Hey world it’s your boy Champ. This week was a good and busy week in the life of an 8th grade basketball player. Monday I went to a workout in Newark DE and saw an old friend Mikey Dixon there which was cool. Tuesday I worked out in New Castle DE and for the first time in my life played ball against grown men. Thursday we had a great practice with my DC Assault team. Saturday and Sunday we played in “The National Hoopfest” in the 15U division. It was cool to play in front of the chair of the McDonald’s All American committee Morgan Wootten.
Monday’s workout was good. We worked on dribbling drills, shooting and got to play a little 3 on 3. The best part about Monday though was seeing my old friend Mikey he and I played in my father’s AAU program from ages 9 – 12. It was great to know that we both are still playing and having fun. Tuesday’s workout was off the charts as there were mostly high school kids there and on the other end there were previous high school stars getting it in. We did work on all the usual stuff core, agilities, dribbling, and shooting. But the highlight for me was when I got an opportunity to play against grown men. I was nervous at first but realized after a while that my speed and strength are decent even against grown men and started making some things happen as my confidence grew. Thursday my Dad and I traveled to the DC area to practice. Practice was tough as usual Coach Roach works us hard in practice and teaches us the game as if we were college players already. We have four solid guards on our team and we don’t back off each other for any reason we compete on offense and defense. We all have different strengths and weaknesses that we challenge each other on which makes us better.
Saturday we played our first game of the tournament against the Potomac Pride they were a pretty good team. We beat them handily. Our second game Saturday was against a team from NC BC United. It was a close game from the beginning to the end. But when the clock sounded we had dodged the bullet and pulled out a 1-point victory. The victory against them gave us first place in our pool and advanced us to the quarterfinals. Sunday morning we played Baltimore Elite 15U who had just upset NJ Playaz 15U last week to win the Take Your Best Shot 15U title. The game was close from the beginning to the end. That team was really physical and didn’t allow us many second shots so every shot was crucial. They outlasted us though and we lost 63-60 in a hard fought battle.
Well that’s all for this week in the life of an 8th grade baller. Stay tuned as our team goes on a three week run in the 15U division starting this weekend at Big Shots Richmond VA, then 15u at the Tri-State Invitational in Dover DE, and finally 15U at the MIT in Prince Georges, MD.
