Today, Kayleigh and Thomas had their last basketball games. It turned out to be another whirlwind Saturday for me. Started with the ward Easter breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt. And since it was raining (not snowing like the rest of the country) we had to do it all inside. This activity overlapped with the Relief Society canning activity. They had borrowed canning sealers from the cannery and people brought in their supplies to be canned. I was scheduled for that morning. (Will have to finish that project at my house later with the sealer) But finally, we were off to the basketball games.

Thomas was first. That boy loves to play aggressive. And he loves to wait under the basket for rebounds. That's how he gets most of his baskets. The boys his age play surprisingly well. By now in the season, they understand the game pretty well. And they run all over like maniacs. Thomas had blocked shots, some steals and kept his defending really energetic. At the team meeting afterwards, his coach called him "Dennis Rodman". He just loves to play.

Here is Thomas playing at a previous game. In this game he is assigned to guard his best friend, Preston. That was a fun game to watch - had to keep cheering for both sides.

Kayleigh's game was immediately after. She amazed me. Her first game or 2 she barely touched the ball. But then her coaches started letting her take the ball down the court more and more. Her dribbling got better and better. And she shot several times these last 3 games, though none went in. The hoop height for her age group is the highest, the regular height of a basketball hoop on a typical court. Thomas's is lowered. At the beginning of the season, Kayleigh was working on getting the ball high enough to even reach the level of the hoop. I was hopping off my seat each time she shot the ball, just seeing her try to shoot. The fact that it didn't go in didn't really stifle my enthusiasm.

And this last game, she was really driving to the basket. It's another world watching the girls play basketball. They kept getting bunched up and the girl with the ball couldn't pass it anywhere b/c there were just girls from both teams all over her. They just take things slower than the boys. And get balled up. But each time Kayleigh was passed the ball, she'd turn with the it and drive towards the basket. Sometimes her passes got intercepted but she never got bogged down in a ball of girls. Chad's been coaching the kids on some of this stuff, and they really seem to take advantage of his advice.

At her team meeting afterwards, the coach called Kayleigh a "jumping spider" b/c she chased the girls she was defending mercilessly and since she's always so much shorter than they, she would jump around with her arms waving. Like a spider. She seemed to be causing several missed shots - her girls would take shots but Kayleigh was jumping up and down in their faces as high as she could reach. The shots would miss.

A great highlight of these games was our extra spectator, Aunt Lynne. She drove over in spite of horrible traffic on 66, making it just in time to see Thomas come in the game. She was at times a great jungle gym for EV and Melanie, who played all over her lap.