It's that time of year again! Drew and Rachel are playing Upward basketball. We anticipate much improvement over last season's performances. Both of them have shown progress in practice.
All are welcome to come and watch the action. Games are played at the Eastview gym. Concessions are available in the atrium. Plan your getaway weekend now!!
Jan 6
Rachel 12:00 L 11-28 Rachel had 0 pts, but several attempts. A good aggressive effort.
Drew 2:00 L 42-54 Drew had 12 pts, including the first and last baskets of the game.
Jan 13
Rachel 12:00 W 28-23 Rachel poured in a career high 2 points to help her team reach .500 for the season.
Drew 1:00 L 12-46 I feel lucky that Drew didn't throw a punch at anyone. On either team. It was ugly and he was frustrated. He received the postgame award for effort which was fitting, since he was the only member of his team that gave one. Grandma and Grandpa Leman came to watch and cemented their status as a bad luck charm. He was 0-2 from the floor.
Jan 20
Rachel 11:00 W 38-28 Rachel extended her winning streak and also her personal scoring streak. She equaled her season high of 2 points. Her friend Kristyn matched that total with 2 points of her own.
Drew 1:00 W 36-26 Drew finally notched a win on the young season. After last week's frustrating matchup, we were glad to compete against a team more our speed. Also, the fact that Drew was at least a head taller than anyone on the other side certainly helped. He finished with 8 points, 1 assist, 1 blocked shot, and @6-8 rebounds. (It's hard to keep stats in your head!) The most memorable basket was one he made in traffic down in the low block. He was at least double-teamed and it took a couple of tries before he could muscle his way up for the shot. A little encouragement from Dad helped him with the effort.
Jan 27
Rachel 12:00 L 38-44 The winning streak comes to an end, but Rachel's torrid scoring pace doesn't slow down. She and Kristyn each contributed 2 points to the effort. Rachel had an awesome blocked shot that she caught and then took the ball down the floor. She missed the shot, but the block was great!
Drew 2:00 L 33-35 Drew just can't seem to get into the win column very much. At least the team didn't give up. They started off slowly and built up steam right until the very end. If we had another minute or so, we could have pulled it off. Drew put up 8 points in the loss and also had a season high with 2 fouls. Some of the most fun was watching the poor boys who set a pick on Drew. The unstoppable force that is Big D hardly noticed the obstacle as he plowed right through them. Apparently, it doesn't matter which set of grandparents watch. Don & Zelma brought just as much bad luck with them.
Feb 3
Rachel 11:00 W 34-20 The streak is over. Rachel was held scoreless. She earned some high praise from Tonya, who insists that basketball is Rachel's game. Apparently, she's a natural.
Drew 2:00 L 19-68 Yes, you read that score correctly. A 49 point defeat. The team put little effort into the game, so I'm putting little effort into the recap. Drew had 4 points.
Feb 10
Rachel 12:00 L 20-33 Rachel was scoreless again, but she put forth a great effort. She certainly hustles when she's on the court. Her forte is smothering defense. She again had a blocked shot/steal that she took coast to coast. She even dribbled a few times with her left hand! It's really fun to see the improvements in her abilities from game to game and season to season.
Drew 1:00 W 36-26 We thought we were in trouble when we only had 4 players at game time. Luckily, our fifth showed up just in time to start the game. A sixth player joined the bench during the first period. Drew was far and away the tallest player on our team, and he towered over most of the opposition as well. Dawn predicted that he would get a fair amount of rebounds, so for fun she tracked that stat for him during the game. Sure enough, he ended up with a career high 17 rebounds to go with his 6 points. Even our players with the most room for improvement had good games today. Everybody was aggressive (Drew had 3 fouls) and they played well together. We pulled away late in the second half to win by ten after being tied at the half. Good thing there weren't any grandparents watching.
Feb 17
Rachel 11:00 W 0-0 Games canceled due to snow.
Drew 1:00 W 0-0 Games canceled due to snow.
Feb 24
Rachel 12:00 W 48-28 Rachel finished the season on a high note establishing a new career high with 4 points. She made her first trip to the free throw line, but failed to draw iron on either attempt. She played her usual tight defense. The highlight of her game was a spectacular rebound that she took coast to coast and then buried the jump shot hitting nothing but net.
Drew 1:00 W 36-30 Drew played what may have been his finest game of the season. Because I anticipated a good one for him, I decided to keep all of his stats for the game. He matched his season high of 12 points while he pulled down 8 rebounds. He had two blocked shots to go with at least two shot adjustments due to his presence. He made several good decisions during the game, giving help defense, passing out of double teams, establishing good floor position. He passed the ball well dishing out 3 assists. His aggressiveness was evidenced by his 2 fouls. I told him after the game that I would have given him the team MVP award.
