OMG. If you weren’t there, you should have been there, please believe. I am still highly upset that I’d forgotten my blasted video camera cord at home. I’m STILL kicking myself for not having footage. However, CAVS 12U had a GREAT weekend this past Saturday, December 18th and Sunday, December 19th at the Sports Complex in Anaheim. Yep. It is because they won the championship in the 7th Annual Kenny Smith Christmas B-Ball Tourney. This marks the second consecutive large tourney this month where they brought home the championship. What a perfect way to close out the year! So, here we go….
On Saturday, CAVS 12U first defeated 5 on 5, 35-14 and then Pressure Basketball, 37-15.
On Sunday, CAVS 12U met up again with the OC Panthers (we recently played them somewhere else, I can’t quite remember…) and won, 35-18.
On Saturday, CAVS 12U first defeated 5 on 5, 35-14 and then Pressure Basketball, 37-15.
On Sunday, CAVS 12U met up again with the OC Panthers (we recently played them somewhere else, I can’t quite remember…) and won, 35-18.
This set 12U to square off with Pressure for a second time, despite starting things off with a clock that didn’t seem to want to work no matter WHAT anybody did. Refs moved our game to an empty court nearby and the game continued. CAVS gained a 34-17 victory on the new court, with the working clock.
That’s when things got interesting.
The championship game went DOWN at 3:00pm. I know folks were tired from being around all day, since the morning (heck, I was one of em’) but you MUST know…THIS was the game of the day. CAVS 12U faced off with I-Can All Stars. For those of you who do NOT know the I-Can All Stars, I will be the FIRST to tell you NOT to sleep on them or misjudge them—especially because two of their main guards (Diggy and Journey) are short in height. Let me stop you right there. Those two boys are quicker than water bugs scattering away from bright light and will be past you with the ball in the basket in the blink of an eye. Much love for those boys because they have heart and hustle! That’s much of what it takes.
However, you know CAVS 12U are NOT to be slept on, either. So…this game was a constant fight to the finish, from start to end, though it started as a spanking. Our coaches were flabbergasted. The I-Can All Stars had CAVS 12U locked up tight by at least ten points during the first half. The score was 6 to 16 at one point! In fact, the first half ended 23-29, with I-Can All Stars leading!
Did I also mention the Pigeon that took center-court seats to watch the game with us?
We can't make this stuff up. If this sounds intense, I think ALL the coaches needed Excedrin for the second half.
It was then, that CAVS 12U turned up the heat. In the second half, with 2:56 left on the clock, 12U led 46-39, but it was not good enough. I-Can then turned up their heat. The game was a constant push-pull, shot-for-shot.
However, several bad fouls, a near-brawl experience and multiple free throws later placed the score to 51-48, with I-Can trailing behind by three points. Wow. With I-Can holding the ball and all the parents from both teams tearing their hair out in sheer stress RIGHT as the clock was one second to 0.00, I-Can hit a three point buzzer-beater, tying the game up, 51-51. The crowd erupted; overtime.
Jeez.
By then, ALL the other games in the entire gym were over except for ours. In fact, the back of the building was completely dark. Even Kenny Smith, who was supposed to take a picture with the winners of each game, had long gone. It was on…down to the last two minutes of the night. A knife wouldn’t be sharp enough to cut the tension in the room—you’d need an axe.
By then, the janitors had come over to watch the rest of the game.
The last two minutes began with a scrappy tip-off, which resulted in I-Can traveling and turning the ball over to CAVS 12U.
Why’d they do that? It was then that CAVS scored and took the lead, followed by a foul in our favor and a free throw—which we missed. With 10 seconds left on the clock, someone fouled 12U again and we went to the line for two more free throws.
We made both of those. With only a few seconds left in the game, I-Cann tried, but couldn’t catch up, resulting in a 55-52 championship victory for CAVS 12U. PHEW!!!
CAVS 2011…are you ready?
******Full game details for all divisions are always available on our main website: http://www.cavsyouthbasketball.org. Check back often for updates, as they are posted at varied times by multiple staff members.
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