...'cause KC's got the better bar-be-cue and the better team. MV Eclipse 78, Memphis Elite 68. Eclipse advances to the next round in an 8:45 p.m. game Tuesday versus the Indy Wildcats.
I'll let Big Daddy give you the play-by-play. I will say, it was an emotionally exhausting game. The girls on the team don't understand why the parents are spent when it's the girls doing all the running around! They don't realize it takes a lot out of us to yell and scream and cheer and pray, while crossing all of our fingers and toes, whining at the refs and second-guessing the coaches!
Elvis has left the building...
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This is just such fabulous news, because industrious Aunties, scanning the internet from about 4:30 on discovered a website that shows (mysteriously) a loss in this round (we are thinking it might have been last year's bracker). Anyway, our early disappointment is replaced with incredible delight. We are SO proud of you all. Go gettum, Hannah, a/k/a/ Sara Sue Sisiphus. (or however the heck you spell it).
Big Daddy here at 11:40 at night, when I do my best writing. Actually, it's the only time I can get on the computer, which is always in great demand.
Tonight the girls and their families had a cookout by the pool. It was a good way to relax after today's frenetic game.
I don't think Mother Basketball had the gumption to recount the harrowing experience, so I will.
In today's game against the Memphis Elite, the Eclipse came out firing on all cylinders. They made beautiful crisp passes, shot the ball well, rebounded with tenacity and played defense with extreme ferocity. At halftime, we were up by about 25 points and life was good.
The second half was a different matter. Somewhere we lost that tenacity and the other guys wanted it more. We lost our edge on the boards and the Elite started taking it to the rack, converting and drawing fouls. Things got very tense when our lead shrank to 6 with about 2 minutes to go. Shortly thereafter, the Elite had to resort to fouling to put the Eclipse on the line, hope for a miss and a quick score. But our girls came through, hitting those crucial free throws down the stretch.
Your favorite player (#3) scored 9 points, took exceptional care of the ball and had numerous assists and, I think, even a rebound! (It's always great to see the shorter girls get a rebound or two.) Most of Hannah's scores this tournament have been of the slicing, twisting, driving-to-the-bucket variety, usually topped off with a little "finger roll". She did convert on her only 3-point attempt as well. I should also point out that since AAU Nationals is somewhat akin to the Bataan Death March, it's important to have a team with a deep bench and use all of your players. This means most players will actually be on the floor for about half the game. So, a 9-point effort is pretty admirable, especially when a girl playing Hannah's position is counted on to take care of the ball against pressure defense and do the little things that don't show up on the stat sheet.
Tomorrow is another one of those notorious long days, when our game isn't until 8:45 in the evening. One of the dads is fixing breakfast for the girls, and we'll probably take Bella to the dog park and catch a movie.
For trivia buffs, we'll play tomorrow night's game at Fairfield High School in Fairfield, a suburb of Cincinnati, the largest high school in the state of Ohio. Our opponent is the Indy Wildcats, a 44-34 winner over Team Texas.
Go Eclipse!
A quick note to the Aunties and others looking for game results. AAU updates the brackets continually, so we took down the link in Mother Basketball's post. Best to navigate on your own. Go to www.aaugirlsbasketball.org and clicking on "2007 Results". Click on "13 Div 1" then click on "Championship Bracket Results".
Yikes, if you leave us to the AAU website, we are not dependable....witness the false information and momentary sadness yesterday. Please give us up to the minute scores from the Eclipsettes.
Big Daddy and Mother Basketball are on the case. The laptop is up and running most of the day, so we'll post updates as often as possible.
Now it's off to the dog park because Bella needs her exercise.
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