B’Ballers Bow Out

The Shallowater Little Dribblers major team was eliminated from the national tournament Friday.  They were among the last four teams in the field.  In the tournament, they defeated Mexia, defeated Crockett, lost to Madisonville, defeated Brownfield, and lost a rematch with Mexia.  The Crockett win was double digit; every other game was a single digit difference.

The guys did great, and their coaches are to be congratulated on the time and effort they put into helping the guys get ready.  Coach Scaff and Coach Knight worked hard for our guys, challenged them, encouraged them, and made them a TEAM.  There is nothing to be ashamed of in their performance, and I think there is a core here of a team you may hear more from in the future.

There was also terrific support from the girl classmates of this team.  They made T-Shirts and came to every game they could, leading the cheers and rallying the crowd in support of their Mustangs.  I hope some of these guys will return the favor and show as much spirit when it’s the girls time to play.  It’s not so much that they “owe” it, as it is simply the right thing to do.  The boys would have a blast being a part of it.  These classmates could be a pretty special group.

We also need to give a shout out to the parents of this group, who were very supportive of their kids.  It was a cohesive bunch and that was a ton of fun to be around.  Everyone deserves thanks, but some special kudos to a few folks:

• The Knight family for welcoming us into their home and hosting a breakfast and supper for the team and families on two different days
• The Hall family for hosting the team between games on Thursday
• Becky Black for keeping the books in all the games and being so dedicated to the boys

I’m sure I left out some deserving folks, but basically thanks to EVERYONE for making this such a great experience for our kiddos!

It’s Time!

Here we go into the tournament we’ve been aiming for!  This is the week!  Let’s make it magic!

Good luck boys, we wish you the very best.  Be proud.  Know that we love you no matter the outcome.

Let’s have a Mustangs, loud and proud, on three…one, two, three….

MUSTANGS!

Little Dribblers Majors One Week Out…

About one week away from the beginning of the nationals in Levelland and our guys are looking fairly good.  We scrimmaged Plainview tonight, which is generally a pretty good ball club.  Our guys played a little “harem-scarem” for a while as one parent put it, but overall they are still a pretty salty little basketball team.  We make the occasional mistake that any 5th-6th grade team is going to make, but the players rarely get down on themselves or hang their heads.  I see lots of effort, lots of understanding what to do and a few 5th-6th grade brain cramps here and there.  Overall, looks ok to me.

Their coach continues to do a nice job.  We’ve commented on it before, but Scott has an ability to communicate with these boys, correct them in a way that doesn’t get them down, and recognizes the different approach he needs to use with different personalities and skill sets of his various players.  I just feel really good about that.  Of course his basketball knowledge is a big asset as well.

It should be a wild, fun and crazy week next week!

Little Dribblers Majors Move On

The team got it done over the weekend.  They won two straight to take the regional tournament and advance to the nationals in Levelland.  In the process they got to play Brownfield again (after the Lamesa practice tournament) and that was good.  They showed that the Lamesa result was a fluke.  It was nice to win in two and not have the worry of that third game.

Now there are three more weeks to get ready for the nationals.  Best of luck boys.

Let The Games Begin

The little dribblers team Shane is on starts their playoff run tonight.  They have been practicing for about six weeks to get ready for this, so we are all glad it’s finally time to play.  They should be a decent team with some chance to advance.

Scott is sure doing a good job coaching them.  I’m jealous of his ability to teach what he knows (which is a lot) and communicate with these kids.  Shane is already a lot better basketball player after just this six weeks with Scott.  Shane just loves playing for him and Scott seems to have an ability to connect with Shane and teach him that I have seen in few if any other coaches Shane has had.  I sure don’t have that same ability.  Don’t get me wrong, Shane has a long way to go and can improve lots over where he is now, but within this time frame I do think Scott is getting just about everything out of Shane that he has to give and making him stretch to improve his skills, knowledge and court awareness.

Now if he could just get Shane to dribble left handed…..