3J Zone Champions

 Alyssa's basketball team played in the 3J South Zone tournament on March 2nd and 3rd in Fort Macleod. They went into the tournament seeded #1. Their quarter and semi-final games were very easy, and they won handily. In the final they played the home team, Fort Macleod. People from Fort Macleod school reffed the game. We ended up winning 53-40, but it was quite close until the 4th quarter. It was the kind of game where fans were yelling and screaming the whole game because the reffing was bizarre, and there was no flow to the game. Overt fouls were overlooked and tiny details were called. Alyssa didn't play much in the final, because she got into foul trouble and actually fouled out, even though she barely played. Several of their other players were also in foul trouble. In the end, Kassi Bogdan, #10, had her best game of the year and our team won.
It was a great feeling for the girls to bring home the banner, even though the tournament was a little odd. In volleyball, by contrast, their team was very strong. They won 7 tournaments in a row. So, they decided to play 4J Zones, which is for the biggest schools in Southern Alberta. In the end, they lost in the semi-final by 1 pt in the third set. They were, of course, severely affected by the death of their teammate and setter, Danae Gough. They were very disappointed to come away from zones empty handed when they had such a strong team. Meanwhile on the same day as their loss in volleyball, the Gr. 9 boys played 3J zones and won a banner.
In basketball, we knew we couldn't win 4J zones, because Cardston had consistently beat us this season. There were also 2 or 3 others teams we might have lost to, depending on how we played. Instead, our girls and our boys played 3J zones and both won their respective banners.
I'm really proud of Alyssa for the progress she has made in basketball over time. In grade 7, I don't know if she scored a basket all year, and she definitely wasn't one of the better players. But, she has played three years, has done spring ball and basketball camps. She also goes to the church whenever she can to practice skills with her friend and teammate, Teesha Olson. Now, she has established herself as a starting post. She normally scores over 10 points most games, and draws lots of fouls. She has a decent shooting percentage and she is getting better as a rebounder, too. There are still many areas she needs to work on, including growing, but considering how little athletic ability I had to pass on to her, I think she has done remarkably well so far!