Youth Basketball

This winter Preston played basketball through the rec league again.  He was lucky enough to get chosen by an experienced coach.  David Lee did a great job leading the boys, and really honing in on what their strengths were.  He was fair, and encouraging the whole time.

Preston doesn't have the height that a couple of the other kids had, but he was great at guarding whoever he was put on due to his speed.  He hustled and played hard the entire game each week.  The team started off losing the first two games (though they were close losses), but they then went on a winning streak....winning the last six games of regular season.  The boys all improved, and worked great together.  It ended up being a really fun season, and Preston improved a great deal over the past couple of months.

As the season wrapped, his team was ranked third entering the tournament.  They played the first game in the tournament, and won fairly easily.  However it was their second game, the semi-championship game, that was going to be the toughest.  Preston was scared, as he should have been.  They were tough, and probably expected to win.  They were up the entire game, leading by 7 points at one time in the 3rd quarter.  However, they came back in the 4th quarter and narrowed the gain by a basket with two minutes left in the game.  Then, Davis Lee (the coach's son), made a basket to tie it up!  The boys went crazy, and I was cheering so loud from the stands.  But when Davis got fouled with less than 20 seconds left and made both baskets.....they knew they had won, and it was HUGE!  They advanced to the championship game the next night.

Steve was out of town, and missed the final two games, so I had to text him updates.  He was thrilled to hear about the big win in the semi-championship, but there are no guarantees with 3rd grade basketball.  So though Preston's team had previously beaten their opponent in the regular season, they needed to be clicking to secure the win. 

Davis, Lennon, Coach Cornutt, Morgan, Jakobe, Coach Lee, Travis, Win & Pres

The boys started off strong, and finished the half with a 12 point lead.  However, the other team came on strong the second half, narrowing the gain to just 5 points at the end of the 3rd quarter.  They held pat for several minutes into the 4th quarter, but then the gain shrunk even more.  With less than 3 minutes, the game was within 4 points.  Once again, it ended up being a nail biter, with the game being secured within the last minute.  Thankfully for Preston's team....they ended up as the CHAMPIONS!!!  They were all so excited!  But what Pres was the most excited about what his plaque.  They said they decided to do plaques with a piece of the former basketball court on each winner's plaque, instead of the typical trophy (since they had just put in new courts this year).

As you can tell from the pictures - he was pumped with the final results!

UA Basketball Game w/ Uncle Dan

Selfie at the basketball game

Our children are so lucky.....they have three "fun uncles" that love our kids.  Each one has something special that they share with each of our kids, and Uncle Dan is definitely the biggest Alabama fan.  He is extremely faithful to Bama, and has tickets to every sporting event.  So whenever one of the kids wants to attend something, he can always provide them with a ticket.  He has taken Bennett to gymnastics meets, and this time it was Preston's turn.  He was dying to go see a basketball game!

Preston and Uncle Dan headed to Tuscaloosa to watch Bama roll all over Tennessee.  Pres had a ball, and said it was so loud inside the coliseum.  Thank you Uncle Dan for the wonderful memories, and for spoiling each of our children in your special way.

Final Score....Bama Won!

Pres wishing he could win the raffle and win the autographed Derrick Henry jersey