Upward Basketball 2016 Season - Games 5-8

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Eric Hendrickson ~

If you missed the post about Sarah's first half of her basketball season, you can CLICK HERE to read the post about games #1 - #4.

Game #5 - February 6th

Game 5 was a dominating performance.  The other team was missing one of their best players.  Look at Sarah (#3) above keeping her hand in the passing lane and keeping her eyes on her person and on the ball.

Our girls all have their hands up playing good defense.

Hannah (#31), on the opposing team, getting triple teamed.  Sarah did good help defense here.  Cari (#12) keeping a hand in the passing lane.

On the right:  Nice looking shot by Nienna.

Stars are handed out at the end of the game to recognize the individuals areas of excellence:
Red: Defense, Gray: Offense, Yellow: Sportsmanship, White: Christlikeness, Blue: Effort.
(We also hand out green stars to each girl for scripture memorization)

Our team motto this year is: "How do we play? - Aggressive; We play as a? - Team; We play for? - Jesus"

The blue star iron-on/sticker best represents Aggressive, the yellow best represents Team, and white best represents Jesus.

I handed out the stars to the girls after this game.

We won 50-20.  Sarah had 24 points.

Game #6 - February 13th

Sarah has been working on layups.  She is getting better but sometimes goes off the wrong foot.

We won 37-17.  Sarah had 14 points.

Game #7 - February 20th

This was our best all around game of the year.

This week at practice, we focused on being aggressive for rebounds, and the girls responded well.

Above, Cari is taking a shot.  She has vastly improved this year.  She plays with a lot of effort and is quite aggressive, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Addison, #2 below, had an all around great game.  She is really understanding the game.  Hopefully, she is on our team again next year.

We won 44-26.  Sarah had 22 points.

Game #8 - February 27th

Our last game.  Although we won, 29-22, it certainly was not our best game.  Sarah had 13 points.  The girls had their game faces on before the game (above), but we played a very flat first half and we were tied at halftime.  Coach Ro and I's halftime speech must have been effective because we played a much better second half.

The super aggressive girl played defense on Sarah all game.  They finally called a foul on her.

Sarah went 1 of 2 from the line.

Above, Sarah and Hannah:  Best of friends and fierce competitors

Grandma Sharon (my Mom) came up from Texas to watch Sarah's last game.  Grandma Great (my Grandma) and Mike also came.

We accomplished our goal - An Undefeated Season!

Team Party ~ February 27th
Coach Ro hosted an after season party.  Both his son's and daughter's team were celebrated.  Combined record for the teams was 14 wins, 0 losses, and 2 ties.  Great job teams and coaches!  The highlight of the event was the ice cream treat below.

Awards Ceremony ~ February 28th

There was an awards ceremony the next day.  Above, we took a team selfie before we went into the ceremony.  Each team was called up on stage to be introduced and to receive a basketball and DVD. 

Sarah quietly introduced herself as did the rest of the girls.  We had a great bunch of girls this year.  NUGGETS FOR JESUS!

SARAH STATS

Stars Received: (1) red, (1) yellow, (2) white, (3) gray, and (1) blue.  Sarah could have gotten (1) of each per game, but only one is given per game.
(Red: Defense, Gray: Offense, Yellow: Sportsmanship, White: Christlikeness, Blue: Effort)

Total Points: 137, which is 17.1 points per game

Record: 7 wins, 0 losses, 1 tie

Front Row Left to Right:  Bella, Kylie, Cari.  Second Row Left to Right:  Nienna, Addison, Sarah

SARAH, YOU HAD A GREAT YEAR.  I REALLY ENJOYED BEING YOUR COACH AND I LOVE BEING YOUR DADDY!