Cale's tournament action

It's tournament time for Marcus and Cale's basketball teams. Marcus's final regular season game was Saturday morning. They won :-) and secured a high enough "seed" that they don't have to play again until next Saturday (instead of Monday night if they would have lost). According to the playoff grid, this makes them the #1 or #2 seed for their "conference". Wow. I didn't think they had won that many games, but anyway.

Cale had his actual tournament on Saturday. There are six teams in his conference and it was a single elimination (once you lose, your out) deal. The Georgetown Hoyas played their first game against the DePauw whatever they are and won! It was a fun game. The HS JV basketball coach was the MC and also brought some music to play during time-outs and half-time. Cale had a GREAT game. He got the ball on several turnovers, got to shoot some free throws and made, I think, 4 baskets (which is quite a lot for a K/1st grade team player). At one point, Cale had scored a couple times in a row and the announcer said "Cale Shaffer, he's on fire!" Cute! And, I appreciate that they actually said Cale's name right (instead of Cole or Caleb). All the boys liked hearing their names over the loudspeaker too. It's nice to get praise. They also announced the fouls overhead and some of the kids did not like that they had they names called for that. But, anyway, Cale played well, handled the ball well and was one of the better players on his team (for a first year, kindergarten player). Andy was impressed and was wondering where Cale's talent came from. I reminded him, that hey, I lettered my senior year in basketball and got the most improved player award. (And I played for a team that won one game the whole season and I had never played before-but never mind) There's a big difference in how Marcus and Cale each play on their teams. Marcus, right now is more of a post player-get the rebound, pass the ball out, not a big shooter. Cale is way more agressive-pass me the ball, taking shots, moving the ball down the court. It's fun to see them each play.

In Cale's second tournament game, Georgetown faced the Orangemen of Syracuse. It was a rough game. Syracuse had a couple of good 1st grade kids that kept the score up on their half. That year really makes a difference in skill level between K and 1st grade. Cale played well again-made a couple baskets, moved the ball well. You could tell the team was a little tired, having played @ 1030 with this game @ 1230. Well, they Hoyas lost, bringing their season to an end. But, that was okay, because they all got snacks and a trophy! Cale was TIRED the rest of the day! Andy and I agreed that we think the boys have had a great basketball experience and have seen a definite improvement in their skill and understanding of the game. We will definitely do this next year!

Here's Cale's team after their 2nd game. (Cale's on the bottom right) Coach Troy and his assistant did a fantastic job! The boys all played well together and you could tell the coach wanted them to have fun.


Cale with his big trophy that we had to make room for on his trophy shelf. It's the biggest trophy he's gotten, so he was very excited for that.