Phoebe Basketball Games 1 - 5 (First Half)

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Eric Hendrickson ~ 

Coach Ro and I are coaching 1st-3rd grade girls in Upward Basketball again this year.

Girls from left to right: Phoebe, Delaney, Ariana, Haylee, and Bella (Ro's daughter).

Game 1 - January 21st - 8:30

We were undefeated last year suffering only (1) tie.  After watching the first game this year, I don't think anyone will compete with us.  It should be a great season.

Neana, the girl with the white jersey looking this way (above) was on our team last year.

Phoebe is #11.  This is her first year to play basketball.

When we have a huddle, we break it by saying, "Play for Jesus".  Phoebe is dribbling up the court in the picture above.

Phoebe made one basket, and shot about four times.  We ended up winning by about 44-10.  They quit keeping score after we got up 20 some points.  All of our girls shot, and all of our girls made at least one basket except one.  Good job Phoebe and the rest of the Timberwolves team.

Phoebe had a fan club at this game, Johannah, Nanee, Silas, and Popee.  And, not pictured, Mommy, Aunt Jan, and Sarah.

Game 2 - January 28th - 8:30

Our girls played two games, back to back today.  The first game we won by a lot.  They turned the score clock off because we got so far ahead, so I don't know what the final score ended up being.

Phoebe and Haylee had the best play of the game.  Haylee threw a nice entry pass into Phoebe and Phoebe caught it cleanly and made a nice shot, scoring for their team.

Phoebe is getting better at dribbling down the court and looking up at her teammates.

We are working on getting more aggressive, going after the ball and rebounding.

Game 3 - January 28th - 9:30

The girls (and teams) are introduced individually before the start of each game.  Here Phoebe is running out with the spotlight on her.

Below, left to right, Coach Eric, Bella, Haylee, Phoebe, Ariana, Delaney, and Coach Ro

Above, Phoebe "Playing Big".  Good job!

Phoebe played fantastic defense during this game.  She played right on her girl, not letting up, causing the girl to lose control of the dribble, dribble out of bounds, or turn-over the ball.

Above - right, Phoebe made a basket.

Above - left, Phoebe's feet are off the floor on this shot.  Good job.

For the second game of the day, our girls won a semi close game by 9 points.

Game 4 - February 4th - 9:30

This week we worked on defense and the girls did a good job of taking what we learned in practice and applying it in the game.

We told the girls you have to watch both the ball and your person.  Phoebe is doing a great job of that in the picture above.

We won 42-16.  Phoebe had 6 points.  Her and Haylee also had the best play of the game that was similar to what they did in Game 2.  Good job girls.

Game 5 - February 11th - 8:30

Game 5 (and games 3 and 4) was played without Ariana (#1 on the bench) due to her broken finger.  She did not get this on the basketball floor but on the playground.  She is a good player and we hope to have her back in a few games.

Phoebe played a good game on both offense and defense.

She scored 6 points.

We won 48-26.  Good job Timberwolves.

Phoebe had many fans including Popee, Nanee, Aunt Jan, and Uncle Dale at this game.

Sarah Basketball Games 1 - 4 (First Half)

**GUEST BLOGGER**

 ~ Eric Hendrickson ~ 

Game 1 - January 21st - 11:30

This year I am helping coach Upward Basketball for 4th-6th grade girls.  Our team is the Jazz.  We had our first game on Saturday the 21st.  We have (8) girls on our team and this is the first year for playing basketball for (3) of them.  I must be honest, I didn't know what to expect with the first game, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Even though we have only had three practices our girls didn't play like it was our first game.  They made some good passes, set pics, and played aggressively.

Sarah is wears #1 on her jersey this year.  She loves offense.  As long as she is dribbling the ball, she is in control.  We need to work with her on what to do when she picks up her dribble.

Our team is going to be the smallest/shortest team this year, but we should be the fastest and most aggressive.

Sarah had 5 points, including a made free throw.

Stacee was able to catch a picture of me giving Sarah a hug after the game.  I was very pleased with her and the rest of the team.  We won 19-12.  Go Jazz!

Game 2 - January 28th - 11:30

The girls are introduced individually before the game.  The lights are down and the spotlight is on them as they each run out onto the court with their team.

We played this game without one of our best players.  We knew going into this game that the other girls would have to step up their play.  Sarah did this in a big way.  She played hard the entire game.

Sarah was the point guard for much of the game.  She continually drove to the basket.

Look at that nice form on her shot, (above).

We ended up winning 31-28 and Sarah had 16 points.  Great job girls and great job, Sarah!

Game 3 - February 4th - 12:30

For game 3, we played against the second best team in the league (I claim that we are the first).  Actually, this team is the best team in the league.  They are tall, quick, and well coached.  We also were without one of our best players, Georgia.  Also, another one of our best players, Morgan, was battling an illness.

Our girls played some great, tough defense, specifically Angelica and Sarah.

The game was hard fought and close the entire game.

Our girls played extremely hard.  The other team was very aggressive.  One of our girls, Cari, was landed on by a big girl on the other team and broke her collar bone.  She may be back for our team by the end of the season.

We ended up losing 18-14 but we are the only team that has been close to competing with this team.  We faced the giants and did very well.  I look forward to the rematch in 3 weeks and to having Georgia for that one.  Should be good.  Sarah had 7 points and played tough defense.  She is one of the best players and is only a 4th grader. 

Game 4 - February 11th - 11:30

We have played the last few games without one of our best players, Georgia.  This game we played without another one of our best players, Angelica.

Overall, we played alright, but we played flat.

Like all the other teams, these girls are taller than us.  However, they are not near as fast.

Sarah shot (2) free throws and made (1).  She had 7 points for the game.  She had some steals and did a good job rebounding this game.

Just before the game, I worked with the girls on our end bound plays.  Unfortunately, they didn't use them during the game.  We will need to keep working on that.  We did win the game.

Since Cari broke her collar bone in the last game, she is now helping as one of the coaches.  She decided what stars each girl was to receive for this game.

Coach is passing out the stars to Sarah.

Savannah is getting better and coach even acknowledged this week at practice that she is the most improved player so far from the start of the season.

The fan club, Popee, Nanee, Aunt Jan, and Uncle Dale went to eat with us at Nu-way after the game.