A Team Prevails in Fun Filled Crusader Clash

The annual Crusader Clash took place today and the A Team came away with a 26-4 win, but there were certainly highlights for all involved.  This game is supposed to be a fun night, and it certainly was. Thanks to all of the parents who came out to cheer, PLAY, and provide food and drinks after the game.  Thanks also to Coach Frederick for the great introductions, and to the Middle School Cheer Squad for coming and supporting our teams!
(Aspiring Faith journalists, ALWAYS double check your facts, as sometimes things get mixed up in your mind.  With that said, this is the CORRECTED version of this recap...KF) 

This is a fun game, but one that does count in the standings. Wth the result having playoff implications for both teams, it was still a competitive environment, and let us tell you, the B Team Girls came to PLAY! They changed the names of all of the set plays, writing the new names on their wrists (not wristbands, on thier WRISTS!) so A Team would not know what was coming, and they played an excellent first three minutes, as it was 2-0 Team early on after a basket by Evie. It was great to see the intensity of the B Team, and it was clear early on that the A Team would have a tussle on thier hands. 

Baskets by Shay and Tai extended the A Team lead to 6-0 and then late in the period Riley hit a three pointer to make it 9-0 in favor of the A Team after six minutes.  Both teams got pep talks from thier coaches at the quarter break and then the second special part of the evening took place, as Coach Angel and Coach Keith "traded" teams for a quarter, with Coach Angel in contol of the A Team bench and Coach Keith with the B's.  "Bella Squared" scored for the A Team as Isabella Ramsey and Isabella Morrow each got buckets, and Abby added a hoop as well. Grace was a machine on the glass, and in one case got a rebound, went back up for the shot and got fouled. She split the free throws, giving her seven points in the last two games. Katelyn did some very good things both offensively (excellent spacing) and defensively during the second quarter, and Shay got to play PG for the first time this year. It is always fun to see what wrinkle the coaches have when swapping teams! 

We have several rules for how to act on the bench, but the first one is that there are no cell phones allowed on the bench.  As such, when we told the girls to stay on the bench instead of going to the team room, they knew something was up, and when we told them to get their phones, the looks on their faces were great.  They got their phones so they could take pictures/video of thier parents playing KNOCKOUT!  B Team parents took over one side of the gym while A team parents had the other, and we were all winesses to quite the shooting exhibition. The rules of the game are that participants start at the free throw line, and if they make that shot, they are safe. If they miss, they have to make another shot before the person behind them makes one. The only rule - called the Lisa Harding Clause! ;-) - is that the ball cannot be tossed away from the shooter when he or she is tracking the ball down after a miss. 

The B Team side saw a LOT of shooters taking their shot, literally, and a lot of the players becoming full on cheerleaders for thier parents, as "Mom, you missed that?" and "Come On Dad!" were heard quite a bit. Mr Victorino ended up as the winner, much to the delight of Kali'a. The A Team side saw wives knock out their husbands on back to back efforts by Mrs Renteria and Mrs Blake, along with some great shooting from Mr. Young (with Marin spurring him on from the bench!) and in the end Mrs Blake came out on top, after a nice shooting display for sure! 

The Finals saw the two champions square off, and it was a BATTLE, with both making most of the free throws and hitting the layups when need be. Mr. Victorino ended up winning the showdown and the crown of 2019 Crusader Clash Parent Knockout Tournament Champion! Afterwards, he praised Mrs. Blake, saying "I knew I was in for a struggle after that first shot went in, nothing but net." We are sure the Knockout Crown will take a treasured place in the Victorino trophy case, which may or may not be filled with two Commissioner's Trophies!  :-) 

The B Team closed the gap to 15-3 when Vari got a steal, made a pass, then got a rebound of a missed shot and put in a follow for the score. Very nicely done by Vari!! The A Team scored the next nine points of the third quarter as Karly and Evie each scored a bucket, Tai split a pair of free throws, and Abby was super active on the boards, which led to four points.  Alexis was very active on the glass during the 3rd quarter and also had a steal, while A Team member Kayleigh got one of her now signature two handed blocked shots! The A Team led 24-3 after three quarters. 

There was some controversy in the 4th quarter. First, A Team made another coaching change, with Isabella Morrow taking over on the bench. She INSTANTLY become the most popular player in the building, as all of her teammates were making it very clear that they were ready to go in. B Team went with a Coach by Committee approach. You may ask why were kids coaching instead of Coach Angel and Coach Keith? That is because those two were in the game! Shedding the matching shooting shirts both were wearing, the coaches, in uniform mind you, came in and each played appx 90 seconds with thier respective teams. The controversy occurred when Coach Keith was whistled for a Technical Foul for wearing his watch on the court - it was dubbed a "Jewlery Violation" - despite the fact that Coach Angel was not penalized for her wedding ring!  

Lauryn sank a free throw as a result of the technical to close the lead to 24-4. The A Team fought through the officiating issues and got the only other basket of the final quarter, with Abby tallying another bucket.  Evie and Coach Angel did mix it up under the boards after an A Team miss, much to the delight of the crowd and the players. (Yes, Evie DID wind up on the ground during the scrum.) . Hana played great defense in the 4th quarter as she was a big reason that the A Team only got two points in that stanza. The final score ended with the A Team prevailing 26-4.  We teach defense first at this level, and kudos to the B Team defenisvely, as the A Team had scored at least 30 points in three straight games yet the B team held them to 26. It was a great effort. 

After the game we had a full team prayer at halfcourt, thanking God for the chance to honor Him through basketball and for the chance to be togehter for the Crusader Clash.  These 18 girls competed hard against each other for 24 minutes, as they were supposed to, and be to able to come together again so quickly after that is a great tribute to what great kids we have on this team. 

Afterwards we shared some food and fellowship in the Teachers Lounge, which the kids thought was very cool.  Thanks to everyone that brought something to share, and we know everyone enjoyed it. The photos below are from after the game. Thanks to everyone who made Crusader Clash 2019 a success! 


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