Hallissey Tournament, Year Five

We had another epic weekend in Boise for the annual Hallissey basketball tournament sponsored by a Catholic church down there.  This was Glenn's fifth year of coaching a team for this tournament.  You can review many of our memories of this event here and here.

New this year, Glenn switched from coaching the girls' team to coaching the boys' team.  This was Ellea's first year of not being on the team after four years of participating on the court.  She started in 5th grade and it's technically an 8th grade tournament.  Glenn usually takes 7th and 8th graders along so she had a more years than most kids get.

Morgan will get to have the same experience, as he was on the team this year as a fifth grader.  He mostly took stats and got to experience the game from the bench, but he also got a couple minutes of playing time when the team had a nice lead.

They worked hard and made it to the championship game which is always exciting.  Glenn gets to announce each of his players.  He started with the youngest players, so Morgan went first.  Here, he's fist bumping the officials.  (I just realized that, looking back, Nicole also wore #12 when she played three years ago.  Funny!)

They played their hearts out, but they were playing a team that was strictly 8th graders.  They had played this team once before in the tournament and lost by 20 points.  The score was much closer for this game (it was often tied or one or the other team had a lead of a point or two), but the other team pulled ahead in the end.  Glenn's team played some great ball and gave it their all.

Second place is nothing to be ashamed of, but those were some sad boys.

So proud of these two.  Glenn had so many random people approach him after the game and tell him what a great team he had and how fun it was to watch them.  Can't wait to watch number 12 improve his game and continue to grow.  He's already got a great understanding of the game and really seems to enjoy it.  Until next year.....

Good Vibes

Nicole seemed to enjoy helping her dad coach the girls' basketball team that went to the Hallissey tournament in Boise.  I'm sure she did lots of helpful, supportive assistant coach-type of things.  But my favorite thing that I witnessed?...

Her moving down the line of players and giving them a pep talk prior to the final championship game (that we won!).

This girl knows the value of words of affirmation.

And the value of a laugh.

Girl power.

Spreading the love.

Giving out good vibes (to her sister).  Love it!

Baskets

Ellea did a great job playing at the Hallissey tournament.  I always try to take pictures when she's playing, but it's hard to get good shots.  I love it when I am able to capture her  making a basket.

Is it gonna go in?....

Yes! (It did, you'll just have to take my word on it!)

Hallissey Coaches

Since Nicole and Glenn's star player, Chaye, were too old to play in the Hallissey tournament this year, he invited them to be his assistant coaches.  He even ordered them all matching coaches shirts.

It was serious business

And they were pleased with their 1st place win.

It was hard work.....

But fun.  And worth it.

Hallissey 2014

We made our third annual pilgrimage to Boise for the Hallissey Catholic Basketball Tournament.  This is an 8th grade tournament, so Nicole is now too old to play, but Ellea has been on the team since 5th grade.

Last year, they lost their first game, then had to scramble to win their next FIVE games in order to make it to the championship game.  That was a total of seven games over 40 hours.  Needless to say, the girls were exhausted and the team we played in the championship round were tough competitors.  We were thrilled to go home with the 2nd place trophy.

This year, they managed to win their first game and every game thereafter, to make it into the championship round after only three games.  That was a total of four games over 40 hours.  Much more manageable.

And our "little" team of fifteen 7th and 8th graders pulled off winning 1st place in the tournament.  That meant they were undefeated.  It was all very exciting, and fun, and fabulous.

Boise Food

One of the nights in Boise during the Hallissey tournament, we ate dinner at the Outback Steakhouse with some friends.

I had steak.  It was yummy, but my plate looked sadly half empty.  I had plenty to eat as it also came with a big salad.  But there's something to be said for filling your plate.  Maybe use a smaller plate or spread out those yummy garlic mashed potatoes so they take up more room.  Something.

Especially when this is what your husband's plate looks like.  He didn't get a salad, so he really didn't consume that much more food than me.  It just looks more pleasing.  What I'm saying is that I had a little plate envy.  But then I ate my food and was very full, so I got over it.  Thanks for listening.

The happy couple.  Happy to eat.  Happy to be out with friends.  Happy that the kids sat at their own table and the adults sat at another.  It was almost like a date.

And no trip to Boise would be complete in our family without a trip to Olive Garden.  We stopped there after the final championship game.  I was almost too exhausted to want to eat.  Almost.  Not quite.  I had my usual - Chicken Scampi.  It is the yummiest.  You have to have an affinity for green and red bell peppers, but I do, so I love it.  I was so hungry and so tired that I forgot to take a picture until my leftovers were waiting to go home.  It's lucky I had any leftovers to take a picture of, really.  I wouldn't want to deprive you of a photo of my leftovers.  I'm considerate like that.  You can thank me later.

Official Game

The final championship game at the Hallissey tournament was in the same gym where the State basketball games had been held just days before.  And the refs were the same ones used for the state games.  That was hard to believe, because they sure didn't call very many fouls, but that's what they said.

It was all very official.  The Boy Scouts presented the colors.

A young woman sang the National Anthem beautifully. 

 And Glenn got to introduce his starting lineup.

And it was only their third game of the day at 12:30 pm.  Against a team who was undefeated in the tournament and was playing their first game of the day.  No biggie.  No pressure.  But they did great.

And then there were no more games and I did a little happy dance inside.  Honestly, if you'd told me ahead of time we were going to be playing seven games over 40 hours, I may have rebelled a little.  But it wasn't so bad.  Exhausting, but not so bad.

Biased

Last year, Nicole was was on the team, but didn't want to play and was mostly the stats girl at the Hallissey tournament in Boise.  This year, she shocked us all by agreeing to not only be on the team, but actually spend some time on the court!  For having not played the last couple of years, she did quite well.  But I'm a little biased.  I'm the mom.  But still.

She's number 12 on the right.  She looks like she knows what she's doing.  I'm not that biased.  Okay, I might be a little biased.

The "littles" on the team (4 sixth graders) didn't get a whole lot of playing time, but they were the stats keepers and cheering squad!  They played the last minute or two of a couple games that their team was way ahead or behind in.  At most games they weren't relegated to the floor, but this particular gym didn't have enough seats.  (Ellea is number 40.)

See, there's number 12 again.  Looking good.

Ellea getting a pep talk from the coach (Glenn) before she goes in for the last minute of the second game (we were ahead by about 15 points).  She looked a little nervous, but she did great.  Again, biased mom talking, but she did do great.  Really.

More Basketball

Ellea's 5th grade team had a basketball tournament last Saturday in nearby Grangeville. They played one game Friday night and two games on Saturday.


They played well. They won their first game, lost their second and won the third. They ended up in 3rd place out of 6 teams. It's amazing how much they've improved over the past two months. They have a pretty good coach, though. =)

Between the Hallissey tournament Glenn took the 7th/8th graders to in Boise and this 5th grade team, we've seen a lot of basketball. Glenn tells me Ellea's team played their 17th game last night. Thankfully it was also their last game of the season. I'm all basetball'd out!

So, now we're moving on to track! Glenn has accepted the position of head track coach for the Junior High. Sadly, he couldn't talk Nicole into taking track, but he wants to train for Bloomsday and he loves track, so he decided to go ahead and coach.

Never a dull moment around here. A dull moment sounds nice.

China Town

Our last couple hours of free time in New York were spent riding the subway one last time (we were pros at that finally!) and going back to China Town for a quick lunch before our flight back to reality.

China town is a busy, interesting neighborhood. Lots of open-air markets, and every street-corner had a vendor selling produce.

We found a non-descript (read: clean, no ducks hanging in the window and not too scary-looking) Chinese restaurant for lunch. I had Chow Mein and it was like any other Chow Mein I've had at any other Chinese restaurant. The coolest thing was the bill which was written in chinese. He could've writen These Ladies are Crazy, $8.50, for all I knew!

And then it was time to go home. We flew from Newark, NJ to Denver, Colorado to Spokane, Washington. The flight was made so much more delightful by the free drink tickets that the state coordinator of our grant gave me and my seat mate. I was looking forward to getting a cute little bottle of alcohol, but alas, the flight attendant just brought us these boring plastic cups! It tasted just as good, but wasn't as fun to look at

I landed in Spokane at 10:30 pm, which was 1:30 am Eastern time. Thankfully, I had made a reservation for a motel room at the airport. There was no way I was up to the 3 hour drive home at that point!

After a few hours' sleep, I had a leisurely drive home. I stopped in Lewiston for a break from driving and to make a Costco run. You gotta maximize Costco opportunities! I had a blissful 19 hours at home and then it was on to Boise, Idaho with the family for the Hallissey Baskeball Tournament!

More Hallissey

The Hallissey Basketball Tournament was a fabulous time. As I said in yesterday's post, we lost game one, but we won games two and three on Saturday morning. Game three was a major nail-biter. We were ahead by one point for the first half and then behind by one point for most of the second half. At the final buzzer, the score was tied at 28. The ref called a foul on the other team at the buzzer giving one of our players the chance to win the game with a free throw. No pressure there!!! Our Prairie crowd erupted in screams when she made the shot with nothing but net!! Phew! Game four was hard fought, but the girls were just out of steam and that was the end of the road for us.

One of the dads suggested we head over to Dairy Queen to celebrate our great tournament. Two of the dads split the bill which came to almost $100 for all of the team and their parents! It was a great ending to a great weekend. Gotta love those Blizzards (especially the chocolate ones!)