Grace is in the U-14 division, and to be fair, most of her teammates are friends who also play soccer. She has a very athletic team, but not many of them have put a lot of time in their basketball skills outside of practice after school. During their regular season, they were very competitive, losing three games in close fashion, and making it to the four team playoff. They lost their three games to the other three teams in the playoff...Renaissance College, French International, and Kellett British School. Last Tuesday, they played the French after the Renaissance College took care of Kellett.
We played FIS only two weeks ago. Andy and I tried to get to the game at FIS, but never found the school (another post, perhaps?) They had one very good player who had definite basketball skill, and just happened to be the coaches daughter. On a side note, I remembered their coach as soon as he walked into the gym...he was memorable because of his behavior :(
As the game started, it was clear our coach had a plan to double team their talented star. Grace was part of that double team, and this turned out to be very effective becuase our team got out to a fast start 10-2. Our girls didn't have much of a half court offense, but they are very fast and got a lot of their points from fast breaks. Well, the other team finally settled in and started to close the gap. We had a seven point lead at half, but having only made one basket in the third quarter, the lead was down to five. We parents were on the edge of our seats. Andy was able to make the end of the third quarter, just in time to see Grace make the only bucket in the third.
By the fourth quarter, we were left with fouling their best player who did not miss a free throw. Then their team went with the popular strategy of fouling our girls in order to get the ball back. This was quite comical since fouling is not an intuitive for girls. Their coach was finally yelling at them to hug our players, which I thought constituted a flagrant foul? but apparently they don't make that kind of call. As FIS was creeping back, our high scorer fouled out...then, with only 10 seconds left, FIS tied up the game for the first time...and of course their bench erupted. With momentum leaning heavily their way, and time about to run out, Grace was given the ball. I was pretty certain she would be fouled since their best player was on her, but their coach shifted to "no foul!" once they tied it up. So there my daughter is, on her favorite side (left), racing down the court. And with 2.8 seconds left, she put in a left handed layup to win the game. Andy and I were beside ourselves.
THEN...it was Emma's turn...
She was in the semifinals on Saturday against CAIS, a team they had beat handily at the beginning of the season. But Coach Hardy told them they and gotten a lot better, so Emma was nervous and scared. Of course, I found out before the game that Coach Hardy may have been playing some mind games, since I asked him how that happened and he winked at me...Oops:)
Emma's game wasn't nearly as dramatic as Grace's semifinal. After a 4-4 tie, Emma's team went on to control the game, giving their coach the opportunity to get everyone in the game. It was still very exciting, and Emma scored a basket until she was subbed out. She is not a big scorer (are you seeing a pattern:) but I lost count at how many steals she had...her defense was tough!!! Then they played the finals shortly after that game against Kellett. They only beat Kellett by 2 points, so we knew they would be a tougher opponent...which they were. Our girls played tough, playing them even through the first half. But the second half was a different story, as the other team couldn't score on our defense. Emma's team ran away with it, winning with a more comfortable margin.
That brings us to today...the Championship game for Grace's u-14 team. We were playing RCHK who were the heavy favorites. They had some athletic girls, as well, but they also had a few girls who had basketball skills. We were pretty heavy underdogs, but we were still excited that we made it that far. We also liked this opponent...they were not nearly as physical, and they had a player that played soccer with several of our team.
The game started out with us standing around and them getting some early easy buckets. We finally started to play...but instead of getting easy buckets with fast breaks, we had to come up with some half court offense. I'm not sure where it came from, but some of the girls made some jump shots and kept it close. We were about five to seven points behind the whole game. Going into the fourth quarter, we were down 5. ICS did not give up! They brought out their best playing...and I know Im biased, but Grace played the fourth quarter obsessed and with more energy than she had the whole game. She shut down their best player, and then made some huge steals...missing a couple big shots that went in and out. But our team played with a lot of heart and emotion. They went after loose balls and rebounding...and with about 3 minutes to play, actually tied up the game. Then they held on with their defense and got the ball back with about 25 seconds to play. They brought the ball down, and with seconds to go, our best scorer made a basked to win the game. I was sitting next to her mother and the two of us nearly fell off the stands. None of us could believe our girls pulled that win out.
It's surreal to be on the other side of games like this, after playing basketball for seven years...CYO, AAU and high school. I am now the supportive parent watching them give their best. And while I still enjoy playing the game, it is a different kind of joy to watch my daughters. Now, I just need to teach them how to be a better shooter than their mom:)
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