We're back at this crap again.
In this day and age where we're not supposed to criticize kids, I'll start off by saying I didn't expect two kids in AAU this spring.
Millie (13U) I expected. Despite participating in junior high track and field, her first love is basketball, and all but one of her teammates are returning for the 7th grade team. They're definitely short on height, but they should remain competitive with 2/3 of the teams.
Maja (15U) I expected to take some time off. Varsity time didn't end well, I expected a month off of rest, focus on running and rehab through track and field and possibly a good enough time to qualify for the regional meet. Off-season varsity stuff would start up again May, with possibly three games a week over the summer.
One weekend, I checked on her location via the phone, just to see if spending the afternoon with both girls was a possibility. Lo' and behold, Maja was at the local CYC... at tryouts. It appeared that Maja and five other girls from the Varsity roster were trying out, and their was a good chance her coach from Freshmen ball (and last spring's AAU season) was returning. Despite my protests, the rest of the family was running with it... not realizing just how complicated things were going to be.
Biggest problem? Completely different schedules. Millie had five tournaments from April through May. Maja had eight tournaments from April through July. Only two times were both teams at the same site on the same weekend, and three times there were conflicts (one in Lancaster, one in Scranton). Let's also add a ninth tournament for Maja this past weekend in Scranton, while Millie's crew is in South Jersey! Divide and conquer seems to be the way to go, although Maja is already realizing her planned social life is plummeting due to weeknight practices and late night weekend games. She was invited to two musicals with friends, and could attend neither. Considering her position on the AAU team is about the same on Varsity (8th-10th on a a 10-girl roster). I simply hope she doesn't get hurt....
.... and that's what I get for typing this part up on Friday before the first tournament.
Millie was supposed to kick off her season with a tournament in Jersey, but it was dropped on everyone that the Varsity and JV teams would play a local showcase in Scranton. Divide and conquer started early, with me handling Maja's transportation, and my ex taking Millie duties since they already had a hotael and plans.
Saturday, Scranton: Maja's team lost two at-grade players, one of our trusted point guards, and a power forward who just went crazy good during her Freshman year of school. Also remove two girls who were playing up a grade, and there was some room.
Their replacements were... adequate, to say the least.
- Ella, a 6'2" center to compliment our existing 6'1" classmate of Maja's She's spent the last three years on a depleted school team, forced to do everything.
- Sophia and Julianna, two girls from the "hated" Hazleton freshmen. The team already welcomed their Hazleton teammate Mariah last season, and she was a blessing to have. Hopefully lightning strikes thrice.
- Norah, Maja's school teammate with super-energy decided to improve her game, and earned a spot of JV "A", much to the chagrin of some of the parents of the "B" team players.
For the random weird person playing at home, the JV team consists of five girls (including Maja) come from the same school, add the three Hazleton girls, the tall prep school player, and one extra lady from a competitive school, and it's a pretty damn good team. In fact, our 6th freshmen player at the school is tearing it up for the elite Scranton AAU program, so it should be a fun year... and the next three.
We've also turned a corner where the 8am Saturday games seem to have disappeared, replaced with sleeping in and dinnertime and evening games.
The first team was from Central/South Jersey, and actually had two girls who contributed to their school's state title run. For a first game, Maja's team broke themselves, in slowly, creating a 23-20 halftime lead, despite missing every single 3-pt attempt.
For the second half, they only took (and missed) two more threes, focused on play calling and annihilated the other team 48-29. Maja was used sparingly, still pulled down five rebounds. There was definitely a disparity between the 5+1 starters and four of the girls with playing time (3 of the 4 are Maja's teammates), but their old Freshmen coach is the AAU coach, so we trust the system.
We closed out the building with a late-night game, against a team we had trouble with (and won) during one of our national tournament trips to Atlantic City.
Spoilers: After talking with the parents, they sent the 15U "C" team three hours. 32-11 halftime lead, and with Maja and the other three bench players with significant 2nd halftime, they extended the lead further for 20+ point win. Maja with 6 points, 5 more rebounds, a block, and NO TURNOVERS.
The reward for a late-night win? A trip to Waffle House, and a chance to sleep in for a 2:30pm game Sunday.
Saturday, New Jersey: In a pattern over the last three years, we lost ANOTHER center, and added a handful of girls who will take the entire season to acclimate and develop. However, their play style is fast and aggressive, with a 72-21 rout that wasn't even that close for their first game.
And that's when Millie went down the first time.
Her left ankle buckled on some play and she went down. Already up by thirty, she got it iced and wrapped and went out to the second game of the day, where she was used sparingly in another 30-point rout.
Somehow Maja survived the first day, but Millie was packed in ice like trans-pacific seafood delivery that evening.
Sunday, Scranton: Some evening research confirmed that the 15U team had already played their best teams for the weekend. There were good teams on site at 15U, but they had already qualified for, and were playing against, the teams in the tournament organizers showcase circuit. Maja's team was on a "qualifier" tier against other programs who wanted to be part of the showcase. However, none of these programs seemed to bring their "A" teams to qualify the program.
Maja's first team for Sunday afternoon where the "Runnin' Rebs" a team that gave them problems over the years. Everyone expected a hearty battle, until parents started admitting that it was the first year most of the girls had played AAU, and the first year in the program for as well. Again, after some research, another "C" team was confirmed, with their A and B teams playing in different tournaments around Philadelphia. 58-31 and it wasn't that close. Maja with another 5 points, 3 rebounds, and now adding two assists and a steal... and NO TURNOVERS.
The final game was against the weakest team in the pool, program out of Baltimore with some talented girls, but certainly not the experience together to withstand the assault they were NOT expecting.
When Maja's coach finally called off the dogs, it was 29-1... with all the subs in. With no mercy rules to put into effect, the 62-17 final was being gentle. Only two girls (two of the new ones) made it into double figures, and everyone else scored multiple times. Maja: Another 5 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists to make her teammates look good, and another block.
Most importantly, she's not only having fun, the entire team is having fun, cheering, hooting and hollering, supporting each other. It was a fun tournament to watch.... and one of the parents was smart enough to not only set up a Facebook group for parents, but also post livestreams of all the games, so Maja's mom didn't miss anything in Jersey.
Sunday, New Jersey: Four years of AAU and Millie's team finally found a good team in their age group out of Staten Island... twice. For 4th-6th grade, the Staten Island teams couldn't even be considered road bumps. In the three or four games these programs have played them, Millie's team may have given up 10 points COMBINED, including a 40-0 shutout in 4th grade where Millie made the winning shot off the opening jumping ball, while on her knees.
The Staten Island Liberty are not one of those teams. With the championship game guaranteed by tie-breaker, Millie's team fought a war against the Liberty in the last pool game. Mille and her bum ankle held up most of the game, keeping with two or four points, while she focused on a girl who was trying her best Caitlyn Clark impression... and thankfully failing. Unfortunately, another tweak, and Millie staggered over to the bench in tears with two minutes left in the second, half. The girl got some space and got hot, and they lost by 6.
The championship was against the same Liberty, and after a few more hours of ice, some motrin, and a new wrap, Millie toughed her way through a 49-41 loss.
The events in Jersey have always been considered sub-par in the way of competition and officiating, so it was nice to see two good programs go at it. I couldn't gauge the Jersey officials, since I was there, but the Scranton official got a solid B-/C+. However, if you complained about the Iowa/UConn officials "deciding the game," you would have had an education on how that really happens with some of the other tournament games. Collecting $150-200 for a long afternoon seemed to be their number one priority, rather than caring about the action on the court. I know Maja's team is heading to Spooky Nook in two weeks, so I'll have to gird my loins to deal with those refs and scorekeepers, who are far worse.
I dropped off Maja at home and checked on Millie, forcing her to ice and elevate and give things time. It looked like a good 2nd degree sprain (I've had a 3rd degree sprain once and this is bad but not this bad. IF she listens, she might be ready off the bench in a few weeks, and full action for the last three tourneys.
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| A Millie POV of a tired Dad reading her the riot act about resting. |
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