Badminton City Champs!

Kailey really enjoys paying badminton.  This is the grade 9 team of 

badminton players from St. Joan of Arc School.

 Kailey plays girls doubles with Laura and this is the second year they have played together.

They work really well together because Laura is good at the net and 

Kailey can smash the heck out of that birdie from the back of the court.

When it came down to the City Final matches Kailey and Laura 

were the only ones from the grade nine team that had a chance at 

winning the championship.  We moved up a division this year so 

the competition was pretty tough. 

This picture is blurry but I love  Mr. McNeil's (the coach) 

reaction when Kailey and Laura won the match by 2 points!

Way to go girls!  City Champions two years in a row! 

JJ Brings Home the Gold from Provincials

Back in March Jordan's Calwest basketball team went to Provincials in Edmonton.  It was a really fun weekend travelling with his team for the first time.  They played really well and managed to bring home the Gold.

 The boys had a great season and really improved their game thanks to some great dedicated coaches.

One of the highlights of their season was when they came to watch the Ernest Manning High School Boys play and the Calwest team was the half time show.  They played a 4 on 4 game in front of all the high school fans and the fans cheered louder for little Weston than they do for big brother Weston.  Darcy was announcing the game in the microphone and the boys would get excited to hear Darcy's commentating when he would call their name out.

Jordan is still the smallest player on the court but he is quick and is not afraid to put the shots up over the big boys.  You just have to get the shots of quickly.

They got home from Provincials late Saturday night and Jordan left his trophy standing on the island in the kitchen.  When Carson came upstairs the next morning he was blown away with this huge trophy sitting there. He said "That's not fair!  I have been playing basketball for how many years and I don't have a trophy like that!  This is Jordan's first year playing and this is what he wins?"  Jordan said to Carson, "All you have to do is win Provincials Carson!"  No big deal really.  Just another weekend in the life of Jordan Weston.

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!!!

Win some and lose some!

Kailey played her last basketball game as a Cavalier tonight!  Boy was it a tough one!  They moved up to tier II because they wanted a more challenging play off grid.  She played her heart out on Wednesday night in the semi final to win by about 18 points and now, the City Championship for the second year in a row.

The team started off strong and Kailey scored the first few hoops.
She went to the foul line and made both her shots.  It was looking good for the Cavaliers!

Our team just didn't play like they can and we had way too many turn overs! They found themselves in a desperate situation where they were down by 2 at the end of the game and and just couldn't pull one more shot off to tie it up before the buzzer went and the game was over!

Kailey receiving her silver medal for two years in a row as a Cavalier basketball player (and one the year before that at Springbank).  She hates silvers because you have to lose to get a silver medal.

It was such a tough loss and the girls were not very happy to say the least.  After the team picture Kailey left the gym and wouldn't talk to anybody.  The only person she would get in the car with was Carson and so they left to spend some time together.  Sometimes I wonder why we do this to ourselves.  If we didn't ever compete in anything we would never have to feel that deep sense of a big loss!  Then I have to remind myself that if we didn't compete in anything we would also never feel the great satisfaction of a big victory either.  At the end of the day we win some and we lose some and although losing stings, we pick ourselves up and play some more!  That is what it is all about!

Overall Kailey had a fantastic season and she loved her coaches. She will have some great memories as a Cavalier basketball player.