In the Top 10 moments of 2010, we look back at some of the best and most memorable things that happened over the course of the past 12 months here at St. Mary's. Of course, these are subjective, so voice your opinion if you don't agree, in the comments section.
I won't put up a poll just yet, because I don't want to spoil the countdown, BUT one will be up nonetheless within a day or two.
Have a safe and happy new year.
.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Epic Video #5 - The Final Edition of 2010
Enjoy the final Epic Video of 2010, including an exclusive video at the end featuring the best plays of the school year so far. 16 scintillating minutes for your viewing pleasure. Thanks for watching and spread the word.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
4th grade bounced from Flame
The 4th grade took their second straight loss in the Flame Tournament tonight, 27-16.
In both games, they let the game get away in the second half. Tonight, they trailed 12-7 at the midway point, only to get blitzed in the third and fourth quarters.
With only five players, it's obvious they get tired, but they'll need to someway, somehow make it work as there are no reinforcements on the way.
Jonathan and Jason were the only two to score for the 4th grade. With the loss, they are eliminated from the tournament.
In both games, they let the game get away in the second half. Tonight, they trailed 12-7 at the midway point, only to get blitzed in the third and fourth quarters.
With only five players, it's obvious they get tired, but they'll need to someway, somehow make it work as there are no reinforcements on the way.
Jonathan and Jason were the only two to score for the 4th grade. With the loss, they are eliminated from the tournament.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
What is the best birthday video of 2010?
So as the year winds down, we are going to have a plethora of "Best ofs..." to give away, so we'll start with the "Best Birthday Video of 2010."
It is impossible to post every single birthday video of the year, well, it is actually possible, but it would be a really long post. So I have narrowed it down to five.
If there is one in particular that you just LOVE and it is missing from the list, put it in the comments section and if enough of at uproar is sparked about why this video isn't on the list, I will add it.
So these are my personal five favorites, ones that were entertaining and the ones that made me laugh.
Review them and vote!
It is impossible to post every single birthday video of the year, well, it is actually possible, but it would be a really long post. So I have narrowed it down to five.
If there is one in particular that you just LOVE and it is missing from the list, put it in the comments section and if enough of at uproar is sparked about why this video isn't on the list, I will add it.
So these are my personal five favorites, ones that were entertaining and the ones that made me laugh.
Review them and vote!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas
This video may be old to some, as it was released in an exclusive Twitter update the other day. But nonetheless, enjoy the sights and sounds from the Christmas Show last week. Have a Merry Christmas everybody!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Must See TV (Or online video)
The NHL Winter Classic, played on New Year's Day, is now in its third year, where an NHL hockey game is played outdoors.
This year's game pits rivals Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby and Ovechkin are the biggest stars in hockey today and HBO is documenting these two teams in a fantastic four part series called 24/7 - The Road to the Winter Classic.
Two episodes have aired and most people don't have HBO, and even if you do, I doubt you would watch this.
BUT...thankfully the first episode is online and if there is enough interest, I will post the other episodes as the weeks continue.
In the next few days, I am sure you will have an hour of spare time and you will earn brownie points and special recognition if you watch this documentary. It is fantastic, and you don't have to be a hockey fan to enjoy it.
The first episode already takes you behind the scenes, into the locker rooms, for the coach's pep talk before the game, what players do on their days off, practices, training, everything a professional sports team goes through.
On one end, one team is flying high and the other team is struggling. MUST WATCH COMPELLING EPICNESS.
WARNING: There is some rough language, so I suggest you watch this with your parent or guardian. So click below, and watch it, you will not be disappointed. Hopefully your computer can handle the one hour of streaming. If not, hit pause, let it load for a bit, and then watch.
And if your computer has restrictions...remove them temporarily to watch.
This year's game pits rivals Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby and Ovechkin are the biggest stars in hockey today and HBO is documenting these two teams in a fantastic four part series called 24/7 - The Road to the Winter Classic.
Two episodes have aired and most people don't have HBO, and even if you do, I doubt you would watch this.
BUT...thankfully the first episode is online and if there is enough interest, I will post the other episodes as the weeks continue.
In the next few days, I am sure you will have an hour of spare time and you will earn brownie points and special recognition if you watch this documentary. It is fantastic, and you don't have to be a hockey fan to enjoy it.
The first episode already takes you behind the scenes, into the locker rooms, for the coach's pep talk before the game, what players do on their days off, practices, training, everything a professional sports team goes through.
On one end, one team is flying high and the other team is struggling. MUST WATCH COMPELLING EPICNESS.
WARNING: There is some rough language, so I suggest you watch this with your parent or guardian. So click below, and watch it, you will not be disappointed. Hopefully your computer can handle the one hour of streaming. If not, hit pause, let it load for a bit, and then watch.
And if your computer has restrictions...remove them temporarily to watch.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Controversy pushes girl off coed hockey team
Courtesy: Toronto Star, By Robert Cribb
For 12-year-old Kayla Watkins, the public humiliation was too much.
After learning a parent on her coed peewee hockey team — comprised entirely of boys except for her — called for restrictions on her ice time or her removal from the team unless her skills improved, she did the only thing she thought she could: She quit.
“I felt that if I went back all the parents would have been watching every move I made and always staring at me,” said the outgoing preteen, who has been playing the game since the age of four.
“To play hockey you shouldn’t have to go through what I went through. I was just looking to have friendship and play the game I love.”
The controversy that seized the Toronto Ice Dogs PeeWee “A” club — minor hockey’s lowest level of competitive play — emerged last month at a parents’ meeting called by George Atis, who has a child on the team, but is not part of the coaching staff.
The Thornhill lawyer drafted the agenda which included this item: “Kayla Watkins — Player Ability Limitations and Suggested Options.”
“It is now 14 games into the season and I have noticed that Kayla’s play has not improved,” the agenda reads. “It is at the point where many of the team members do not want to play on this team if this situation is not addressed.”
Atis then details two possible options for consideration, either moving Kayla from defence to forward and keeping her off of power plays and penalty kills, or playing her every second shift on defence and again keeping her off special teams “until her skating and shooting improves.”
“If Kayla is NOT amenable to the above options, the coach should find Kayla a new team to play on — commensurate to her skill level — for the balance of the season,” the agenda reads.
Atis also raised concerns about Kayla changing in the same locker-room as the boys, stating, “there have been many ‘near miss’ incidents where the boys have almost been exposed to Kayla.”
Vanessa Watkins, Kayla’s mother and team manager, says she was shocked by Atis’s targeting of her daughter.
“Do we not put our kids in team sports to learn to be a team player, to win as a team, to lose as a team and it’s not about me, me, me?”
In an interview Monday, Atis defended the agenda, saying it voiced concerns from boys on the team who were both squeamish about undressing in front of Kayla and frustrated with her play on the ice.
“I wrote the agenda, I stand by it,” said Atis, whose son Michael has played with Kayla for the past two seasons until her recent departure.
“I lay the blame, if you must know, at the feet of Vanessa Watkins . . . If it was my child, he would have never been in that position because I would not have put him on a team where he was not competing and where he was a liability to the team.”
While such disputes are common at higher levels such as triple-A hockey, they shouldn’t happen at single-A, Kayla said.
“(Atis) is not my coach so I don’t know how he’s judging my play,” she said. “If there’s something wrong, my coach should have talked to me, not him. And my coach never did.”
Paul Macchia, Kayla’s coach, says he chose her to be on his team and never wanted her to leave.
“There’s always complaints from parents about ice time but I’ve never seen an issue where it has gone this far before,” he said. “I don’t know what they were trying to accomplish. It’s not an individual player losing a game. She made mistakes but so did others on the team. We’ve been the same since she left.”
The team is currently 10th out of 12 teams in their division with a record of 8-13-1.
Sheree Watkins, Kayla’s grandmother who attended the meeting and many of her granddaughter’s games, called it a mean-spirited attack on the team’s only girl.
“It floored me that a lawyer would write an agenda like that. There was just so much discrimination.”
Atis said he supports coed hockey generally and that his move wasn’t about gender discrimination. It was about skill level.
“This should have never come down to a singling out of Kayla in this fashion. I think you should look to Vanessa and ask her if she felt truly in her heart . . . if Kayla was at the same level as her teammates.”
Kayla found out about everything when she spotted a copy of the agenda in her mom’s email.
“I was very upset. I do think parents can be over the edge,” she said.
Atis said he never intended Kayla to see the agenda.
“As a parent, my heart goes out to her. If Kayla truly read this agenda by accident, it is very unfortunate . . . I am mortified that Vanessa or Sheree or whoever shared this agenda with Kayla would actually do so . . . I believe Kayla’s feelings could have been spared. That, to me, is the great shame in this process that Kayla would feel as she did.”
Since quitting the Ice Dogs, Kayla has moved to the all-girls North York Storm.
She may miss the challenge of playing with boys. But the culture is far more welcoming, she says.
“Everyone’s nice to each other. It doesn’t matter if we win or lose. If we lose a game, it’s okay because everyone picks each other up.”
For 12-year-old Kayla Watkins, the public humiliation was too much.After learning a parent on her coed peewee hockey team — comprised entirely of boys except for her — called for restrictions on her ice time or her removal from the team unless her skills improved, she did the only thing she thought she could: She quit.
“I felt that if I went back all the parents would have been watching every move I made and always staring at me,” said the outgoing preteen, who has been playing the game since the age of four.
“To play hockey you shouldn’t have to go through what I went through. I was just looking to have friendship and play the game I love.”
The controversy that seized the Toronto Ice Dogs PeeWee “A” club — minor hockey’s lowest level of competitive play — emerged last month at a parents’ meeting called by George Atis, who has a child on the team, but is not part of the coaching staff.
The Thornhill lawyer drafted the agenda which included this item: “Kayla Watkins — Player Ability Limitations and Suggested Options.”
“It is now 14 games into the season and I have noticed that Kayla’s play has not improved,” the agenda reads. “It is at the point where many of the team members do not want to play on this team if this situation is not addressed.”
Atis then details two possible options for consideration, either moving Kayla from defence to forward and keeping her off of power plays and penalty kills, or playing her every second shift on defence and again keeping her off special teams “until her skating and shooting improves.”
“If Kayla is NOT amenable to the above options, the coach should find Kayla a new team to play on — commensurate to her skill level — for the balance of the season,” the agenda reads.
Atis also raised concerns about Kayla changing in the same locker-room as the boys, stating, “there have been many ‘near miss’ incidents where the boys have almost been exposed to Kayla.”
Vanessa Watkins, Kayla’s mother and team manager, says she was shocked by Atis’s targeting of her daughter.
“Do we not put our kids in team sports to learn to be a team player, to win as a team, to lose as a team and it’s not about me, me, me?”
In an interview Monday, Atis defended the agenda, saying it voiced concerns from boys on the team who were both squeamish about undressing in front of Kayla and frustrated with her play on the ice.
“I wrote the agenda, I stand by it,” said Atis, whose son Michael has played with Kayla for the past two seasons until her recent departure.
“I lay the blame, if you must know, at the feet of Vanessa Watkins . . . If it was my child, he would have never been in that position because I would not have put him on a team where he was not competing and where he was a liability to the team.”
While such disputes are common at higher levels such as triple-A hockey, they shouldn’t happen at single-A, Kayla said.
“(Atis) is not my coach so I don’t know how he’s judging my play,” she said. “If there’s something wrong, my coach should have talked to me, not him. And my coach never did.”
Paul Macchia, Kayla’s coach, says he chose her to be on his team and never wanted her to leave.
“There’s always complaints from parents about ice time but I’ve never seen an issue where it has gone this far before,” he said. “I don’t know what they were trying to accomplish. It’s not an individual player losing a game. She made mistakes but so did others on the team. We’ve been the same since she left.”
The team is currently 10th out of 12 teams in their division with a record of 8-13-1.
Sheree Watkins, Kayla’s grandmother who attended the meeting and many of her granddaughter’s games, called it a mean-spirited attack on the team’s only girl.
“It floored me that a lawyer would write an agenda like that. There was just so much discrimination.”
Atis said he supports coed hockey generally and that his move wasn’t about gender discrimination. It was about skill level.
“This should have never come down to a singling out of Kayla in this fashion. I think you should look to Vanessa and ask her if she felt truly in her heart . . . if Kayla was at the same level as her teammates.”
Kayla found out about everything when she spotted a copy of the agenda in her mom’s email.
“I was very upset. I do think parents can be over the edge,” she said.
Atis said he never intended Kayla to see the agenda.
“As a parent, my heart goes out to her. If Kayla truly read this agenda by accident, it is very unfortunate . . . I am mortified that Vanessa or Sheree or whoever shared this agenda with Kayla would actually do so . . . I believe Kayla’s feelings could have been spared. That, to me, is the great shame in this process that Kayla would feel as she did.”
Since quitting the Ice Dogs, Kayla has moved to the all-girls North York Storm.
She may miss the challenge of playing with boys. But the culture is far more welcoming, she says.
“Everyone’s nice to each other. It doesn’t matter if we win or lose. If we lose a game, it’s okay because everyone picks each other up.”
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Epic Video #4 - Don't Mess With Timmay
Don't let the time on the video fool you, it's great throughout. And don't forget to read MMQ below. Enjoy.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday morning quarter -- MMQ
 | ||||||
| Mr. B and his students all showing their Christmas colors -- Photo by Julie Quock. |
- Monday Morning Quarterback
___________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to Monday morning quarterback, even though this is being published in the late afternoon.
First, I'd like to thank everybody for the birthday wishes and especially Emily who hacked into my account to post a video of me. Very much appreciated by me, and a special thank you goes out to those who actually remembered the day without being reminded, and I guess, thanks to everyone who found out, and then wished me one anyways. So...now on to MMQ.
The one thing that stood out from this weekend was Timmy's big foul in the White Team's loss on Saturday. You will see more in Epic Video tomorrow when Timmy talks about it on Timmy's Corner, but what Timmy did was something that could've brought the 8th grade out of their funk, but it didn't.
Timmy didn't intentionally foul the guy, he was merely trying to strip the ball, but sometimes a play like that can rally a team, and the rest of his team failed to respond.
Right now, the White Team sits at (2-1) and still in a good position to make the playoffs. If they make it, are they going to be one and done like some of the previous teams who have made the playoffs, or will they be able to play their best game and then catapult themselves to the playoffs? If it's what they showed Saturday, their last game at St. Mary's will be a loss.
Calson was borderline great, so I'll say good, on Saturday. If you look at the highlights, his putback was what he should be doing. Using his size and long arms, while jumping, to put back a lay-up -- not the dreadful sight of his feet glued to the ground, hands above his hand like a soccer throw-in, trying to make a shot. He needs to do more of that.
Mark was held in check and scored only 4 points, after his career high 24. He was unable to get much going on the fast break as the other team was just as fast. His teammates need to run the lanes on the fast break better and get open.
Also, no help from anybody else on the team as nobody could hit an outside shot. They do a very poor job of moving without the ball, and they need to start cutting more and getting to areas on the court where they are able to hit shots.
6th Grade
Too bad there was no footage to see this game, but the 6th graders bounced back with a nice win after their stinker one week ago. Their record also sits at (2-1) three games into the season.
Just from hearsay and our 6th grade beat writer, the 6th graders missed a lot of make-able shots around the paint. My theory as to why they miss it is because they do not focus in practice when they go through the drill Louisville.
Louisville is one of the best drills for shooting, because you are constantly on the move and it emphasizes the catch and shoot aspect of basketball. I've seen many times at practice where they just jog through the drill, catch and just throw up a prayer. They don't focus on cutting hard to a spot, catching the ball, and really follow through with the shot. Come game time, it's missed shot after missed shot and those shots will come back to haunt them in tight games.
5th Grade
The 5th grade forfeited their paragraph in this week's MMQ.
Just so we have stuff to discuss for next week's MMQ, we will save the Red Team, 7th grade and 4th grade for a week from today.
Be on the lookout for Epic Video #4 tomorrow as well as highlights from the Christmas Show this last Friday. Until then...
Angels fly cause they take themselves lightly
Sunday, December 19, 2010
A very special birthday
Good morning St. Mary's Athletics,
6th grade beat writer Emily here! Today is our very own Bryan Cheung's birthday- go on Facebook and post on his wall. As Bryan has put together birthday videos for our birthdays, I decided to put together one for him too. Enjoy!
6th grade beat writer Emily here! Today is our very own Bryan Cheung's birthday- go on Facebook and post on his wall. As Bryan has put together birthday videos for our birthdays, I decided to put together one for him too. Enjoy!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
7th grade salvages win, while both 8th grade teams dealt first loss
There was no epic comeback or instant classic for the 8th grade Red Team.
Once again, they fell behind early and trailed by 9 points after three quarters of play. An 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter brought them within two. They had two trips down the court, with a chance to tie the game, but both of them failed.
Their sloppiness and poor defense let this game slip away and they wounded up losing 46-36, in a game that featured both ends of the spectrum for the Red Team.
Justin scored 7 quick points in the first minute or so in the second quarter to bring the 8th grade right back into the game. But they finished the half with more turnovers and were down 10 at the break.
They were back to a team of five, as the two DeMarillac players, David and Mark, did not play in today's game. It hurt them because Justin and Miles were both in foul trouble.
When Miles is in foul trouble, he can't be as aggressive and none more obvious that one play in the second half. The other team drove to the basket uncontested, because Miles was afraid to pick up another foul. Miles ended up fouling out with less than a minute to go in the game anyways.
The Red Team did themselves no favors from the free-throw line, as they shot 9-for-26. Justin and Miles combined to be 6-for-21 at the charity stripe. The points left on the board loom big when they cut the lead to two late in the fourth.
In division five, you can't get away with the same things you get away with in lower divisions. The turnovers and missed opportunities come back to haunt you, and the Red Team should've learned a lesson from their sloppiness.
Miles scored 18 points and Justin set a new career high with 13 points in the loss, as the 8th grade goes into the break (1-1).
White Team sleepwalks through third game
The first two wins of the season masked the flaws in the White Team. The game today put them out for everyone to see.
To say the 8th graders were disinterested this morning was an understatement and they had no energy from the get go, falling behind 11-0 even before the first quarter ended.
This squad is not built to come from behind, and were forced to play station to station. Mark barely got any fast breaks during the game, and their guards and shooters couldn't throw the ball into the ocean.
In the end, it was 26-12, in a game that might as well not have been played.
The lone bright spot for the White Team was Calson who had his best performance on the year, scoring 8 points and grabbing numerous rebounds. But nobody else on the team mustered much of an effort and the result showed, as the White Team now sits at (2-1) going into the break.
7th grade hangs on
The 7th grade led 14-4 at one point in the third and watched their lead slowly shrink. But in the end, Jason come up big with some clutch free-throws and put backs to give the 7th graders a 20-17 win, and a (3-0) record heading into the Christmas vacation.
Pablo scored all 10 of his points in the game in the first half, and Jason had 8 points.
Santiago had a huge bucket within the last minute of the game that padded the 7th grade's lead.
It is a great turnaround for the 7th graders as they won only one game the entire last season. Part of their improvement is undoubtedly from the boys from DeMarillac, but the ones who were on the team last year have stepped their game up a notch.
They are at a point now where they are picky about winning, as their Head Coach Tiffanie Vuong was unsatisfied with their performance despite the victory. If they won a game period last year, everyone would've been ecstatic. But now they are fine tuning their game in order to make a post-season run, a statement that wouldn't have dared to have been uttered a year ago.
Happy Birthday Thomas
Once again, they fell behind early and trailed by 9 points after three quarters of play. An 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter brought them within two. They had two trips down the court, with a chance to tie the game, but both of them failed.
Their sloppiness and poor defense let this game slip away and they wounded up losing 46-36, in a game that featured both ends of the spectrum for the Red Team.
Justin scored 7 quick points in the first minute or so in the second quarter to bring the 8th grade right back into the game. But they finished the half with more turnovers and were down 10 at the break.
They were back to a team of five, as the two DeMarillac players, David and Mark, did not play in today's game. It hurt them because Justin and Miles were both in foul trouble.
When Miles is in foul trouble, he can't be as aggressive and none more obvious that one play in the second half. The other team drove to the basket uncontested, because Miles was afraid to pick up another foul. Miles ended up fouling out with less than a minute to go in the game anyways.
The Red Team did themselves no favors from the free-throw line, as they shot 9-for-26. Justin and Miles combined to be 6-for-21 at the charity stripe. The points left on the board loom big when they cut the lead to two late in the fourth.
In division five, you can't get away with the same things you get away with in lower divisions. The turnovers and missed opportunities come back to haunt you, and the Red Team should've learned a lesson from their sloppiness.
Miles scored 18 points and Justin set a new career high with 13 points in the loss, as the 8th grade goes into the break (1-1).
White Team sleepwalks through third game
The first two wins of the season masked the flaws in the White Team. The game today put them out for everyone to see.
To say the 8th graders were disinterested this morning was an understatement and they had no energy from the get go, falling behind 11-0 even before the first quarter ended.
This squad is not built to come from behind, and were forced to play station to station. Mark barely got any fast breaks during the game, and their guards and shooters couldn't throw the ball into the ocean.
In the end, it was 26-12, in a game that might as well not have been played.
The lone bright spot for the White Team was Calson who had his best performance on the year, scoring 8 points and grabbing numerous rebounds. But nobody else on the team mustered much of an effort and the result showed, as the White Team now sits at (2-1) going into the break.
7th grade hangs on
The 7th grade led 14-4 at one point in the third and watched their lead slowly shrink. But in the end, Jason come up big with some clutch free-throws and put backs to give the 7th graders a 20-17 win, and a (3-0) record heading into the Christmas vacation.
Pablo scored all 10 of his points in the game in the first half, and Jason had 8 points.
Santiago had a huge bucket within the last minute of the game that padded the 7th grade's lead.
It is a great turnaround for the 7th graders as they won only one game the entire last season. Part of their improvement is undoubtedly from the boys from DeMarillac, but the ones who were on the team last year have stepped their game up a notch.
They are at a point now where they are picky about winning, as their Head Coach Tiffanie Vuong was unsatisfied with their performance despite the victory. If they won a game period last year, everyone would've been ecstatic. But now they are fine tuning their game in order to make a post-season run, a statement that wouldn't have dared to have been uttered a year ago.
Happy Birthday Thomas
Friday, December 17, 2010
St. Mary's basketball nothing like the weather, Happy Birthday!
EDITORS NOTE: Due to bad camera preparation, good highlights are unavailable for tonight. We apologize for the inconvenience.
All three St. Mary's basketball teams won tonight, starting with the 4th grade who improved to (3-0) on the year, winning 14-6, the 5th grade (3-0) winning by forfeit and the 6th grade (2-1) winning 17-11.
6th grade bounces back
By 6th grade beat writer Emily
Ryan hits first shot in 4th grade victory
Ryan scored his first two points ever in the fourth quarter, which stretched the 4th grade's lead to 12-4 , and Jonathan hit double digits in scoring for the third game in the row, scoring 10 points, and the 4th graders picked up their third win of the season.
The ball movement today was better than the last two, where it was all Jonathan and Jason on the offensive end. Tonight, everybody got their touches and Ryan was able to contribute on the offensive end.
It's a fantastic start to the season for the team of five.
5th grade wins via forfeit, again
The 5th grade won via forfeit as the other team didn't show up. Their record is now (3-0).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
All three St. Mary's basketball teams won tonight, starting with the 4th grade who improved to (3-0) on the year, winning 14-6, the 5th grade (3-0) winning by forfeit and the 6th grade (2-1) winning 17-11.
6th grade bounces back
By 6th grade beat writer Emily
Despite the dark and gloomy weather, the 6th grade boys’ energy level tonight was quite the opposite.
The game was fairly close throughout the first half. In fact, the 6th grade was down by two at halftime.
Down 7-5 at halftime, the 6th grade entered the quarter that has plagued them the most. The 6th grade scored a combined four points in their first two games of the regular season. But tonight, 10 of their 17 points came in the third quarter alone.
“I felt that after yesterday’s practice, they were listening to us (coaches) more,” said head coach Calvin To. “We got to them and it showed -- our defense was very solid tonight.”
Their defense held the other team to only two points in the first, third and fourth quarters. Justin and Aaron took advantage of the other team’s sloppy passes and came up with several steals that led to many fast-break points. Their full court press in the third quarter was hard to penetrate, and it caused turnovers by the other team.
Tonight’s win was a great example of the potential that these boys have when they listen to their coaches and focus during the game. After last week’s lackluster effort, the win tonight will leave a good taste in their mouth heading into the break.
Ryan hits first shot in 4th grade victory
Ryan scored his first two points ever in the fourth quarter, which stretched the 4th grade's lead to 12-4 , and Jonathan hit double digits in scoring for the third game in the row, scoring 10 points, and the 4th graders picked up their third win of the season.
The ball movement today was better than the last two, where it was all Jonathan and Jason on the offensive end. Tonight, everybody got their touches and Ryan was able to contribute on the offensive end.
It's a fantastic start to the season for the team of five.
5th grade wins via forfeit, again
The 5th grade won via forfeit as the other team didn't show up. Their record is now (3-0).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Thursday, December 16, 2010
A weekend in preview, vacation news
This weekend will feature two double-headers with St. Mary's teams playing back-to-back.
Friday night the 4th and 5th grade play in succession, with the 4th grade tipping off at 5 p.m. and the 5th graders at 6 p.m.
Saturday morning, the 8th grade teams go one after another starting at 10 a.m. at Star of the Sea.
The 6th grade plays at 6 p.m. tomorrow night at SVDP, while the 7th grade is in action Saturday at Noon from St. Monica.
No practices during the vacation, with the practices resuming on the anti-climactic Sunday, January 2, 2011.
The 4th grade however, does play in the Flame Tournament, on Sunday, December 26th at Mission Dolores.
Friday night the 4th and 5th grade play in succession, with the 4th grade tipping off at 5 p.m. and the 5th graders at 6 p.m.
Saturday morning, the 8th grade teams go one after another starting at 10 a.m. at Star of the Sea.
The 6th grade plays at 6 p.m. tomorrow night at SVDP, while the 7th grade is in action Saturday at Noon from St. Monica.
No practices during the vacation, with the practices resuming on the anti-climactic Sunday, January 2, 2011.
The 4th grade however, does play in the Flame Tournament, on Sunday, December 26th at Mission Dolores.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday Morning Quarterback
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| Sharks LW Ryane Clowe was named the NHL 1st Star of the Week |
One who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight
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Happy Monday as we sift through the final week of school before the Christmas break. Is anybody going anywhere interesting? Let's hope everybody finishes 2010 on a high note. Tons of stuff to get to today so.... Onto the MMQ...
What more is there to say about the Red Team's come from behind victory Saturday. After the first quarter, I walked to the scorer's table and whispered to Marissa, "Game's Over." Good thing I was wrong.
In the back of my mind, I did say to myself, "If any team could come back, it would be this team."
Last year's game against Holy Name was one of the best comebacks I had ever seen, which was 13 points in the second quarter. They also trailed 8-0 in their final regular season game, which they needed to win just to get into the playoffs. And then they played the last 2 minutes of their playoff game with only four players.
But in the end, this team just knows how to win.
However, as part of our job at the MMQ, is to see ways to prevent another epic comeback.
- Free Throws
- 28 minutes of basketball.
I find that most teams do not warm up at 100%. When you go through your lay-up lines, or jump shots or free throws, make sure you put yourself in game mode and be loose and ready to go once the whistle blows.
- Take care of the ball
NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE OTHER TEAMS
The 6th grade is the only team with one loss out of all the St. Mary's teams at the end of week two. Part of the reason is that they were also unprepared to play their game. However, there was no epic comeback to speak of and their poor habits continued the entire game.
I want to make it clear that it's okay that they lost, and it's okay any team loses. But when you lose the way they did, it's not okay.
We have spent so much time devoted to talk about the 6th grade, and their potential, and how talented they are. In the end, it means nothing if they can't get it together.
Again, someone who observed their practice yesterday at NDV said that they were too busy fooling around, not listening to their coaches. This will be the last time this will be mentioned. If it happens again, the team will be nothing but an after thought, because we have exhausted almost everything we could think of to help this team succeed.
If they don't get it by now, maybe they never will.
4th, 5th, 7th and White Team wins
Nice job by the 4th, 5th and 7th grade to win games they are supposed to win. Sure, they had their share of things they could do better, but the good teams beat teams they are supposed to beat, and those teams did just that over the weekend.
The White Team falls into a different category because they needed overtime to overcome their mistakes at the end. In OT, they played with a sense of urgency, a purpose. The let down at the end of the game may have been a result of not being up in many games in the past, and not knowing how to close out games.
Friday night should've served as a reminder that you can never stop playing until the clock reads 0:00 at the end of 4.
Kudos to Mark, whose 24 points were overshadowed by the epic Red Team comeback Saturday.
And also, Jonathan, who took last week's game ball, scored another 15 points in the 4th grade victory.
EPIC VIDEO
Epic videos will be released now on Tuesdays. Mondays will be reserved for the Monday Morning Quarterback. Also, it doesn't hurt to read once in a while. Say the anticipation builds for Epic Video #3, which will debut tomorrow.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Red Team makes epic comeback, wins by one
If there was a team that could come back from 16 points, it would be the St. Mary's 8th grade Red Team. And come back they did.
After a disastrous first half where offense and defense were missing, the 8th grade Red Team erased a 16 point, 24-8 halftime deficit, and managed to pull out an epic come from behind 36-35 victory in their first game of the year.
Right off the tip, the 8th grade looked rusty, turning the ball over three times, leading to an early 6-0 hole. They were slow getting back on defense and were dominated in every facet of the game.
They picked it up and gave themselves a glimmer of hope when the Red Team started the third quarter on an 8-0 run, which cut the lead down to 8 points.
Even with their blitz at the beginning of the second half, more lapses in defense and turnovers put the 8th graders back down 30-16 to start the 4th quarter. It was beginning to look like it just wasn't their day.
At that point in the game, the sleeping giant we call Miles woke up and the turnaround began.
Nobody could stop Miles. He grabbed rebound after rebound and scored basket after basket. He played like a man on a mission that wouldn't take no for an answer. After the game, he said he knew his team was going to come back to win it. And if anybody doubted him, Miles proved he meant what he said with his play down the stretch.
St. Mary's went on a furious run, scoring a total of 20 points in the final seven minutes -- Miles accounted for 12 of them.
Jeremy hit two clutch 3-pointers in the 4th, including one that cut a 5 point lead to 2 with a little over two minutes to play.
Then Miles went back to work and hit a shot to tie the game, and then later gave St. Mary's their first lead of the game with a little over a minute to go.
The other team got within one on a free-throw and went ahead on a turnover in the back court. With 30 seconds left to play, guess whose number was called again?
Number 51.
The ball went to Miles, and he hit perhaps his longest shot in two years to give the Red Team the one point lead.
After a defensive stop, Michael Ng was fouled and went to the line for a one-in-one with a chance to ice the game. He missed the first free throw and the Red Team would need to win the game with defense.
With 4.6 seconds left, the inbounds pass got by Jeremy to a player on other team, who missed short on his mid-range jumper. Jeremy corralled the rebounds and the game was over.
After a disastrous first half where offense and defense were missing, the 8th grade Red Team erased a 16 point, 24-8 halftime deficit, and managed to pull out an epic come from behind 36-35 victory in their first game of the year.
Right off the tip, the 8th grade looked rusty, turning the ball over three times, leading to an early 6-0 hole. They were slow getting back on defense and were dominated in every facet of the game.
They picked it up and gave themselves a glimmer of hope when the Red Team started the third quarter on an 8-0 run, which cut the lead down to 8 points.
Even with their blitz at the beginning of the second half, more lapses in defense and turnovers put the 8th graders back down 30-16 to start the 4th quarter. It was beginning to look like it just wasn't their day.
At that point in the game, the sleeping giant we call Miles woke up and the turnaround began.
Nobody could stop Miles. He grabbed rebound after rebound and scored basket after basket. He played like a man on a mission that wouldn't take no for an answer. After the game, he said he knew his team was going to come back to win it. And if anybody doubted him, Miles proved he meant what he said with his play down the stretch.
St. Mary's went on a furious run, scoring a total of 20 points in the final seven minutes -- Miles accounted for 12 of them.
Jeremy hit two clutch 3-pointers in the 4th, including one that cut a 5 point lead to 2 with a little over two minutes to play.
Then Miles went back to work and hit a shot to tie the game, and then later gave St. Mary's their first lead of the game with a little over a minute to go.
The other team got within one on a free-throw and went ahead on a turnover in the back court. With 30 seconds left to play, guess whose number was called again?
Number 51.
The ball went to Miles, and he hit perhaps his longest shot in two years to give the Red Team the one point lead.
After a defensive stop, Michael Ng was fouled and went to the line for a one-in-one with a chance to ice the game. He missed the first free throw and the Red Team would need to win the game with defense.
With 4.6 seconds left, the inbounds pass got by Jeremy to a player on other team, who missed short on his mid-range jumper. Jeremy corralled the rebounds and the game was over.
4th, 5th and 7th grade teams are all (2-0)
For the second Saturday in a row, all St. Mary's teams won.
An hour prior to the incredible 8th grade win, the 7th grade handled business for the second straight day. Following their big win last night, the 7th grade won again, this time by a score of 24-12. It was another team effort, as they got scoring from Anthony H., Pablo, Hartman, Santiago and for the first time this season, Garrick.
Behind Raymond's 10 points, the 5th grade shook off a tough Flame Tournament loss earlier this week, and won their second game of the regular season by a score of 18-8. They led by only 2 points at halftime, but a 6-0 3rd quarter put the 5th graders over the hump.
Jason Ng scored for the first time in his career.
And to close out the day, Jonathan had another huge game, and scored 15 of the 4th grade's 19 points in the 4th grade's 19-9 win. Jason scored the other 4 points.
All three teams now sit at (2-0).
An hour prior to the incredible 8th grade win, the 7th grade handled business for the second straight day. Following their big win last night, the 7th grade won again, this time by a score of 24-12. It was another team effort, as they got scoring from Anthony H., Pablo, Hartman, Santiago and for the first time this season, Garrick.
Behind Raymond's 10 points, the 5th grade shook off a tough Flame Tournament loss earlier this week, and won their second game of the regular season by a score of 18-8. They led by only 2 points at halftime, but a 6-0 3rd quarter put the 5th graders over the hump.
Jason Ng scored for the first time in his career.
And to close out the day, Jonathan had another huge game, and scored 15 of the 4th grade's 19 points in the 4th grade's 19-9 win. Jason scored the other 4 points.
All three teams now sit at (2-0).
Friday, December 10, 2010
White Team needs OT to go to (2-0), 7th grade wins big in game one
The White Team blew a 10 point lead in the second half, and were forced to go to overtime to pick up win number two on the season.
Up 26-24 with less than 10 seconds to go, their defense watched the ball instead of grabbing it, and the rebound landed right in the hands for the other team's best player, who then made a lay-up to tie the game.
Following a timeout, Gavin Chan threw up a desperation airball and the White Team had to play an extra three minutes.
Their overtime play however was incredible, as they scored 6 quick points in the first minute to put the game away. Overall, the 8th grade outscored the other team 10-0 in OT for a 36-26 win.
Mark set a new career high with 24 points, and Gavin Lin tied his career high with 8 points.
Team efforts propels 7th grade
Scoring from pretty much everyone who took the court tonight gave the 7th grade a 32-13 win in their season opener.
Anthony H. had the game high 8 points, but the 7th graders also got 6 points from Pablo, Hartman and Jason. Santiago scored the first two points of his CYO career.
It's a quick turnaround for the 7th grade as they will play tomorrow at 12 p.m. in game two.
6th grade lost their first game of the year 22-14 and dropped to (1-1).
Up 26-24 with less than 10 seconds to go, their defense watched the ball instead of grabbing it, and the rebound landed right in the hands for the other team's best player, who then made a lay-up to tie the game.
Following a timeout, Gavin Chan threw up a desperation airball and the White Team had to play an extra three minutes.
Their overtime play however was incredible, as they scored 6 quick points in the first minute to put the game away. Overall, the 8th grade outscored the other team 10-0 in OT for a 36-26 win.
Mark set a new career high with 24 points, and Gavin Lin tied his career high with 8 points.
Team efforts propels 7th grade
Scoring from pretty much everyone who took the court tonight gave the 7th grade a 32-13 win in their season opener.
Anthony H. had the game high 8 points, but the 7th graders also got 6 points from Pablo, Hartman and Jason. Santiago scored the first two points of his CYO career.
It's a quick turnaround for the 7th grade as they will play tomorrow at 12 p.m. in game two.
6th grade lost their first game of the year 22-14 and dropped to (1-1).
A tired looking 6th grade takes first loss
By 6th grade beat writer Emily
Again, the 6th grade boys buried themselves in an early hole. But this time, there was no incredible fourth quarter to dig them out of it.
From the get go, it seemed like the team had no energy, and the scoreboard reflected the play.
They trailed 7-2 at halftime and let the game slip away in the third. There is always something about the third quarter. In their last game, the 6th graders fell behind by 8 and in tonight’s game, they trailed by as much as 11.
The 6th grade boys managed to put up ten points in the fourth, but it was too little too late.
Turnovers, once again, was a major problem in tonight’s game. They had some nice steals, but they would just turn the ball right back over to the other team. Another glaring problem was their inability to box-out and rebound.
Their record is now (1-1).
Again, the 6th grade boys buried themselves in an early hole. But this time, there was no incredible fourth quarter to dig them out of it.
From the get go, it seemed like the team had no energy, and the scoreboard reflected the play.
They trailed 7-2 at halftime and let the game slip away in the third. There is always something about the third quarter. In their last game, the 6th graders fell behind by 8 and in tonight’s game, they trailed by as much as 11.
The 6th grade boys managed to put up ten points in the fourth, but it was too little too late.
Turnovers, once again, was a major problem in tonight’s game. They had some nice steals, but they would just turn the ball right back over to the other team. Another glaring problem was their inability to box-out and rebound.
Their record is now (1-1).
Thursday, December 9, 2010
St. Mary's Athletics gear due tomorrow
Forms for sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc... are due tomorrow or else you will have to wait months, if not years for the next shot to get one.
Also, plenty of games this weekend starting tomorrow night, so go check them all out.
Also, plenty of games this weekend starting tomorrow night, so go check them all out.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
5th grade gives up lead in final seconds, fall in overtime
This was their game to win.
The 5th grade went ahead 12-11 on a shot by Grant with less than 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the second round of the Flame Tournament. They even got the ball back with 16.6 seconds left on the clock, only to turn the ball right over to the other team in the backcourt.
Because they had 9 fouls, their next one meant the other team would take two foul shots no matter what kind of foul it was. And of course, the 5th grade fouled the other team about 16 feet away from the basket.
The opposing player went to the line, missed the first shot, and then made the next one, sending the game into overtime.
In OT, another foul that was on the floor, resulted in the only point of the overtime period. The final score read 13-12, in a game that the 5th grade absolutely should've won.
With the loss, they were eliminated from the Flame Tournament.
Joseph made his first shot of the year in the first half.
The 5th grade went ahead 12-11 on a shot by Grant with less than 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the second round of the Flame Tournament. They even got the ball back with 16.6 seconds left on the clock, only to turn the ball right over to the other team in the backcourt.
Because they had 9 fouls, their next one meant the other team would take two foul shots no matter what kind of foul it was. And of course, the 5th grade fouled the other team about 16 feet away from the basket.
The opposing player went to the line, missed the first shot, and then made the next one, sending the game into overtime.
In OT, another foul that was on the floor, resulted in the only point of the overtime period. The final score read 13-12, in a game that the 5th grade absolutely should've won.
With the loss, they were eliminated from the Flame Tournament.
Joseph made his first shot of the year in the first half.
Wednesday Filler: Mr. B wins another tennis tournament
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| Mr B and his team celebrate a big win in Fresno. |
Over the weekend, Mr. B's team went 3-0, winning the district championships in Fresno. Why they would hold a tournament championship in a hole like Fresno is anyone's guess. But luckily, Mr. B and his partners came up on top.
With the win, they advance to the NorCal Title Championship in Sacramento in February.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Happy Birthday Jamie
We'd like to extend a Happy Birthday to Jamie. Jamie graduated in 2008 and played basketball for the first time when she was in 8th grade. Now she is playing basketball on the team at Washington high school.
Jamie coached the 3rd grade girls last year and is an assistant for the 7th grade this year. She has been a tremendous help to our sports program and also SMILE this year.
Her brother, see below, is Jason.
Jamie coached the 3rd grade girls last year and is an assistant for the 7th grade this year. She has been a tremendous help to our sports program and also SMILE this year.
Her brother, see below, is Jason.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Epic Video Monday
And don't forget to read Monday morning quarterback as well as the 5th grade's first game of the Flame Tournament.
5th grade hangs around, but collapses in the 4th
It's not every day you get to see a team in division 5-8 play a team in division 5-5. And it's not very often the division 5-8 team will trail by only two going into the fourth quarter.
But that's what the 5th grade did tonight in round one of the Flame Tournament, as they were down 14-12 heading into the final six minutes.
Then it all fell apart.
They were outscored 12-0 in the fourth quarter and ended up losing 24-12.
The 5th grade had no answer for the other team's press, as they turned the ball over constantly. Even before the other team pressed, they didn't do a good job taking care of the ball in quarters one through three. They had so much trouble with out of bounds plays and inbounds, it seemed like they had never done it before.
Willard did continue his hot streak, hitting two more jumpers -- a good follow up to his six point performance Saturday. Jason Z. hit a free-throw in the first for his first points of the season.
Raymond's 4 points and Willard's jumper in the third brought St. Mary's within two, but that was was close as the game got.
Despite the loss, they were able to hang with a team in the third division for three quarters. And if it wasn't for the press, they might've been able to pull off a shocking upset. But to do that, they'll need to polish up their game and stop making the simple mistakes.
Turnovers and the lack of rebounding really hurt them -- sound familiar? They are undersized as a team, but too many times, they were out of position and the other team grabbed rebound after rebound.
They'll have a chance to rectify their mistakes Wednesday night in their second round game, which starts at 6 p.m.
Grant had 3 points, while Thomas also hit a free-throw in the first.
But that's what the 5th grade did tonight in round one of the Flame Tournament, as they were down 14-12 heading into the final six minutes.
Then it all fell apart.
They were outscored 12-0 in the fourth quarter and ended up losing 24-12.
The 5th grade had no answer for the other team's press, as they turned the ball over constantly. Even before the other team pressed, they didn't do a good job taking care of the ball in quarters one through three. They had so much trouble with out of bounds plays and inbounds, it seemed like they had never done it before.
Willard did continue his hot streak, hitting two more jumpers -- a good follow up to his six point performance Saturday. Jason Z. hit a free-throw in the first for his first points of the season.
Raymond's 4 points and Willard's jumper in the third brought St. Mary's within two, but that was was close as the game got.
Despite the loss, they were able to hang with a team in the third division for three quarters. And if it wasn't for the press, they might've been able to pull off a shocking upset. But to do that, they'll need to polish up their game and stop making the simple mistakes.
Turnovers and the lack of rebounding really hurt them -- sound familiar? They are undersized as a team, but too many times, they were out of position and the other team grabbed rebound after rebound.
They'll have a chance to rectify their mistakes Wednesday night in their second round game, which starts at 6 p.m.
Grant had 3 points, while Thomas also hit a free-throw in the first.
Monday morning quarterback
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| The Miz is awesome and also WWE Champion. |
One who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight
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A wise man once said the best deodorant is winning.
And our basketball teams all wore very strong fragrances this weekend as all four teams won their season openers, some in convincing fashion and some in some not so convincing fashion.
Nonetheless, it was an exciting few days and a good way to jump start the season for our respective teams. Winning the first game usually provides a boost and optimism for the year ahead.
With that being said, let's look back and some of the things that could've been better in our MMQ.
4th grade
Phenomenal game by Jonathan, who had a career-high 14 points. That is a lot of points by a 4th grader and the most since Raymond scored 18 points in a game last season.
Few things that this team needs to correct is getting contributions from the other players on the team. They won't have as many opportunities as Jonathan to shoot the ball, but on Friday night, only Jason and Jonathan took shots. The other players had chances but shied away from taking them. They'll need to start shooting it more, which will give them confidence down the line.
There inbound was also atrocious. They might not have more than 3 or 4 clean inbounds. I'm sure they'll work on that this week.
5th grade
Willard was the star, scoring 6 points to lead the 5th grade to victory.
On the side that needs improvement was their ball movement on offense. The ball doesn't swing and move around as quickly as it should and that makes Raymond force up shots. Their fundamentals aren't exactly crisp right now, but when they can get a better grasp on passing the ball and controlling the ball, their offensive attack will be more fluid.
6th grade
This might have been the first time the 6th grade boys showed some grit and determination. At the end of the third quarter, I said to the person next to me that the 6th grade will be the first team to lose this weekend. I'm glad they proved me wrong.
An 8 point deficit is a lot to overcome in CYO, especially a 6th grade team in the fourth quarter. They showed heart and it was fantastic seeing the emotion from Daniel and Brendan after their buckets as you could tell they were pumped up to come back and win this game.
I hope this game was a motivator and glimpse of what this team can achieve when they are clicking and don't shoot themselves in the foot.
Their one glaring error in addition to the turnovers and lack of boxing out, is the people getting back on defense. Some of the buckets they gave up were third and fourth chance points. This happened because some of the players trailing the play didn't run all the way back to the basket. They assumed the play was over and just decided to jog back instead of sprinting back. They didn't sprint back and the other team had rebound after rebound.
Get back on defense to prevent that second and third chance shot.
8th grade White
Nice job by the White Team to get win number one. Last year, they got win number one against the eventual division champions, but didn't make the playoffs. Let's hope the fortunes change this year.
The good - Mark with his 12 points, Calson, 6 points and no fouls and Robert on the defensive end with his hands. Robert did something a lot of players from grades 3-8 do not do and that was anticipate the pass. If you look at the highlights, he reads the guy with the ball and is anticipating the pass going back to the point. That's why he got his hands up and made the steal.
The not so good - Some players on defense lack the explosiveness. There were some balls bouncing around and it seemed like nobody moved toward the ball. There isn't that urgency on defense to want to get the ball and against a better team, this will hurt them.
Also, Gavin L. needs to wake up once in a while. There are times he looks disinterested and lazy and it shows. He needs to be energized and ready to go because he can be a huge contributor to this team. He almost had a nice putback in mid-air Friday night that fell a bit short.
Gavin is a pretty good defender, but he needs to be committed to playing defense 100%. Sometimes, he isn't fully there. That'll need to improve.
That's all for MMQ - Epic Video #2 will be here some time later tonight.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Saturday Recap: 6th grade prevails in instant classic, Willard stars for 5th grade
It looked like a repeat of the last two tournament games for the 6th grade boys -- another game filled with careless mistakes, turnovers and no rebounding.
They trailed by only one point at halftime, but a sloppy third quarter gave the other team an eight point lead to heading into the fourth, and the 6th graders were down 18-10.
But everything they did wrong the first three quarters, they did right in the fourth, when it mattered most.
The 6th grade outscored the other team 14-4 in the final quarter, and took the lead on a Brandon Tom lay-up with less than a minute to go. Brandon Khuu and Daniel both hit free throws down the stretch that eventually iced the game, giving the 6th grade their first win of the year 24-22.
Most of the points they gave up were the same as the ones they gave up the past few games, as they were slow getting back on defense. A lot of the second or third opportunities ended up in their own basket because nobody ran back to rebound.
Their passes were also very sloppy as the guards continued to turn the ball over almost every other possession. Luckily, they cleaned up their act in the pivotal last six minutes.
In the fourth, they took care of the ball and their vaunted press brought them right back into the game. Brendan had four key points in the fourth and held his own down low, grabbing several rebounds down the stretch.
It was a much needed win for this team, even if it was only the first game of the year. After their sloppy play from last weekend, their confidence was not where it needed to be, and a game like today could really give them a boost to start the season.
Justin led all scorers with a game-high 11 points.
6th grade boys basketball beat writer Emily contributed to this report.
Willard's career-high leads 5th grade to victory
The last real meaningful shot that Willard made was two years ago at Girls All-Star Sunday when he hit the million dollar shot worth $50. He didn't get in money today, but his six points were worth just as much.
Behind Willard's career-high 6 points, the 5th grade broke open a 2-2 halftime tie with a nice 6-0 run to start the third quarter. From then on, they never looked back and ended up winning 12-6.
On a team where Raymond is the only one who dares to shoot the ball, Willard finally decided that someone else stepped up, and thankfully he did. He made two nice jumpers in the third quarter that put the 5th graders out in front and then he iced the game late in the fourth, with another nice bank shot.
This victory was great for this team since the contributions came from everybody. Grant, Thomas and Raymond all had two points to go with Willard's six -- it was an all around team effort.
Defensively, Garrick and Ryan had to deal with the other team's center who looked like he was as tall as Garrick sitting on Ryan's shoulders. The other team's gameplan was just to lob the ball to their big center, who would then score. But the 5th graders down low were physical enough and contained the other team's big guy.
The two points by Thomas also marked the first points of his CYO career. Now we wait for his twin Joseph to score his first two.
They trailed by only one point at halftime, but a sloppy third quarter gave the other team an eight point lead to heading into the fourth, and the 6th graders were down 18-10.
But everything they did wrong the first three quarters, they did right in the fourth, when it mattered most.
The 6th grade outscored the other team 14-4 in the final quarter, and took the lead on a Brandon Tom lay-up with less than a minute to go. Brandon Khuu and Daniel both hit free throws down the stretch that eventually iced the game, giving the 6th grade their first win of the year 24-22.
Most of the points they gave up were the same as the ones they gave up the past few games, as they were slow getting back on defense. A lot of the second or third opportunities ended up in their own basket because nobody ran back to rebound.
Their passes were also very sloppy as the guards continued to turn the ball over almost every other possession. Luckily, they cleaned up their act in the pivotal last six minutes.
In the fourth, they took care of the ball and their vaunted press brought them right back into the game. Brendan had four key points in the fourth and held his own down low, grabbing several rebounds down the stretch.
It was a much needed win for this team, even if it was only the first game of the year. After their sloppy play from last weekend, their confidence was not where it needed to be, and a game like today could really give them a boost to start the season.
Justin led all scorers with a game-high 11 points.
6th grade boys basketball beat writer Emily contributed to this report.
Willard's career-high leads 5th grade to victory
The last real meaningful shot that Willard made was two years ago at Girls All-Star Sunday when he hit the million dollar shot worth $50. He didn't get in money today, but his six points were worth just as much.
Behind Willard's career-high 6 points, the 5th grade broke open a 2-2 halftime tie with a nice 6-0 run to start the third quarter. From then on, they never looked back and ended up winning 12-6.
On a team where Raymond is the only one who dares to shoot the ball, Willard finally decided that someone else stepped up, and thankfully he did. He made two nice jumpers in the third quarter that put the 5th graders out in front and then he iced the game late in the fourth, with another nice bank shot.
This victory was great for this team since the contributions came from everybody. Grant, Thomas and Raymond all had two points to go with Willard's six -- it was an all around team effort.
Defensively, Garrick and Ryan had to deal with the other team's center who looked like he was as tall as Garrick sitting on Ryan's shoulders. The other team's gameplan was just to lob the ball to their big center, who would then score. But the 5th graders down low were physical enough and contained the other team's big guy.
The two points by Thomas also marked the first points of his CYO career. Now we wait for his twin Joseph to score his first two.
Friday, December 3, 2010
4th grade comes out on top in OT, 8th grade White Team wins as well
**Highlights Updated**
Jonathan scored 4 of his 14 points in overtime to lead the 4th grade to a 16-12 win in their first game of the season.
This was also the first game ever played, as last year the 4th graders played up with the now 5th grade. Jason scored the other two points.
The game was close throughout and the 4th graders found themselves down with 26 seconds left in the game. But their defensive pressure forced a turnover and Jonathan soared toward the hoop for a game-tying lay-up to send the game to overtime.
Right off the jump ball, Jason tapped the ball ahead to Jonathan who scored an easy lay-up on an and-one, to give the 4th grade the lead.
The other team had a chance to tie with less than 20 seconds left, but the ball bounced off the rim and into the hands of Jonathan who went the other way to seal it with the final two points of the game.
White team romps in game one
In their first game under rookie head coach John Wang, the 8th grade White Team picked up victory number one of the season in a convincing 21-12 win.
They got off to a quick start, scoring right off the jump ball when Calson tapped the ball right to Mark, who took it in for the first of his 12 points on the night.
It was a solid start to the season for a team that did not play very well in the CYO Preseason Tournament, so getting a win on opening night was a big confidence boost for the team.
Calson added 6 points and was pretty consistent on the boards, grabbing rebounds and then outletting them to Mark. The bulk of Mark's points all came on the fast break.
Their defense shouldn't be overlooked tonight either as they shut out the other team in quarters one and three. And if it wasn't for two pretty lucky three-point shots from the other team, they might've held the other team to single digits.
According to coach Wang, Robert and Timothy both played great on the defensive end and weren't out of position. Their good defense up top forced the other team to take bad shots, which led to easy transition points for the White Team.
Last season, the White Team also won their first game of the year, only to lose the next four straight. But this year is not last year -- at least we hope not.
Apologies for the bad video quality for half the video.
Jonathan scored 4 of his 14 points in overtime to lead the 4th grade to a 16-12 win in their first game of the season.
This was also the first game ever played, as last year the 4th graders played up with the now 5th grade. Jason scored the other two points.
The game was close throughout and the 4th graders found themselves down with 26 seconds left in the game. But their defensive pressure forced a turnover and Jonathan soared toward the hoop for a game-tying lay-up to send the game to overtime.
Right off the jump ball, Jason tapped the ball ahead to Jonathan who scored an easy lay-up on an and-one, to give the 4th grade the lead.
The other team had a chance to tie with less than 20 seconds left, but the ball bounced off the rim and into the hands of Jonathan who went the other way to seal it with the final two points of the game.
White team romps in game one
In their first game under rookie head coach John Wang, the 8th grade White Team picked up victory number one of the season in a convincing 21-12 win.
They got off to a quick start, scoring right off the jump ball when Calson tapped the ball right to Mark, who took it in for the first of his 12 points on the night.
It was a solid start to the season for a team that did not play very well in the CYO Preseason Tournament, so getting a win on opening night was a big confidence boost for the team.
Calson added 6 points and was pretty consistent on the boards, grabbing rebounds and then outletting them to Mark. The bulk of Mark's points all came on the fast break.
Their defense shouldn't be overlooked tonight either as they shut out the other team in quarters one and three. And if it wasn't for two pretty lucky three-point shots from the other team, they might've held the other team to single digits.
According to coach Wang, Robert and Timothy both played great on the defensive end and weren't out of position. Their good defense up top forced the other team to take bad shots, which led to easy transition points for the White Team.
Last season, the White Team also won their first game of the year, only to lose the next four straight. But this year is not last year -- at least we hope not.
Apologies for the bad video quality for half the video.
Can't make it to the game?
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Thursday, December 2, 2010
4th grade basketball preview
Another year, another team of only five players. This time it's the youngest team in the entire school.
Jonathan and Ryan from 4th grade make up the only two boys in the class, and will also be the only two boys from St. Mary's grade school joining the team this year. Three other players from Chinese and neighboring schools comprise of the other three.
It's too bad no third grade boys joined, but we will have to do with what we have, as St. Mary's has learned to do in the last several years.
Jonathan and newcomer Jason are the two anchors of this team, and will probably be looked to do most of the scoring early in the season. Hopefully others will be able to chip in little by little as the season progresses.
What is going to be the biggest task will be their conditioning. Can only five players last the arduous 24 minutes it takes to play a game?
If they are able to, there's no reason why this team shouldn't be good enough to make a playoff run. Only their conditioning will tell.
They play their first game tomorrow night, 5 p.m. at Cornerstone.
Jonathan and Ryan from 4th grade make up the only two boys in the class, and will also be the only two boys from St. Mary's grade school joining the team this year. Three other players from Chinese and neighboring schools comprise of the other three.
It's too bad no third grade boys joined, but we will have to do with what we have, as St. Mary's has learned to do in the last several years.
Jonathan and newcomer Jason are the two anchors of this team, and will probably be looked to do most of the scoring early in the season. Hopefully others will be able to chip in little by little as the season progresses.
What is going to be the biggest task will be their conditioning. Can only five players last the arduous 24 minutes it takes to play a game?
If they are able to, there's no reason why this team shouldn't be good enough to make a playoff run. Only their conditioning will tell.
They play their first game tomorrow night, 5 p.m. at Cornerstone.
BREAKING NEWS: 6th grade game moved to Saturday
The 6th grade game originally scheduled for tomorrow night has been moved to Saturday. It will be played at Epiphany starting at 4 p.m.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Happy Anniversary
One month ago today...
Now it's a little late to really get too deep into it, but I have been asked about bandwagon jumpers and do they bother me. Does it bother me that all these people who have never watched the Giants before all of a sudden started during the playoffs?
Well...Lee Hammer says no.
That is, unless these people end up not watching next year.
So plain and simple. Everyone needs to start somewhere when you become a fan. Mine happened to be when I was five years old, as noted before. So if you got hooked into baseball because of the Giants' World Series run -- make sure you stay a Giants fan the rest of your life.
When I was in 5th or 6th grade, the Sharks made the playoffs for the first time. It was 1994 -- I've been a hockey fan ever since.
So I hope all you newcomers come back for more torture for years to come.
Now it's a little late to really get too deep into it, but I have been asked about bandwagon jumpers and do they bother me. Does it bother me that all these people who have never watched the Giants before all of a sudden started during the playoffs?
Well...Lee Hammer says no.
That is, unless these people end up not watching next year.
So plain and simple. Everyone needs to start somewhere when you become a fan. Mine happened to be when I was five years old, as noted before. So if you got hooked into baseball because of the Giants' World Series run -- make sure you stay a Giants fan the rest of your life.
When I was in 5th or 6th grade, the Sharks made the playoffs for the first time. It was 1994 -- I've been a hockey fan ever since.
So I hope all you newcomers come back for more torture for years to come.
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