4A Basketball Provincials

Carson and his friends had a goal going to Ernest Manning.  As much as they wanted to win a City Championship their goal was to put Ernest Manning on the Provincial rankings and that is what happened this year.  2 years ago Ernest Manning was playing Div 3 basketball and now they are ranked in the top 10 Provincially.  That is a big deal!  

Provincials were held in Southern Alberta this year.  We ended up only having 7 players going to Provincials.  One of our starters and the first two players off the bench had family holidays booked for spring break not realizing that Provincials were the first weekend of Spring Break for us.  We knew we didn't have the depth to go all the way, especially playing LCI first game.  

We lost the first game (which were were OK with given our player situation) and the goal became to win the Consolation Side.  

 In the semi final game to get the Consolation final we played the Okotoks team.  They had heard that we were missing players and they thought they were going to give us a good run and probably beat us.  The boys decided to prove themselves and beat the Okotoks team by more than 20.

Then we found out that we were going to be playing Father Lacombe (The team from Calgary we had beat once in the beginning of the season and then we lost by 22 points the last 3 times we played them.  Including our semi final game to go to the Cities).  We really didn't want to play them again.   Maybe the fifth time is a charm??

 Carson and Aidan tucking their shirts in for the last game of the season!  And what a game it was.  Our whole team played a great game.  Everybody did their part defensively, rebounding and passing well.  Of course Carson's job was to shut down their best point guard and he rattled Jonah's game quite well again. At half time I looked up at the score and we were winning by 15 points!!!  I could hardly believe it but at the same time they were playing so well and EVERYBODY executing what their coach had taught them to do all season!

I had my camera ready for a big win celebration but instead I got some of my favourite pictures of the season of Carson.  With a few seconds left on the clock and we are in control of the ball the shirt comes untucked knowing it is game over!

The mouth guard hanging out as he begins to humbly walk off the court.

There is no big cheering and throwing the loss in the other teams face even though it was a huge win.  As he looks up at the score board to see the final score (we beat them by 23 points!) and with a smile on his face . . . this is the look of PURE SATISFACTION!  A job well done!

It was such a great way to finish the season!  Even though we didn't win Provincials this  was almost a bigger win for us.  To be able to finish the season by beating a team who killed us so many times and not only winning the game but handily beating them was just pure satisfaction.

Carson and his two buddies (Aidan and Brody) had reached their goal of putting Ernest Manning on the Provincial map and they brought home some plaques for the school's showcase - Provincial Consolation Championships.  It was a great way to end the season!!

Another Season of Basketball

The best part about Christmas Holidays was when the new EMHS basketball gear arrived.  The season started the end of November and the team was looking pretty good.  

Aidan and Carson were so excited to wear their new outfits!

 We played in lots of tournaments.  Some were more exciting than others!  This game wasn't too exciting! hahahaha

Darcy did a fantastic job of coaching these boys.  It was challenging come up as the new senior boys coach and getting the returning seniors to buy into his coaching strategies.

Always love playing in our home gym.  

The crowds were wild and fun and the gym was usually packed with fans!

 A few action shots of Carson.

 I love this next picture because it really tells a lot about Carson as a player.  He was by far our best defensive player and welcomed guarding the best point guards in the city.
In our semi final game to go to the city championship we played Father Lacombe who had beat us by 22 points previously.  They have one amazing player on their team that scored 50 points on us the previous game.  Carson watched the tape back in preparation for that game and realized that this player drove left 80% of the time as he was left handed. Carson's job that game was to shut Jonah down and do not let him go left.  Needless to say Jonah didn't score once on Carson that game and was getting very frustrated!  Unfortunately, the rest of our team didn't play their part and we lost again to Father Lacombe.  No City Final game for the Griffins this year but they still got to go to Provincials.  Despite the loss, Carson felt good about his game because he had set a goal to shut Jonah down and not let him score on his watch which is exactly what he did.

 Drive to the hoop, big foul . . . . 

  . . . . and one!

 The half time show!

Little Weston and his posy of friends!

During our quarter final game against Churchill at Churchill the gym was absolutely packed with fans from both schools. It was a tight game all the way along.  Carson made some clutch threes and ended up  at the foul line a couple of time with minutes left facing those foul shots that every player dreams about. . . . those shots that are going to win a huge game for your team but the crowds are cheering so loudly that you can't even hear yourself think.  The pressure is huge and it takes discipline and confidence to make those shots.  He managed to tie the game for us and we went into over time!  During overtime Carson played really well and again dropped a couple of key three pointers and ended up at the foul line again in pressure situation with seconds left on the clock.  It is a game that is so hard for a mom to watch yet I wouldn't want to miss a single minute of it!  

Carson put the shots in that counted and we beat Churchill by 1 point in over time!  This guaranteed a spot for us at Provincials!   The first time in history Ernest Manning High School has gone to Div I Provincials.  The crowds rushed the players at the end of the game and the boys were so dang excited!!!