9-0, Champs

I told our guys last night to seize the opportunity to call themselves "champions." And they did. An impressive win over a AAA (biggest for you Ohio readers) school. It was a nice win for our team and for our players. We played really good and sustained a major comeback from Albemarle (we had them by 17 at one point and they cut it to 4). Hitting free throws down the stretch was critical and we made them when they really counted. Final score: SHS: 60, AHS: 52. Our record improves to 9-0 and we've got Fort Defiance Friday night at Fort.
-Jimmy

What a game!

Alright, Jimmy is busy today in preparation for their final tournament game tonight, so I thought I would write this update. Last night was Spotswood's game against Charlottesville. I was there of course, with my family in tow...they are all down for our family Christmas. It was an exciting game! It was close the entire way and came down to two foul shots. We were ahead 46-48 with 4 seconds left and C'ville had the ball - as the buzzer was sounding, the refs called a foul on us, so they had two foul shots that could have tied the game. He made one, missed the other so we won! 48-47. Go Blazers! I was shaking for awhile after that one...I don't know if this sport is good for my health! :)

On another note, Gus went to our Christmas tree (which he has been quite good about) and don't you know, picked out his own present and unwrapped it! I came downstairs to find him sitting amongst the tissue paper, ribbon, and his new ball in the middle of it all. Of all the presents, he picked the right one. Needless to say, I took it back and he will get it tomorrow when we open presents. I told Jimmy what had happened when we got to the game and all he said was "that's my boy." I think Jimmy did the same thing growing up, only he was a little less obvious about it. :) - Kari

7-0 and on to Charlottesville

Well, we won on Saturday big time, 74-40. The score was 44-10 at the half. We played everyone A LOT in the second half, so the score stayed even. But it was a nice win after the break. We've got Charlottesville again tonight, at their place (they are a host of the tournament). So we'll see how that goes. It should be a very heated game! I'll try to update tomorrow. If not, I'll definitely update Wednesday when the tournament is over.
-Jimmy

Gus, Cows, 6-0

Well, last night was good. We won 53-36. It was a tough game for our team to play (we had beaten them before by 23 and had just beat Lee the night before). But our kids made enough plays to pull away down the stretch. 6-0 at the break is a darn good Christmas present. We've got the Daily Progress tourney over break- and that has some REALLY good teams in it. Enough hoops. Gus jumped the fence today- I never thought he would do that. He ran off and we found him across the street (4 lane highway) in a farmer's field chasing cows. He was a MESS!! So he got a bath. I'm getting ready to leave for Ohio but wanted to get one last post on here. I'll keep everyone posted on how our team is doing. Merry Christmas to all who might read this.
-Jimmy

Well . . .

It's not often that any coach gets to write a message like this when they've played at Hatcher Gymnasium in Staunton. Only six times in the past 3 years has Lee lost at home. And we are one of those 6. Our kids executed our offensive and defensive game plan to perfection. And while we still missed shots (lay ups and free throws), we were able to win because of our execution. Our team is really starting to believe in themselves and in each other. It was a very fun night to be a Blazer. Final score: Spotswood- 65, RE Lee- 53. The challenge now is to turn around and get a win over a hungry Riverheads bunch. We play them tonight!
-Jimmy

4-0

Well, we didn't play our absolute best game, but still managed to win, 63-51. Rockbridge was athletic and quick and bothered us at times. We've got to keep getting better. It was good, again, to not play our best and still find a way to win the game. I'm looking forward to Friday night. We've got the Leemen and they are the real deal. We'll see what we're made of, for sure.
-Jimmy

Responding to Success

So far, we've passed the test of responding to success. After a big win over Charlottesville, we came back on Saturday and played pretty good against Riverheads. We missed a lot of easy shots but still won the game, 63-40. We are a very unselfish and hardworking group and I think that is key to our identity. Tomorrow night- Rockbridge. They are a very athletic bunch who can really shoot it. We'll need to play well to win.
-Jimmy

BIG TIME!

Well, I'll keep this up to date with basketball information. We played a Cville team that many people think is going to win the state title, on their home floor, and won by 22 points. Our kids played really hard and hung in there against several Cville runs. Once Cville got the picture that we were not going to give in, they gave up. The fourth quarter, we blew them out- 17-3. We are now 2-0, with one ugly win and one win that was pretty much a thing of basketball beauty. Time to find out if our boys can handle success and praise from people and move on to our next opponent. We play a down but fighting Riverheads team on Saturday afternoon. I'll keep this as up-to-date as possible.
-Jimmy

UGLY but . . .

Well, sometimes you have to win when you play very poorly. We did just that. We won on the road 67-61 against a team that was hungry to win their first in front of their home crowd. To do that and play poorly is actually a good sign. There are definitely things we MUST improve to beat regional and state caliber opponents. But we'll take the "W" and go from here. Charlottesville next Wednesday and THAT should be really interesting.