Our coach liked participating in these kind of tournaments, particularly those sponsored by schools outside our league, in order for the players to have an opportunity to play against other team's from different leagues, since they're pretty familiar with the brand of play within Mission Valley. I guess some teams have the same idea because most of the teams participated in the 3 tournaments we joined this year, as well as in past years.
For the Christmas tournament at St. Bede, I was not expecting a full compliment. It was understandable that it was the holidays and families may be traveling or just plain unavailable for whatever reason. The tournament was spread over 3 days, with the first game being played in the evening the day after Christmas. Teams were guaranteed 2 games, and if you won the second, you get to play on the third day for either championship or the finals in the consolation bracket.
In the first game, there were only 6 players from the team. Being a no-league-bearing tournament, two players were "borrowed" to beef up the team -- a center from the 8N-Blue team, and another center from the 7A team. The team played Transfiguration from Castro Valley, but lost by 10. They had a BIG center, who simply played low post and just barrelled himself to the basket whenever he could. The game became a little exciting during the last 2 minutes when our boys put up a late charge and scored 8 unanswered points, coming to within 10, before the final buzzer sounded. It was a good effort, considering the team didn't have their 4 regular players.
Game 2 on Saturday, the 29th, against St. John was different. The team still wasn't complete. They lost one from Game 1 and the 8N center, but one regular came to play. The team blew away St. John by over 20 points. The boys were relaxed, and they all had fun. It looked like they couldn't seem to do anything wrong. With the win, the team played in the finals for the consolation bracket the following day.
The final game was against Mission Valley League team, Our Lady of the Rosary (OLR) in Union City. The team had played against them during the league's first round games, so they were familiar with their style of play, and knew who to watch out for. OLR had a small team, and they relied heavily on one player. I didn't expect the game to be close. Our team just couldn't pull away. OLR even lead by up to 4 points in the second quarter. Then, something unexpected happened before the end of the second quarter.
One parent from OLR made a comment directed at this one "star" player. The father reacted and came charging down from the stands to where the other parent was. Cooler heads intervened, but the parent who made the comment continued his tirade and challenged the father to settle their dispute outside the gym. The instigator decided to leave the gym because he "couldn't stand watching this kind of game." On his way out, he continued to taunt the father, calling him an "old man", and even gave him the nasty finger. After a couple of minutes, the instigator tried to come back in, as he called on the father to come out, but was prevented by tournament officials. The latter headed back down, but was, likewise, stopped from leaving the gym.
With the resumption of the game, the team played much better. They were more fired up. This one "star" player tried so hard to carry his team on his shoulders , but we all knew this would never work. And that was what happened in that game, as well as in the past games. All the "carrying" took its toll, and this player was no longer reliable. Meanwhile, our boys continued to deliver and slowly pulled away. The team won by more than 10 points.
It was a great win for the team. Unfortunately, it was marred by bad behavior of adults. If there is one thing that I could be truly proud of is the fact that ALL the St. Joseph CYO teams are well-behaved, well-mannered, and are the epitome of what good sportsmanship and true Catholic & Christian values are all about. And I can attest to this in the 7 years that I have been involved in SJS CYO sports, as a coach and parent.
Excellent job everyone. Go Courgars !!!
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