Champs.... Again !

Gee, a quarter of a year since a post. Any readers I did are probably long gone.

You may have noticed two posts ago, on 8 June, (one of)my basketball team[s] - the White Wolves - won its competition. Well, we repeated the feat, folks. After winning division 6, they considered us worthy of moving up a grade. We were placed into div 5; the premiere grade for this venue and time of week.

The premiere division is definitely a step-up in terms of the competition and the difficulty. This was apparent to our team early, as we began the season on a three-game losing streak and our season looking bleak. At the end of any season, the bottom two teams in the premiere are downgraded to the lower division, and it looked for a time as though we may be going back to our roots.

Fortunately though, our team founds it rhythim and streak, and we then won three consecutive games.

From this point, we had three games remaining and were tied with our rivals the Los Amigos (see 8th June post, we beat them last seasons finals).

We lost back-to-back games to the same team! Fortunately, the Amigos did as well, meaning the final game of the season would determine who had the fourth and final spot.

The schedule showed that we play the Amigos. We won more convincingly against them than we ever had in the past.

We won the semi's.

The Grand Final was obviously an important game. I arrived at the stadium 90 minutes early to warm up. I was worried from the start, not from my nerves, but because during my practice beforehand, I barely made a single shot. Some days you just don't feel confident about your shot this was one of them for me.

Fortunately, I am not the only person on the team. Our centre, Bob played aggressively on defense and was throughout the course of the game accumulated seven blocked shots. Along with our forward Marty, they consistently out rebounded our opponents on both ends of the floor.

Within the opening five minutes, the game was 8 - 2, with us losing. With our two highest scorers (myself and James) unable to make any baskets, we were fortunate that Aaron and Bob raised the game when the team needed them. They each scored six points in the first quarter and lead our team in front.

The entire game was close. James really picked up the slack in the final 10 minutes where he scored (I believe) 9 points. The final score was 46 - 45. After the first five minutes, it was neck and neck the entire game. A brilliant game and a satisfying win.

Our season is back on again, and the White Wolves look to repeat as champs.

I will post a recap of our first game. Be sure to tune in.