Another weekend, another trip down to Spooky Nook.
And for the gentle reader who may have caught the coach throwing a punch at a referee earlier this spring, let me assure you, that I'm surprised it doesn't happen as often.
I had the opportunity to watch three games at the same time for the elevated observation deck. Over the first half of each game, I would be surprised that the referees made the right, or even made an obvious call, half the time. This includes "simple" items like two players on the same team touching the ball before it went out of bounds and getting awarded the ball, or obvious clotheslines of players driving to the basket. They miss those, yet can call a double dribble with five players screening them to the player whose back is turned towards them. I can't condone violence, but if it was offered, the line to take an opportunity would be out the doors.
Despite the problems with a large swath of AAU refs, the aptly name May Mayhem Classic gave both girls an opportunity to play under the same roof.
Heck, they even allowed them to play on courts side-by-side so we could be properly overwhelmed. Heck they were the Lewisburg program that 6th grade had played over the winter, both 6th and 8th grade in the same division. /sarcasm.
Maja's pool was progressively easier. It was winner-take-all to advance from pool play, so their coach could play the bench more and experiment with plays, so long as they won the game. Add on that one of Maja's teammates preferred to run in the Tunkhannock relays, missing the Saturday games, and Maja got to enjoy more time on the court.
It hasn't translated into points, but her other stats are way above 12 games last year, and she leads the tie in Field Goal Percentage and tied in Free Throw Percentage.
For Millie's team, it was a rocky pool play. The Lewisburg program has significant height, even when the 8th grade girls don't funnel down into the roster, which made Millie's teams climb to grab the lead at halftime even more impressive. Alas, completely horrible shooting allowed the other team to come back, and atrocious ball-handling by experienced players gave up the lead with mere seconds left.
The rest of 6th grade pool play was the entire team trying to find their missing mojo. A game against a Long Island team that should have been a cake walk was much to close until last in the 2nd half, and they scored just enough to beat the third team and beat them on Point Differential for the tie breaker.
Millie's team ended up playing the Lewisburg team in a rematch on the main courts for the championship. They played behind most of the game, and none of the "star" players were productive. The close game fell to an 8-point loss in the last minute, but there's a lot more soul-searching and mechanics rehab needed than I expected from an elite 6th grade.
Maja's playoff situation required a play-in game to the championship, and they finally got matched up to a worthy opponent. So worthy they were down by 9 at the half. They took the lead mid-way in the second half, before loosing it again.
Then irony struck again.
We can complain about the refs, but the scoreboard operators these tournament organizers hire apparently have never used any device with push button, nor have they ever paid attention to anything in their lives that wasn't their phone. Thankfully, it did affect rankings, but the average score the board showed average a five-point difference versus what the volunteer statisticians on both teams had.
For the playoff game, the scoreboard operator was perfect, until an opposing player checking in, somehow managed to tip the scorer's table, sending everything flying, and breaking the electronics. After a 25-minute delay to find a replacement portable unit, they were back on their way. While the score remained accurate, the table couldn't keep track of fouls, for once to our advantage.
Not only did two of Maja's teammates earn six fouls, but one committed seven and no one discovered it for four minutes of game play.
Too many sloppy mistakes, too many missed 3-point attempts (0-for-12 in the 2nd half), and no key offensive rebounding were the reasons they lost, 52-48. It was no sadness lost on me that the team lost to a weird Christian AAU team by 8 in the finals, but they were the first competitive team they've face all year.
Both Maja and Mille's teams were missing their big Centers on Sunday afternoon, but they still had a shot and didn't make the most of it. Everyone is scheduled to be their in Atlantic City for May 19-21
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