Mandatory Basketball Rant - Winter 2022-23 - Week 9

 We have one more week of both kids' winter seasons of basketball.   If it's anything like the last week, I may need to invest in a defibrillator. 

Maja:  Game of the Year, the only way to force a tie for first in the conference and championship game was to beat Hazleton, the team that beat them by 22 last time, on Hazleton's home court.  To do that, they would need to do better than 0 for 16 shooting in the 1st quarter and the 22-6 deficit they had in the first game.  

Yeah, it may have gotten worse.  They made a whopping two shots, suffered only floor shots and it was 23-4 at the end of the 1st.... 37-12 at halftime. 

And like last season's halftime deficits, they turned a switch in the locker room.  The mantra the coach tries to promote in all situations is two words:  "HAVE FUN."   The girls definitely did that, but may have mistaken them for two other words:  "NO MERCY."

There were 25 fouls between the two teams in the first half.  There was double that called in the second.  One of the refs for that game was coaching our rec league games on Saturday, and commented that (a) he had never called that many fouls in his five years of officiating and (b) those two teams did not like each other one bit.   Maja was at the rec league game and confirmed the second part.  Funny thing is, he could have called a lot more.  

Little by little the 25 point lead and halftime got whittled down to 12 after the 3rd, and within 8 seconds into the 4th.  Nobody gave and inch, and every player, including Maja was in foul trouble.

Maja had been relegated to use regular role of cutting off options on defense, and it was with three minutes left when she finally took a shot, got fouled, and hit 1 of 2 from the line.  A quick foul and two misses from Hazleton and she herself with the ball again, actually drove towards the basket for the first time in weeks, and lofted a floater in.  Another foul, and other 2 missed foul shots, and they raced down the court another pass to Maja... and she shoots? 

Money

Three goes in, now down 59-56 with seconds to go.  To spoil anymore drama, on the subsequent foul, Hazleton hit the first and missed the second, which Maja rebounded and could have (and should have) chucked a last second half-court shot, but not a bad comeback that came up short. 

From the video, somewhere up on Youtube, you would be wrong if you picked the side that won by the reaction at the buzzer.   Hazleton barely stumbled off the court for the handshake line.  Maja's team was cheering like they won the whole season.  I don't think it will be enough of a pyrrhic victory for Hazleton that they'll drop their last two games of the season, but it was enough of a moral victory for Maja's team that they rode that into their second game of the week with Berwick and demolished them.

Despite that, the biggest news of the week was that their Freshmen Coach, Chuck, is stepping down after their final game.  There's been a lot of trouble within the Varsity program, and after a 28-5 run and one championship after two seasons, it's time for him to become a civilian... and a parent in the stands who does know more than the average parent, and possibly some coaches.   Stayed tuned for more drama. 

Millie:  Wolfpack continues to roll.  They finally met an opponent that kept up to them, stride for stride for a whole quarter, only to sink in the same 20-30 point loss by the final buzzer.    Millie is officially off the team for Sunday nights, sticking solely to Mountain Top, but the 'pack won their playoff game and is going to the championship....

.... against Mountain Top (barely).   Maja's AAU tryouts ran ignorantly late, and we dashed over to Millie's game to find it flew by and only had 2 minutes in the 2nd half.  Score:  Mountain Top 28, Local Catholic Feeder Program 22.   I then watched anyone not named Millie panic during repeated full court presses.  Throw in a foul, and it was 28-26 with seconds remaining.  Millie held onto the ball for dear life, with two quick passes and give backs to run out the clock.  Those girls barely meet the "school district" qualification, but they're also half 5th graders in a 6th grade league.  Methinks the Freeland final might not be as close as folks think.  Needless to say, Millie was NOT pleased. 

Local Rec League: Playoffs are almost into full swing and the division that I feel I have the most angst over usually 5th/6th grade boys, survived the first round with zero issues, although there is one scheduling conundrum happening next week.  Most other division I wish I could lock all the adults in one of the gyms and set it ablaze.  I loved the loser bracket games this week because the coaches are low maintenance, the kids play their hearts out, and everyone accepts the loses.  Not too shabby.  Week 3 (of 5) next week!

7th/8th Grade:  Championship weekend!  It seemed simple: 7th was paired with a team that gave them the biggest loss of the season, 8th grade was given a team they had already beaten   7th would be done, and 8th would move on the "B" championship game against the first team they ever played (and lost to).  A good script for revenge and redemption. 

Except the studio demanded full rewrites.  

First in the 8th grade game, the true 8th graders took control and actually built out a small lead, which Pittston came charging back and the 7th graders had to bail them out.  It took two clutch free throws by an 8th grader in the waning seconds to get it to overtime, where the girls lost 26-23.

The exhausted 7th graders then had to immediately the much vaunted 2nd place Wyoming Valley West team that beat them by 10.  They traded leads at the quarters, until the girls went on a 12-2 in the 4th, sealing the victory, 30-26... and heading the championship on Sunday. 

They played the local Catholic middle school on Sunday.  Another 10 point loss in the past history, another place where no one had expected them to be.  

It was oddly competitive from the start, horribly officiated for  both sides, and when it appeared that the Catholic school would surge ahead, the 7th graders fired right back.  As the game progressed the physicality got more intense on both sides, but the Catholic kids began falling one by one.  Too many fouls and too many missed shots proved to be 7th grades undoing as they fell to the Catholics 27-24. 

Again, not bad for a team that wasn't expected to make the "A" team playoffs.   Most of those girls 

AAU:  Turnout was a bit suspect, as many kids had obligations and can only attend the other tryout in two weeks.  Looks like half of Maja's freshmen team is playing in the program, and they'll be playing at a 9th grade level.  Everything below that grade seems spotty, as their are talks of defections and traveling into NYC to play for others.  It's selfish treason on the part of those parents and players, but it's also the fault of the program for not properly recruiting.  We shall see how the teams and coaches actually pan out.