Graceketball

Commotion by the Ocean was fun! Won two close games, lost one very close game, won one blow-out in the finale to go 3-1 for the tournament. Grace played extremely well in the first three games but seemed like she couldn't get into the flow in the blow-out. Had enough time to see and do a few things in Rhode island while we were there as well. Love Rhode Island! Got a chance to see Water Fire in Providence on the way back to the hotel from the gym on Saturday night. Kids enjoyed it. Very nice family weekend!

Team stayed in both games the whole way to the buzzer. Lost the first by two and the second by 18. How do you stay in a game down by 18? Keep your head up and keep fighting, defending, going strong, looking for open teammates, setting screens and moving the ball. Outcome might not have been what they wanted but this team has heart. Best I've seen them play and if they keep progressing they will be beating these same teams in no time. Coach Lepore deserves a lot of credit for keeping these kids positive and working hard. GraceAnne only played two games over the weekend. Did her thing though. Got to play against her old team and I think she was very satisfied with her effort and her play if not the outcome of the game. Had numerous blocked shots... with bad intentions. Also went strong to the rack and drew a bunch of fouls, didn't shoot well from the line. One play she went coast to coast and did a full speed euro-step to get past a very good defender (Ashleigh Sheerin who abso...

Turns out our friend Melanie Moore is heading to Michigan to be Assistant Coach to Kim Barnes Arico. Congratulations Mel! Going from one great coaching staff to another, I have a feeling the Michigan program is going to be a serious powerhouse very quickly. Our buddy Megan Griffith, the Princeton DOBO the last two years, has been hired as Assistant Coach to Courtney Banghart. Congratulations Meg! I'm sure Melanie will be missed at Princeton but Megan is so smart, such a hard worker and a huge asset to any program. Hoop Group Tournament this weekend in Northern NJ. Woody gets to play against her old G7 team for the first time. I'm sure it will be awkward for her but I can't wait. G7 is stacked and she can't expect to win although I'm certain she'd LOVE to. She's been playing up to her ability and regaining her confidence the last two months so I just want to see her face her fears and play hard. "Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain....

Got tons of shots up, lots of offensive moves. Went to the park afterward just to mess around a bit, go through some of what she worked on to keep it fresh in her mind. Mango, Pomegranate fro-yo reward afterwards. Nice morning together hanging out and a great workout too... Laura is the best! Straight training vid, not edited, not high-lites just HARD WORK!

This is getting to be a habit! We had another wonderful weekend of hard fought games, this time with Lightning Lepore. What a FUN bunch of kids and parents! These girls are really getting under my skin! Mary has them playing hard and having fun at the same time. Morgan & Erin All the other kids with the pumped up kicks! The week began with Woody having to miss practice Monday night due to Jazz Band. She made up for it by practicing with Mary's older girls Wednesday which is a really good thing. She was nervous for some reason but playing with the older girls is a great opportunity for her if she is going to play varsity in Summer League as well as next HS season. Friday the team was invited to a pool party in Rockville Center as a season kickoff. Everyone had a great evening and it was a really nice way to start the weekend. Thanks Teresa and Don! What gracious hosts! Grace Stone played for Mary this weekend and it was fantastic to see her and Woody working ...