Two days. Sub-zero temperatures. Tumbleweeds in the roads. Nine Games in two divisions (back-to-back, no breathing room).
DOUBLE Championship wins.
Intrigued yet?
We’ll start here: We told you that CAVS 13U only had ONE practice (with all teammates actually present simultaneously, that is) before season tourneys started up. Still….after last weekend’s loss in the semi-finals, vs. MVP Flight Elite (ACES MLK Tourney) we…kind-of…expected CAVS 13U to bounce back in this past weekend’s tourney. They always do. We also knew it would be a busy weekend. We just didn’t know how busy. Phew!! Grab a chair. I’ve got to break this down for you.
CAVS 13U brought home the 1st Place Championship in the 13U division and finished as 2nd Place Champions (playing up) in the 14U Division, at the 7th Annual AVAC Hoyas New Year’s Kickoff Classic Tourney, January 21st-22nd, 2012, in the Palmdale/Lancaster area.
Notice, we said: Palmdale/Lancaster area. Now you know why we mentioned tumbleweeds.
Here we go.
On Saturday at 3:00pm, CAVS 13U kicked off the weekend vs. the 14U O3 Elite Team and won, 33-26.
At 5:00, CAVS 13U was running the floor with the 14U Gamepoint team and scored the win, 36-25.
At 6:00, they went head-to-head with the 13U West Valley Warriors, won, 58-24 and….
…at 7:00, CAVs won 67-27 against the 13U AV Champions, earning them a spot in the semi-finals.
Sounds manageable? Well…it probably would be, if there had been a break between games. Nope. When games don’t run on time, there are no breaks!
Nevertheless…..
When all of that was done, rumor had it that our Sunday games in both 13U and 14U divisions were to be played at 11:00am. Yeah, right. Like that was going to work! So, after some “rearranging”, we received word at 10:00pm that night that our first game was to be at 8:00am Sunday morning.
8:00am?
Well, it certainly beat the alternative of dividing ourselves in half to attend two games at the same time in different gyms. We arrived so early the ADMISSION table wasn't even set up yet, much less the scoreboard arrangements...and as for the refs? Fuggedaboutit!
Question: If you were a ref and arrived blisteringly late to a game, would you take your time, plug in, then check your cell phone and still calmly stroll over to change your clothes, or would you hurry the heck up? I'm just sayin’.
So, YEP...on Sunday morning, bright and early at 8:00am, CAVS 13U faced off with the 14U Impact Team and garnered the victory, 46-32, earning them a 14U Semi-Final spot.
Now…one would think we would have a break between this time and the next game at 11:00am, right? NOT! The 8am game didn’t begin until almost 9:00am (no refs or scoreboard set-up) so, no…there were no breaks. Luckily, most of us packed coolers with pop tarts, bananas and granola bars; otherwise we would’ve been in need of a miracle to get the boys to play non-stop games like that!
Now…one would think we would have a break between this time and the next game at 11:00am, right? NOT! The 8am game didn’t begin until almost 9:00am (no refs or scoreboard set-up) so, no…there were no breaks. Luckily, most of us packed coolers with pop tarts, bananas and granola bars; otherwise we would’ve been in need of a miracle to get the boys to play non-stop games like that!
At 11:00am, for the Semi-Final game, CAVS 13U met up with the 13U Baseline 2 Baseline team and won, 37-22.
At 12:00, for the Semi-Final game, CAVS 13U squared up with the 14U NJB Stars team. THIS was an interesting game.
NJB is a structured team, with a MASSIVE (tall and husky) kid towering over 6’3. However, the NJB structure didn’t quite dominate the CAVS 13U structure and CAVS 13U scored the win, 36-25.
You know what this all meant, don’t you?
All of these wins placed CAVS 13U in two championship games for both 13 & 14U. Score! Not to mention, there were hot dogs, links, ribs, potato salad and baked beans for sale in the lobby. OF COURSE these games would be played back-to-back, so the boys had to (quite happily, I might add) WOLF this kind of food down as fast as they could (after the 12:00 game) and get right back out to play. I suppose SEVERE INDIGESTION is not as common in smaller, athletic bodies used to inhaling food down as a common practice, as it would MOST DEFINITELY would be (in me) and the rest of their parents.
Anyway….
At 2:00pm (the CAVS’ fourth consecutive game that day) CAVS 13U battled the 13U Gymrats for the championship.
OMG. Before the game could begin, there was an argument over the usual Molten ball the CAVS use---so, we couldn’t use it. As if the BALL was going to make a serious difference in anything! Whatever. I have to give it to the Gymrats. Those boys were SERIOUSLY ready to play and launched the game with a sizeable lead against CAVS 13U.
However (as always) CAVS 13U pulled a spare helping from their “strong stamina reserve” and quickly closed (and surpassed) the gap, winning the championship, 42-34. GO CAVS 13U!!!
However (as always) CAVS 13U pulled a spare helping from their “strong stamina reserve” and quickly closed (and surpassed) the gap, winning the championship, 42-34. GO CAVS 13U!!!
The boys literally sat down for about two minutes flat before meeting the 14U Edge Basketball team in the center of the floor, where they had JUST taken their 13U Championship photo.
Talk about stamina!
The 14U Championship game was toe-to-toe, until CAVS 13U gained a NICE lead, placing them ahead for the first half.
The second half was an entirely different story, as the 14U Edge boys closed the gap and the two teams battled it out until the very last minutes of the game.
CAVS 13U was ahead and almost had the championship, when Edge scored a last-minute “and one”, placing them 1 point ahead, with 2.1 seconds left on the clock. Sucks, doesn’t it?
The second half was an entirely different story, as the 14U Edge boys closed the gap and the two teams battled it out until the very last minutes of the game.
CAVS 13U was ahead and almost had the championship, when Edge scored a last-minute “and one”, placing them 1 point ahead, with 2.1 seconds left on the clock. Sucks, doesn’t it?
Edge prevailed at 56-55.
Lucky win for Edge, though. However, can you SEE the overall picture? Our boys were dog-tired and STILL almost had it! We had injured players and other players NOT AT ALL on top of their game this weekend. CAVS 13U only lost by ONE unlucky point after all that.
CAVS 13u still brought home two trophies in one day, after nine games during the weekend, back-to-back, still finished 1st place in the 13U division and still earned the 2nd place championship in the 14U division!!
***We’ll say it again…..GO CAVS 13U!! Even though they all look someone just shot their dogs!! Maybe they're just tired after NINE STRAIGHT games in two days.....
No worries, though….CAVS 13U is just warming up.
NEXT STOP….Santa Anita Mountaineers tourney next weekend, January 28th-29th! GAME ON!!!
***Check out this weekend's photos on our Facebook site HERE.
***Check out this weekend's photos on our Facebook site HERE.
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