St. Paul Basketball Tournament

I very vividly remember watching the St. Paul tournament six and seven years ago thinking how strange it'll be actually watching our kids in this tournament after having been to it myself (as a spectator) when I was in 7th and 8th grade and also watching so many of my nieces/nephews play in it over the years. It is such a fun tournament with eight Catholic middle schools from around the state participating in it, creating a high-school-like atmosphere for the players with loud, filled stands, rivalry games, and even a big all-school dance Saturday evening. It was so much fun having both Cade and Elle on the St. Paul teams even if Cade wasn't actually able to play because of his back injury . 

The tournament weekend started with a pep rally at the kids' school, followed by two games for Elle and one for Cade Friday evening. The boys/Cade's team did great all weekend, winning all their games until losing an exciting game in the championship vs. Blanchett. The St Paul team only starts one eighth grader and didn't have Cade who had been a starter, so next year will be especially exciting. Gabrielle's team lost their only eight grader to a concussion the week before and had been so low in numbers to start with that they allowed 6th graders to play with the team for only the 3rd time. The girl's team actually started three sixth graders (Elle, Jorja and Emma) and two seventh graders (Paras & Kyndsi) with only one sub (Meleesa). They lost their first game, but then rallied in the second game for an exciting win. They ended the weekend with a loss against the eventual champions (O'Hara) and a tight loss in their consolation game. All the girls' games were fun and exciting and Elle did great, playing hard all weekend with only one substitute. 

The dance was definitely a highlight for all the kids. When I picked Cade and Elle up they were both sweaty and red-faced from dancing :) We are all looking forward to next year's tournament already!

Pep rally fun!

The girls before being introduced at the pep rally 

The coaches talked about each player at the pep rally

Introductions at the first game. The girls really could've won this game but they were so nervous!

  

 

 

   

 

Cade cheered his team on the whole tournament and enjoyed hanging out with the team. He wanted to play so badly though! 

Cade was also one of the most vocal 'coaches' all weekend!

 

Coach Dale was so fantastic with the girls, encouraging them and also pushing them to do their best

The tunnel before their second game 

Molly, who could not play in the tournament due to her concussion, did get to participate in the free throw contest and she won it!

The starting five 

Getting ready for the dance

The whole team plus a few friends who all got ready for the dance together

 

Our kids are growing up SO FAST!!

The team with coaches Dale and Josh after mass and before the dance

All of the boy's team except Mitchell

I couldn't get Cade to pose for many pictures before the dance so I stole this 'selfie' pic he posted to Instagram

 

Genevieve had a blast Friday evening with her new-fount friends. By the end of the night, she was telling the boy that she was the princess and he was her prince and they were going to get married! It was fun wearing pins of our kids all weekend...finally it was our turn to have player pins :)

Aside from watching our kids, it was also tons of fun hanging out with lots of friends and family all weekend.

 

 Proud of our boy :)

   

The girls won the sportsmanship award. Very proud of all these hard-working girls!

The boys celebrating with 2nd place finish