A Hard Fought Game

Dad returned to his former grade school to coach Emily's team against the Crusaders of Christ the King. Before the game, he checked out to make sure his class picture was still up in the cafeteria (it was).

Not everything was the same as he remembered, though. The gymnasium has a new hardwood floor (the old floor was white tile, with a blue lane). There's also new lockerrooms and real nice padded chairs for the team benches (emblazed with "Crusaders").

The fancy digs, though, weren't enough to help Christ the King win on its home court. After the hosts jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Emily and Dad's team tied it up toward the end of the first quarter. St. Mary's scored once more, in the second quarter, and it was 4-2 at halftime.

The game was very physical, with a lot of fouling on the part of Christ the King. Two of their players had three fouls apiece. Meantime, Dad pulled out all the stops, using the new play, "Arby's" and his old standby out-of-bounds play "Sonic" to score a few points. It was 10-2 at the end of the third quarter and that was the final score.

Emily played great defense in the second half after the Christ The King players started getting even more physical - and mouthy. She even pleaded with Dad to put her back in late in the game, but he is all about fair playing time for everyone.

So, seven games into the season, they're 7-0 and averaging 25 points a game offensively, while holding their opponents to just seven points.

We can't mention Saturday's game without talking about Julia's contributions to the team. She always does a good job of getting the balls in order and the towels wet, etc. This time, she even had to move some coats from the cafeteria back to the gym. Dad and Emily also appreciated the support of so many relatives - including Grandma and Grandpa YD, Neil and his girlfriend and Aunt Jean.