Again, the regular season is over for both kids, as well as my time for the rec league. Nothing but some tournament news and early AAU tidbits. Of course, nothing is drama free.
This weekend was the Back Mountain Shootout, a tournament for boys and girls grades 3-9, hosted on the campuses of Lake Lehman High School and Penn State - Wilkes-Barre. Both facilities are less than five minutes apart door-to-door, so it's a perfect arrangement, despite it's semi-remote location.
It also allows the part of me that still loves scheduling and puzzles to discern this:
Millie: Millie's school team decided not to defend last year's championship (and one for their Christmas tourney). The original excuse was the lack of competition, as all the teams that signed up they had beaten by 20+ points just a month prior.The Local Rec League: We sponsored no teams for tournament play, but there were a bunch of league coaches who assembled teams. In fact, we had two teams of 3rd/4th grade boys! The one team used the boys Catholic League to their advantage to garner practice time. That, and the superior talent of the boys on that team led them to run the table, defeat the other local team to boot, to net the championship. The second team was a direct response by the same parents of the girls 6th grade team when their kids weren't invited to the Top team. Funny thing is, they cherry-picked and recruited the remaining kids, leaving out other kids who were interested, the parents were willing to pay their fair share out of pocket, AND THERE WERE OPEN ROSTER SPOTS. For all the trouble I had with coaches and parents this year, I tried not to burn any bridges with anyone (even I wish I could).
Which brings up the 3/4 girls team that got to the semi-finals at their first tournament a week ago, and have the top two coaches I knocked heads with all season. They went 1-2 in pool play, and considering their two losses were the teams in the championship, I think the future is bright for those girls, and it motivates to get the league-sponsored teams together for 2023-24.
Maja: Maja got invited for one last hurrah as an 8th grader before she makes the jump to at least JV for the summer. Maja's Freshmen coach resigned at the end of the season, allowing him to submit the 8th grade "Core Six' plus a 7th grader, into the tournament as a 9th grade team (School District policy forbids coaches doing extra-circular events like tourneys and AAU without school district sanction, to avoid conflicts of interests and other stuff).
The schedule looked great, with two games late on Saturday and two games on Sunday, getting out the door by 2pm. The team were all northern Lackawanna County teams they would never see normally. Every pool game start ultra-competitive, with the girls thankfully making some early shots. By the end of the second half, the wheels came off for the other teams and Maja's team cruised, outscoring the opponents 110-32 in pool play, and ignominiously sending two of the opposing girls to urgent care for simple basketball plays. It was learned during the tournament that some of these schools didn't have a true Freshman team, so they brought down their Freshmen starters from JV. Perfectly allowable under the rules, but I do question how they survived the scholastic season against older and even more physical competition.
Speaking of getting beaten up, Maja and her whole team played well, but she earned every second on the court with multiple blocks, guarding a true six-foot center for a good chunk of Sunday, and just perfecting taking a charge. Heck she only had two fouls!
Sunday afternoon was a rematch of the morning game they won 30-5, shutting the team out in the second half. The Mountain Top high tide raised the boat for Honesdale, and they played much better, but by the 4th quarter all mercy rules were in effect and the girl's won 46-24.
To sound a bit hypocritical, the coach could have added a player or two, but I understand. Six of the girls have been working on the same defensive scheme for the last two years, and our new 7th grader was the only other member of the team to not only grasp it, but execute defensively and offensively. It's very akin to system their arch-rivals Hazleton, has used, developing the same crop of girls for the last four years.AAU: The first post for the Spring 2023 season will be near the end of April, but one important tidbit came out yesterday. Maja's Freshman coach will be coaching the 8th grade AAU team as well! Considering five of the ten players come from the same school, and he already knows everyone else on the team, I'm hoping for a more positive experience for Maja. He replaces the previous coach, who took his daughter to more elite program up in Scranton, although rumors have it she's not getting any playing time and they're trying to get back into the program. There's always some sort of drama.
No comments:
Post a Comment