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Monday Morning Quarterback

You can remove the question mark - the Undertaker defeated Triple H last night.

Monday Morning Quarterback

One who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight
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What a weekend that was, featuring a lot of good and then some not so good from our basketball and baseball game.

Also, a big thank you to all those who participated in the grueling Survivor challenges Saturday at the picnic, that saw Mark come out victorious over Miles and Jeremy.

We go back to Friday night where the 5th grade girls won their first game ever. What an incredible accomplishment for them. I am especially proud and happy for Edwena, Victoria and Fiona who are now in their third season and finally they pulled through with a victory.

For the past two years, they were playing a grade up so it was very difficult - especially when the majority of the team was a grade younger.

This year, the playing field was a lot more even and the girls were able to put together a solid game from beginning to end for their first victory.

Just so we stay on the positive things for the time being, Gavy and Serina both played what I thought was their best game to date this year. Both scored and contributed in ways that do not show up on the score sheet.

Serina took care of the ball very well, and has done a lot better job of running the team than earlier this season so she has made strides in a short amount of time. Gavy, in her first year, grabbed rebound after rebound Friday night. It's so important to grab rebounds, especially grabbing them without hitting the floor. She was steady down in the post and was instrumental in the 8th grade victory.

Now to the not so good and we begin with the 4th grade girls.

What looked like at the beginning of the season as a breakout season created some expectations that maybe the team wasn't ready for.

They lost three games in a row by a combined 6 points, with two coming in overtime. Their latest setback, a 10 point loss, has definitely dampened the hopes of a postseason berth.

Part of the problem is that they are undersized and they do not rebound. Even the bigs on this team have trouble boxing out and reading rebounds. On the offensive end, they hardly get offensive rebounds so a lot of easy points are hard to come by.

Offensively, they are not at the level where they can move the ball around without turning the ball over. Too many times, balls are lost, and they can't even get off a shot.

When they get a chance to make a shot, they don't make them, so it's tough to win games when all these parts aren't clicking together.

They do however have the talent and potential to win games as evident by the games they've won earlier this season. But in close games, one or two things will absolutely kill you. If you look back at the three games that they lost, one play could've been the difference between a win and a loss.

It would also help if they were able to just hit one free throw, which they haven't all year.

The 6th/7th grade is also having trouble rebounding. It's inexperience, not knowing where the ball falls, what it takes to win games, the mentality and focus needed in practice and games to succeed on the court.

And finally we move to the baseball team.

Inexperience and lack of baseball knowledge were apparent yesterday.

Justin balked three times and I'd guess 95% of the people reading this don't even know what a balk is. Miles and Timmy were both doubled off base on a line drive. On a ball that doesn't hit the ground, runners cannot advance unless they tag up.

Dropped third strikes, knowing which base to throw to, hitting your target on the fly, instead of 3 hops...All that is problematic right now.

Hitting isn't the team's strongest point but not its weakness either, but a team can't expect to win games striking out 16 out of 27 times. A lot of hitters currently go up to the plate looking for a walk.

But as always, time should heal wounds, and hopefully help all our teams in their pursuit of success.

Epic Video Tuesdays is tomorrow - cross the fingers and let's hope for no problems this week.

Mental breakdowns doom 8th grade

Six errors were way too much to overcome as the 8th grade baseball team lost 8-1.

The game went a full seven innings for the second straight game, which relatively speaking, is a big deal, as in previous years games were over in a little over an hour.

David got the start for the third straight game and went four innings plus. At the plate he collected two hits, a double and a single, and scored on an infield hit by Miles in the 4th inning.

It was only 4-1 going into the fifth, but the defense went bad again. Too many errors and complete mental breakdowns led to more runs.

The experience is clearly not there, and baseball is such a mental game that you can't lose focus. There were players on the field who had no clue what the situations were, and it showed whenever the ball was put into play.

Their throwing is also mediocre at best. Too many short hops and lobs with no accuracy or strength behind throws.

On the bright side, this team is capable and has the potential to win games. But it all needs to come together for this to happen.

Justin relieved David and pitched an 1 1/3 inning, and Jeremy got the only two batters he faced in the sixth inning.

At the plate, they definitely need some better at-bats as they struck out a total of 16 times out of the 27 plate appearances.

Happy Birthday

Mark takes Survivor crown

Mark got 3 votes in at the final tribal council to Jeremy's 2, and Miles' 1 to become the third winner for St. Mary's annual Survivor game.

Miles won all individual immunity challenges, but the final one, and came up two votes short.

For winning, Mark will get to attend a special Warriors party next Friday night.

The game began at around 1 p.m. with 18 survivors and ended around 4:30 p.m.

5th Grade wins first game ever!

These are the moments that you remember for the rest of your life.

Edwena, Victoria and Fiona have played since the 3rd grade, and now they can finally say they have won a CYO game.

The trio combined to score 12 of the team's 18 points Friday night in the 5th grade's18-4 victory. The win was the team's first ever.

They did technically win earlier this year via forfeit, but this is the win they are going to remember.

Two weeks ago, they held a lead with minutes to go and let it slip away. But Friday, they built enough cushion that their lead was not going away.

Jamie scored the team's first 6 points, and then Edwena followed by scoring the next 4, as she eventually wounded up with a career high 8 points.

Fiona continued her improvement and added 2 points, and Victoria scored 2 for the first time since the 3rd grade.

This is the first year the 5th grade (2-4) has had their own team The last two years, they've had to play up a grade with the current 6th graders. Now they are forming their own identity and are hoping that Friday night's game would be the foundation of a strong team for years to come.

Newcomers Kelly and Shania have also added to the team. Kelly is a little undersized but her quickness causes a lot of trouble for other teams. Shania, cousin of Alexis, is the tallest player on the team, and has already started to get comfortable playing. She had two golden opportunities to score in the second half but her shots just missed the mark.

The 5th grade now has two games left in the season.

Easy win for 8th grade girls
In the fourth quarter, both Marissa and Serina got to sit back and relax. The 8th grade girls had already handled their business.

Six of the seven girls scored and the girls are now over .500 for the first time this season, as they won convincingly 23-15.

Don't let the final score fool you, as this game could've been really lopsided and uglier than it was. The girls were probably at the best they've been all years between quarters one and three, as they were at one point, up 22-4.

They decided to use the rest of the game to work on a few things, and that led to the margin of victory being only 8 points.

Marissa followed her 18 point performance from a week ago with an 11 point night. Precious had 4 points and Gavy had 3 points. Beverlyn and Serina both had a field goal each and Catharine hit a free throw in the fourth quarter.

It was a slow start, but the game had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before the game would tilt towards the girls' way.

With a solid press, and their best defensive showing of the season, they were able to generate fast breaks.

What helped was they took care of the ball, as they only committed 8 turnovers, a drastic change from their previous games where they would hover around the 20 mark.

The next two weeks will be crucial as the girls wrap up their regular season before spring break even begins. Whether they play beyond mid-April will depend on how they do in the next three games.

With two new girls, the girls are starting to get used to playing together, and look a lot more polished than they were even two weeks ago.

Their bad losses at the beginning of the season are behind them, as they seem to have a fresh outlook on the rest of the season.

6th/7th grade's bad first half dooms them
The 6th/7th grade dug themselves an early 12-0 hole at halftime, made a valiant comeback in the second half, but it wasn't enough as they dropped their second straight 16-11. They fall below .500 to (2-3).

Struggles continue for 4th grade

The 4th grade is in a funk and they need to dig out of it quick.

After winning the first game of the season, the 4th graders have now lost four straight games, the most recent defeat Friday night by a final score of 14-4.

Right now their offense is in a tailspin, as they do not take care of the ball and are missing a lot of make-able shots.

When they won their two games earlier in the season, the 4th grade (1-4) was clicking on all cylinders. Their defense was solid, they were getting good looks at the basket and were draining them. Now it seems that all of the above have disappeared.

Ball movement on offense is very stagnant. Nobody works to get open and usually the half court offense results in a turnover or a jump ball.

To avoid too many half court situations, they need to play better defense to get out on the fast break. They also have trouble rebounding so there isn't an outlet pass that can lead to transition points.

And when they do get the opportunities, they don't make the most of them.

Miracle and Michaela scored the two buckets.

April Fools Day Birthday