player was recovering from pretty significant hand surgery AND we learned another player was afraid to dribble a basketball around people. In response to that, I agreed to add a late registrant to the team and they were doing well.
In the last week, the girl with the surgery has been cleared to play, and their "trainwreck/work in progress" scored a legit basket on us in gameplay.
Oh, it's on... every division needs a villain, no matter how nice the coaches are....
Needless to say, the battle was tough, and it could be said that that player's two points were the difference... or the dozens of missed open looks from Millie's team. Still, she didn't yell at her teammates this game, rather barking guidance and congratulating those who did well.
Speaking of missed open looks, Millie's travel team wisely chose to hold Sunday night games during a thawing out period between an ice storm and a cold snap. The Mountain Top team played the younger Pittston team again, and the result was close to the original, 30-9. Millie scored no points, but played a solid point guard and a good impression of Gandalf's "You should not pass." at the top of the key on defense.
Sad fact of the game, three other players on Millie's team each had more missed shots than the Pittston team had shot attempts all game.
Even sadder fact (?): All four of Millie's leagues have finally issued t-shirts for their seasons, they are all red. Saturday and Sunday fashions will remain a bit stagnant for the next two months.
Maja's school practices have been sporadic at best, thanks to COVID, weather, and general gym availability.
Her 7th grade team still isn't back to the weekend game hub in Kingston until this upcoming weekend, but they and the 8th grade team got a travel opportunity to Wyoming (the town in Pennsylvania, not the state). The 8th graders started the back-to-back contest with a narrow loss their Wyoming counterparts. Let's just say that the 8th graders are pretty close to a dumpster fire. The highly talented 8th grade play exclusively on the Freshmen team, and it definitely hurts the others.
The 7th graders who made the Freshmen team get to play on both, and that's been a boon for the remaining players who were good enough for just the younger team. The coach played the "full-time" 7th graders almost the entire game, while mixing in the Freshmen qualifiers two at a time at best.
The 7/9 players were happy to wait their turn and dissect the Wyoming apart in a fierce, but clinical fashion. Maja ended up with 10, her fellow 7/9'er and AAU teammate had 13 in a 39-12 rout.
The poor 7th grade-only players accounted for only 1 point, although they others gave them plenty of shots and other opportunities to shine. Heck, one of them claimed dibs on the smallest girl on the Wyoming team, only to discover she has their prized point guard. She guarded the girl for almost the entire game, and only allowed 6 (quite legit) points.
The Freshmen finally got a game in this Monday, with a team from over an hour away. While the 7/9 girls worked out some of their aggravation from their Hazleton loss last week, the 8th graders on the team afforded their opponents zero room for mercy, posting a 17-0 lead before Maja's group even checked into the game. Maja went from center last week, to point guard this week (with a little forward). Only 2 points in a 51-18 rout, but plenty of steals, assists, and lockdown defense that produced bad decision and rightfully inflated steals for her teammates.
Wednesday's Freshmen game was 45 minutes away, and against predominantly 9th graders, with a few underclassmen, but it was also the first game with everyone back and cleared from COVID. Maja got her first start of the season, and within minutes were already up 7-0. The bench came in for relief, and the game tightened to 8-6.
Maja ended up splitting her time between the starters and the subs, getting up to the speed with the A team, while locking down a whole side of the court, letting the others on the B team get more aggressive on defense. Zero points for Maja, and only 1 steal and 1 assist (there would be 5-6 more assists if the girls could make their lay-ups/jumpers), but everyone was satisfied in another 50-21 rout.
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