Graceketball

GraceAnne, Amara, Tristyn Hudson and Ashleigh Sheerin put a team together for this past weekend's St Dom's 3 on 3 tournament. They did really well! I wasn't sure if Grace was going to do it or not but on Friday phone calls and emails started flying around and it all kind of came together on its own. Once we got to St Dominic's in Oyster Bay it took the girls a little while to get the hang of things. In pool play they won enough games to get to the playoffs, that's where they really got going. Woody seemed to enjoy banging some of the bigger boys around, totally held her own on the inside. The great thing about 3 on 3 is that there's absolutely nowhere to hide, you're either beating your man, shutting them down or you're getting beat, being shutdown. The halfcourt seems "bigger" and you HAVE TO rely on your teammates. You are forced to pass, forced to defend or you are exposed. Totally had the right mix of girls. Lots of defensive switches,...

Two of the UConn Huskies that GraceAnne was fortunate  enough to meet and work with this fall have taken on HUGE offensive roles so far this season.  Tiffany Hayes scored 32 points against Holy Cross the other day. She scored 30 in the first half, let me say that again, she scored 30 in the first half which is the highest score by any individual in UConn basketball history. Kelly Faris is averaging 7.3 pts 7 rebounds over three games and led the team in rebounds against Holy Cross and Georgia Tech. UConn is 3-0 beating Georgia Tech and 2nd ranked Baylor as well as Holy Cross. Grace and I watched the Baylor game together and it was a lot of fun to see so many of the players Grace met and worked with over the summer get big minutes. Lorin Dixon also played well and Heather Buck did a really nice job late in the game against one of Grace's favorite players Brittany Griner. We'll be going to the game where UConn is expected to tie the record for most consecutive wins in co...

Grace had one of the best games I've ever seen her play this past Monday night. No gaudy statistics but an extremely solid all around game with a few minutes in the third where she just took over the game. Those few minutes really showed me what she just might be capable of doing on a consistent basis. 13 rebounds, 5 blocks, 9 points, 2 assists and 3 steals. But those few minutes... you could see she was feelin' it! If she didn't score or get an assist she went to the line on four or five possessions in a row over a span of maybe four minutes. Coach had her getting the ball on the press break in the back court so she would either advance the ball to the front court and find the open girl or she would take it to the hole. Didn't have to rely on her teammates getting her the ball and you could just see she felt unstoppable. She also had to deal with a skilled girl bigger than herself which is what I'd like to see every game.

Nice week. Weren't too overwhelmed with basketball stuff. GraceAnne played well in a win on Monday night in her CYO travel league to bring the team's record to 7-0. The team they played probably shouldn't be in the A division but they were very nice kids and played hard all the way to the end. It gave the second unit a lot of time on the floor and they really played well. Wednesday the girls practiced hard but only for an hour. On Friday Grace got a fantastic report card with all 90s and most grades in the high 90s! Teachers had lots of nice things to say about how hard she works and what a nice kid she is. Sooooo, to celebrate on Friday night we went to see the St John's women's basketball team absolutely crush the Columbia Lions. Megan Duffy, Coach Kim Barnes Arico's assistant coach, was nice enough to leave tickets for us so the whole family went and we had a great time! We met Coach Duffy when Grace attended St John's camp over the summer and she was ...

Super League at Island Garden in West Hempstead starts this weekend. Knew it was gonna be soon. Storm is playing up in the 7th grade division this year. Soooooooo, looks like; Thursday 10:00am Storm Practice at Glen Cove High School Friday 5:00pm Open Gym at Glen Cove Middle School Saturday 11:30am Training with Brittany Hunter at Newtown Youth Academy in CT Saturday 7:30pm Super League game v Lightning Prisco at Island Garden Sunday 3:45 Storm v St Anthony CYO at St Hyacinth in Glen Head Monday 7:00 Storm v St Elizabeth CYO at Stimson Middle School in Huntington Station Help! What have we done?

The St Hyacinth Storm is 5-0 and the girls are playing really well. This year they don't have to worry about doubling or playing illegal zone and they are able to press. What we parents call "real" basketball. They are a fast break, pressing team, very quick with the ball, jumping into passing lanes on the defensive end so the rule change has suited them well. The scores would indicate otherwise but there haven't really been any blowouts, which is good. All the girls are getting minutes which should help them be a deep team when they get to the playoffs. They do seem to start out very slowly which is kinda weird, much different from the last couple years. Teams have been keeping it pretty close through the first half. I would say Grace's play has been a little uneven. There are things she does very well and some lapses too. She naturally wants to go to the post and expects to get the ball there... which she won't other than by rebounding. She needs to become m...

Carrie Moore Time for a Carrie post. Carrie Moore is someone very special to GraceAnne as well as to me, Grace's dad. The past two seasons Carrie was the Director of Basketball Operations at Princeton University and we were fortunate enough to meet her when GraceAnne attended the 2009 Princeton camp. Last year Carrie worked with GraceAnne and Grace Stone to improve their game and got some wonderful results. At the same time we got to know Carrie. Once while walking through Jadwin Gym speaking with Courtney Banghart, the Princeton coach, Courtney turned to me and asked "Do you know how lucky you are to be working with Carrie?" I think I might have said something like "Um, I think so?".  As I got to know Carrie,  I came to realize I had absolutely NO CLUE at that time how incredibly lucky we were to be working with someone as competent, caring and as special as Carrie Moore. With the impending opening to the NCAA women's basketball season just a few...

GraceAnne will be attending Glen Cove High School varsity open gym for the next two weeks. The open gym is an opportunity for Coach Gus Sirakis to get some of the varsity players together and see where they're at for the upcoming season. Grace is a good kid, smart enough to stay out of the way and besides, pretty sure she can hang with these girls. Amara is attending too so they will probably partner up and keep to themselves. Registration for Game7 Winter Boot Camp is now open. I think it's time for Woody to do the 7th 8th grade version. If you're reading this and thinking about training for your child, do Game7. Totally worth it. The coaches/trainers are all passionate about the game, they all care about developing the kids and do their best to get the most out of them. When you see your child's improvement after the 6th session you'll be left wanting more and wondering why you hadn't put your kid in this program earlier. Link below takes you to the regist...

Grace played well in a two point win over Christ The King. Had a bunch of blocks, knew where to be on the floor, played very aggressively in the second half, scored a crucial basket and had some very, very nice defensive plays. Full Game