The 1st team we played was Winnipeg Jr Bison Black. They are a basketball club affiliated with University of Manitoba. They were huge. We played their White team. last year as well. They were huge then, too. Several of the players from the white team were on the black team. They led most of the game by as much as 8 points. We played in a small gym that was hot and stuffy. The loud cheering (that echoed in the gym) from their counterpart team motivated our boys! They played hard from behind, and we won by 2. They were a great team, and it's unfortunate we had to play them in the first round.
The 2nd game we played was against a Grand Forks team that has beat us all 3 times this year. The last time we played in Mandan, they beat us in the championship game in double OT. I think this is the victory the team wanted the most, and they won by 14! The boys took the lead early and held it the entire game. After our game was over, we went to the side court to watch Rough Justice, our favorite Bismarck rival, win their game in double sudden death OT. They were playing a Winnipeg team with 3 players taller than Don. One had facial hair visible from across the court. Isn't this the 6th grade bracket??? We were cheering hard for them, as we played the winner of that game. If we are going to lose, we'd rather lose to a local team.
J and this boy battled in all 4 meetings. Jax guarded him more in this game (he was out with a broken foot for 2 of the meetings). J held his ground very well. He boxed him out efficiently and did not let many passes get in to him.
This shows just one of the many shoves
Celebrating after the win!!!
We played our 3rd game against RJ late Sunday morning. They are an excellent team that beat us 2 of our 3 meetings this year. Our games with them are always neck and neck, and this one went to double sudden death OT. This was a 'loser goes home' game. We were thrilled to get the win, but again, it is unfortunate that the RJ team had to go home, as they were a much better team than some other teams on the other side of the bracket that got to advance.
This is the game winning free throw by Jayce! SWISH! It was our 2nd possession in the 2nd OT. Jayce got the defensive rebound after RJ's 2nd possession. As he was driving down the court, he was fouled. We were in bonus, so Jayce went to the line.
Lots of excitement after the win! I didn't know Jonathan could jump so high! Jayce got a big hug from his Dad/coach after his winning shot.
The 4th game was against a Bismarck 'super team'. They formed at the end of last season: it's made up of the best players of the 2 best Bismarck teams. We had not played them this year. We lost by 10. The boys were still gassed from the double OT game, and there was only 1 hour between games. They played to the buzzer as if they were only down by one point.
The 5th and final game for 3rd place was against another Bismarck team. Our boys were a little bitter with a loss to this team last month. The parents/coaches might have been, too, as this is the team with the worst sportsmanship! Their coach was actually ejected from the game the first time we played this year. The boys put the game away in the first 10 minutes.
It was a great way to end the season! The boys play so well together, and rarely get flustered when they are trailing. They have all improved their play so much from last season.
The Coach put together these stats for comparison:
2015:
· Overall Record: 39-15 72% (35-7 83% if you throw out January)
o 14-2 Nov-Dec (5 tourneys, 1st-3, 3rd-2)
o 4-8 Jan (4 tourneys, 3rd-2, 4th-2)
o 12-2 Feb (4 tourneys, 1st-2, 2nd-2)
o 9-3 Mar-Apr (3 tourneys, 2nd-1, 3rd-1 , 5th-1)
· Tournaments attended: 16 (1st place-5, 2nd place-3, 3rd place-5, 4th place-2, 5th place-1)
o The 5th place was CHS Spring Hoop Fest where we lost to Wolves in first game, then won the next 3 (including comeback against Motley Crew).
· Average Offense: 45.51
· Average Defense: 33.41
· Average Margin of Victory: 12.10
2014:
· Overall Record: 26-7 79%
o 5-4 Nov-Dec (3 tourneys, 2nd-1, 3rd-1, No place-1 )
o 12-0 Jan-Feb (4 tourneys, 1st-3, 2nd-1 )
o 9-3 Mar-Apr (3 tourneys, 1st-1 , 3rd-1, 4th-1)
· Tournaments attended: 10 (1st place-4, 2nd place-2, 3rd place-2, 4th place-1, no place-1)
· Average Offense: 41.97
· Average Defense: 30.18
· Average Margin of Victory: 11.79
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