Hello Basketball World! This whole week was very busy. Let’s begin with last Sunday. I played in a local fall league and had a very good game. After that game, my parents drove me to King of Prussia to play with Team Final. We again played a much older team and came out with a ton of energy and ended up winning by 15 points. Shout out to my teammates Quade, Nick, Keith, Isaiah, Gabe and Antone!
On Monday, I had a soccer game. Because some of the older players (not me) were disrespectful to our coach, they were “benched” for the first 20 minutes of the game. And since all the younger players were in, the other team came out strong with two goals in the first half. Then, during the second half, when all the main players were in, the other team didn’t score and we ended up winning three to two! I had eight saves.
On Tuesday, I had a Spanish test which included 100 verbs. I studied for more than 2 hours for it and all that studying paid off: I got a 99 out of 100! After school my dad and I went to a local gym and got up over 200 shots. It was a very intense workout.
On Wednesday, I was planning on going home from school to study all night for the three big tests on Thursday. But God had a different plan in mind. I learned, when my mom picked me up from school, that I had a game with Team Final in Chester. So I ate my dinner in the car and studied on the way there. We played the number one seed in the league and they used their strength to get a lot of offensive rebounds. We ended up losing the game by about 20 points. But it was good for us because the other team was made up of seven good 10th graders and a few ninth graders. On Thursday, I got up at 6:30 a.m. to continue studying for the three tests I had. I felt that I did well on all the tests. That night I worked on my ball handling.
Friday was a day off for our school, so my mom and I went to work out. As usual, Obe Roundtree gave me one of the hardest workouts I’ve ever had. We did exercises that strengthen my upper body, lower body and core. Plus, he even threw in jumping and conditioning. After we got home, I worked on my ball handling and my shot. That afternoon I watched my school’s volleyball team play. They didn’t have a score keeper, so I volunteered. The girls played well. That night I visited with my grandmother (Lulu) who lives very close to me. We like watching old comedies. I love spending time with her; she has the best sense of humor and we always laugh so much together.
Saturday I was at The Haverford School open gym from 9 am. to 12 noon. I felt that I played well against some very talented high school players and ex-college players from around the Philadelphia area. The games were very physical and intense. That night I had a local game in the SCBL (Select Competition Basketball League) in Allentown. I knew it was going to be a hard game because I knew a lot of the players on the other team and they are very good. And thanks to God I had one of the best games of my life. I had 31 points and six assists. I connected on five three-pointers. We won the game by six points.
So that was my week. And I have a few shout outs. First off , Lou Benson, Jr.: thanks for giving me a lot of support over the years (Lou played professional ball), Obe Roundtree , the best trainer in the world, Coach Craig and Ed Jennings of SCBL, and always, God! See you guys next week!
