Trey Hall
Hello again Basketball World!
Welcome back for the fifth week of my basketball diary. As school winds down for the year I'm finding myself even more busy with class work, but a few weeks from now I'll be able to put the textbooks down for the summer.
Speaking of school, it was tough to wake up Monday after getting home at 1:00 am from Lucas camp in Houston. I woke up sore and thought to myself that my body could use a night off from workouts. I went through the school day with that in mind but after getting home and finishing my homework, I started to think about the level of commitment it takes to play basketball at a high level. How soreness will be a part of the process and how someone else is out there working on their game while I'm not. Those thoughts motivated me to go to my workout and get through all the drills full speed. After ball handling, combo moves, and some up and down run, I came home and went to sleep soon after.
Tuesday was an important day for me because I had my end of the year band concert that evening. I play the drums, which many people call the heartbeat of a band. We had a brief rehearsal after school, then I had some time to finish homework before the actual performance. There were many parents, teachers, and students who came out to the concert; it was a nice way to show our families how hard we work throughout the year. The concert ended early enough for me to catch up on some TV shows before going to bed.
Wednesday seemed like the longest school day of the year, but I didn't have any homework so I couldn't complain. Since I hadn't had much downtime all week, I took a quick nap when I got home before heading to a workout. We didn't have the gym long, so the drills were fast moving with a lot of running in between. After getting up a lot of shots, we ran up and down until the gym closed. I wanted to get some extra sleep that night, so I didn't waste time eating dinner and getting myself ready for bed when I got home.
Thursday I caught myself thinking about the end of the school year and how high school is right around the corner. My time in middle school has gone by so much faster than I thought it would. New teachers, new classmates, and new buildings are going to take some time to get used to. I'm sure I'll think about these things even more in the next few weeks, but for now I'm enjoying what's left of my middle school experience. After getting home, I finished up my homework then headed to choir rehearsal. We have just over a week before our concert in upstate New York, so we had to learn new songs that we'll be singing for the first time. Rehearsal went a little late that night, but we still got out in enough time to catch the NBA playoffs. I ate dinner while watching the game before heading to my room for the night.
Friday's school day ended without any homework assignments, so I was excited to have a weekend without school work. That evening I got to hang out with some of my boys whom I haven't seen in a few weeks because of my basketball schedule. We watched a few movies and played 2K all night until everyone fell asleep. I was careful not to be up too late because I had a tournament in Springfield, MA the next day.
My Saturday games were later in the afternoon, so I didn't have to wake up too early. I had time to go out for breakfast, get a haircut, and go visit some family before heading to Springfield for my games. We were playing up an age group so I figured we'd have to play even harder against older, more physical players. We played against some pretty good competition, but were good enough to beat both teams by more than 20 points. Playoff games were scheduled for the next morning so I went to bed as soon as I got home.
Sunday was about getting focused to play for a championship at the Basketball Hall of Fame. We knew we'd have to beat some good teams to do that, and felt confident that we'd win our games if we played hard and played together. We got off to a slow start in our quarterfinal game but ended up winning by about 10 points. There were a few hours to wait before playing the semifinal so we made sure to hydrate and rest between games. After another slow start, we took control of the semifinal game and had a 2 point lead with 6 seconds left on the clock. Unfortunately, the opposing team was able to get off a 3 point shot that went in right as the buzzer sounded. Game over. One point loss. As a competitor I was upset we didn't win the game, but it was also a chance for our team to learn something through that kind of loss. After we huddled and spoke about ways we can avoid that kind of loss in the future, everyone got into their cars and headed back home. Since we were home earlier than expected I had plenty of time to shower, eat, and watch a movie before getting myself ready for bed. As this entry comes to a close it's time to get ready for another week of school, ball, family, and church. I'll update you all next week.
Until then, stay blessed!
Instagram: @trey_hall2020
