Grandma & Grandpa Leman watch some basketball

I know I'm a day late with the update, but I had to let the adrenaline rush dissipate before I could collect my thoughts.
Excitement was in the air for week three of Upward basketball. March is still two months away but one could sense the intensity the players brought to these games. The crowd was buzzing with anticipation. Some members of the audience came from over 40 miles away. The marquee matchup of the day was the second game of our doubleheader. Drew's Pacers took on the undefeated Bulls in a battle for first place. Somewhere along the line it turned into a hockey game. Fouls are not kept in this league, which was good because half of the players would have been on the bench by the final horn. Play was very rough and sloppy. Various violations went uncalled. For example, Drew's second field goal came off a rebound that bounced off the basket stanchion, which is out of bounds. The team made a little more progress with their set plays, but they still need to work on communication with each other. Several times wide open players did not get the ball. However, there was good news. Drew had a couple of rebounds and at least one sweet assist to go with his 4 points, for his third straight triple-single (tied for the league lead). The Pacers were able to hold off the Bulls 27-22 in each team's closest contest of the young season. Now that they have fought their way to the top of the standings, they need to play their best in order to stay there. Everybody's gunning for them now.
In the early showdown Rachel's Lady Spartans came up against the juggernaut of the Lady Vols. From the opening seconds the Lady Spartans were tearing up the nets in an incredible display of shooting accuracy. They only missed one shot in the first period, and finished the first half with 67% from the field. Rachel even joined in on the fun hitting her first attempt from the floor. Unfortunately, she shot it right after the buzzer had sounded, so it was called off. Her only other attempt bounced off, so she remained scoreless for the second straight game. She grabbed one rebound and dished out two assists to go with her usual strong defense. The Lady Spartans played some tremendous team defense and kept the Lady Vols in single digits until late in the last period. The only lapse in concentration came in the second half when 8 out of 10 players on the floor forgot which way they were going, and we got burned on the old hidden ball trick. The Vols had an inbounds play under the basket, and eight girls ran to the other end of the floor. The Vols threw the ball in and laid in the easiest basket you'll ever see. Other than that, there isn't much to complain about. The Lady Spartans remained undefeated on the season with their easy 52-14 victory.
Photo courtesy Gloria Leman