Eunices Rinky Dink Basketball: Site News

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 Boy it was easy to tell that it was everyone's first game today. We had several kids that were taking the floor for the first time ever out there today and at times it really showed. I told the boys before the game, all I ask them to do was play hard. We did that big time and I'm very proud of the effort they put out. We didn't think we would have our leader for the game today, as Kolton had been sick all week and was not expected to play. He showed up and was able to play some and really helped to lead us through for this tough fought win.

The opening quarter we jumped on Robin's early with a couple of baskets by Kolton Kennon to take a 4-0 lead. Most of the quarter both teams really turned the ball over a lot, which is to be expected in a 1st and 2nd grade basketball game. At the end of the quarter we held a 4-0 lead and the kids were playing very hard. The 2nd quarter we would really struggle to take care of the ball but we were lucky that Robin's missed some easy layups. We got a basket from Keaton Kennon to make it a 6-2 game and that's the way it would stand at the half. Andrew Bone and Michael Fretheim both made their halftime free throws to give us a 8-4 lead.

The 3rd quarter we was hoping to put the game away as we scored a couple of quick baskets to extend our lead to 12-4. Robin's got a free throw late in the quarter and after three quarters of play we held what looked to be a comfortable 12-5 lead. Kolton was not able to go in the final quarter and we once again struggled to take care of the ball without him at point guard. Robin's made a couple of steals and baskets to pull within 12-9 but that would be as close as they would get as this one would end that way. It was sure not pretty at times but the kids played hard and seemed to have a good time. I was very proud of the way the guys played today. They were all hustling and giving it their all out there on the floor. Great job out there today Eunices and I will see you at practice on Monday at 6:00pm.

Our player of the week for week 1 of the season is Keaton Kennon. Keaton was all over the place out there today in the game versus Robin's Lawns. He was always around the ball. He finished the game with 2 points and 3 rebounds and had numerous steals. He also caused several jump balls with his hustle and was really fighting hard despite being one of the smallest players on the floor most of the time. Great job today Keaton, we are very proud of you!

I have spoken told the kids all season that as small as we are and as young as our team is, we must play defense like a very hungry, mad dog that wants a bone. Today we did just that. Our kids really showed improvement from the first week of the season to today's game. I really thought we had more kids that seemed to feel more comfortable out there and know what they were doing. We played very good defense against one of the best players in the league. Swaim's point guard is a big, physical player who can really hurt you in a lot of ways. He got free a few times for easy buckets but for most of the game our defense held him in check.

The opening quarter Kolton Kennon came out on fire for us knocking down a couple of shots from the wing to give us a 4-0 lead. After Swaim scored off an offensive rebound, Kolton once again sank a long jumper from the wing to give us a 6-2 lead after one quarter of play. The 2nd quarter neither team was able to get much going on offense. After a couple of baskets by Swaim, Michael Fretheim knocked down a short jumper to extend our lead to 8-6. Kolton took one to the hole to give us a 10-6 lead, but Swaim would pull within a basket right before the half. Swaim knocked down two free throws at the half and so did we. The Kennon brothers, Kolton and Keaton both sank theirs to extend our lead to 12-10 heading into the 3rd quarter of play.

The 3rd quarter Kolton continued his hot shooting, knocking down a couple more jump shots and we extended our lead to 16-10. Our defense did not let Swaim near the basket the entire quarter, as the only points they would score would be off an offensive rebound. By the end of the quarter we held a slim 16-12 lead. The final quarter we put the game away with another basket from Kolton and another one from Michael. Andrew Bone contined to shut down one of Swaim's main inside scorers and it forced them to take some really bad shots. Andrew Reeder, McClane Moody, Alex Roper and Eric Rameriez all were playing great defense on the wings and Swaim just could not get anything going to mount a comeback. The game ended 20-12 with us moving to 2-0 on the season.

It was a good game by our young group and as long as they continue to improve each and every week, we will be ok. We face the best team in the league next week in Sharum Landscaping. Should be a very tall challenge for our kids. See you all at practice on Monday at 6:00.

Our player of the week for this week is Andrew Bone. Andrew had a very good game today versus Swaim. He did not score, but had 5 rebounds and played really good defense. His assignment was to not let one of Swaim's best players catch the ball and he did that the entire game. It really took a huge offensive weapon away from Swaim and was a big reason we were able to come away with the win today. Great job Andrew, we are very proud of you. Get ready for an even tougher challenge in next week's game.

This was a game between two very different teams. While we have a roster with only two 2nd graders on the whole team, Sharum is just the opposite, with only two 1st graders on their team. The result would not be good for us that's for sure. Sharum has shown already in the early part of the season that they are by far the best team in our league this year. They have a roster loaded with good players and have the size, strength and speed that is tough for any other team in our league to compete with. Coach David does a good job with his team and I'm glad to see him and his team have the success they're having. David is a fine young man and we need more high character young people like him in the world today.

Sharum came out and really took it to us from the opening tip. They scored in the first 5 seconds of the game and never looked back. Their awesome point guard, Duncan Cravens really took over the opening quarter of the game and we had no answer for him. He scored 9 points in the quarter in helping them build a 11-2 lead after one quarter of play. The 2nd quarter we were able to slow them down somewhat with Duncan on the bench. Kolton Kennon sank a couple of jumpers to pull us within 13-6 by the half. Both teams knocked down three free throws at half and the score would be 16-9 heading into the final two quarters of play.

Sharum once again turned on the jets in the 3rd quarter, outscoring us 10-2 and putting the game away. Kolton was able to knock down another jumper but this one was all but over after the 3rd quarter. We found ourselves down 26-11 and things not looking good. Our kids continued to give a lot of effort out there, diving on the floor after loose balls and playing hard. I was proud to see that from our young group. The game would end with Sharum staying undefeated on the season with the 30-17 win. Congrats to their kids for a great game played, but I am still proud of our young group and the effort they showed out there today as it was obvious they were overmatched from the beginning.

We will practice on Monday at 6:00 and then break for Christmas. I do not have the holiday practice schedule yet, but as soon as I do, will pass it along to you all.

Our player of the week for week 3 of the season is Alex Roper. Alex has shown improvement with each and every game and today he really did some good things out there on the floor. He played very good defense, caused several jump balls and got 5 big rebounds in the game. He was really hustling out there and played a very good game for us. Great job today Alex, we are very proud of you!

Well, I sure was proud of the way our young kids played on Saturday against a good JMAC team. We really played good defense and outhustled them at times on the boards, which helped to keep us in the game. We just couldn't overcome a 2nd quarter spurt by JMAC and that really turned out to be the difference in the game. JMAC is coached by a couple of my very good friends, Coach Chris and Coach Doug and they always do a great job with their team. We knew going into the game this would be a huge challenge for our very young group of kids.

The opening quarter was back and forth with both teams missing some really easy shots but on the other hand, both teams were playing good defense. After Ty Jones gave JMAC an early 2-0 lead, Andrew Bone would sink a free throw to pull us within 2-1. After another basket by Ty, Kolton Kennon sank a short jumper and then hit a free throw to tie the game at 4 after one quarter of play. The 2nd quarter JMAC turned up the heat on defense as their defensive specialist, Jayden Brown was all over the place out there. He really made some nice plays on defense for them, which led to some easy baskets from Drake Kleck and Ty Jones. The only points we managed to score in the quarter was from a jump shot by Kolton and JMAC would build a 15-6 lead at the half.

Our kids then got us back in the game as we knocked down six free throws at half-time, while JMAC only hit one. Kolton Kennon, Andrew Reeder, Alex Roper, Michael Fretheim, Keaton Kennon and Andrew Bone all stepped up there and hit their free throw to make it a 16-12 JMAC lead heading into the 3rd quarter. The final two quarters of the game was back and forth with both teams exchanging baskets and sometimes turnovers. Our kids continued to battle hard and several times we pulled within one point but never could seem to get over that hump all the way. Both teams played hard and it was a well played game by all kids involved. JMAC ended up winning the game 31-24 but it was a one or two possession game the entire second half. Great job to both teams and good luck the rest of the season.

We were led by Kolton's 16 points and 12 rebounds in the game. Andrew Reeder came up big with 3 points and 3 rebounds, but he was awesome on the defensive end of the floor for us. Andrew Bone also played very good defense and really battled hard against a much bigger JMAC team inside. He ended with 2 points and 7 big rebounds. Keaton "socks" Kennon was all over the floor on defense and ended up with 6 rebounds and one point. Keaton really plays hard and I love the effort he gives us in the games. Michael knocked down a free throw and had a couple of rebounds in one of his better games of the season. He also played very good defense in the middle of our zone. McClane Moody, Jace Jackson and Eric Ramirez did not score in the game but really huslted and played very tough defense. I was very proud of how they played. Alex Roper scored a single point in the game but was another youngster that played very hard and gave us good effort in the game. Again, I was very proud of our team, as I thought this game was one of our best efforts of the season so far. See you all at practice on Monday night @ 6:00.

Our player of the week for week 4 of the season is Kolton Kennon. He had a great game on Saturday versus JMAC. Kolton scored 16 points and grabbed down 12 big rebounds in the game. He showed on Saturday that he is one of the top players in our league this year, as he was going against a very good defense in JMAC. Kolton is the leader of our team and the other guys really look to him to carry us in the games. He sure did that on Saturday. Great job Kolton, we are very proud of you!

We may have put together our most complete game of the season today in a 33-17 win over a good Morton Denistry team. Morton was 3-1 heading into the game and in 2nd place in the league standings. Our kids really showed up to play and I could not be prouder of how hard they played out there today.

We jumped on Morton right from the opening tip, as Kolton Kennon went in for an easy lay-up and 2-0 lead. We had worked on what we were going to do against Morton's defense on Monday in practice and it really paid off in the game today. We were setting double screens up top and it basically made an open path for Kolton to drive to the basket for easy lay-ups. He torched them for 12 points in the opening quarter. Our defense was all over Morton on their end of the floor. Andrew Reeder made life very tough for the Morton point guard. He forced him into numerous turnovers and bad passes. Andrew Bone and McClane Moody were shutting down the middle and Morton had no answer for our defense. As the quarter was coming to a close, McClane Moody would sink a short jump shot and Andrew Bone would do the same. After the smoke had cleared we had a 16-0 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

The 2nd quarter Morton started making a comeback. We struggled to get anything going on offense and their defense forced us into all sorts of mistakes for much of the quarter. I was proud that we were able to hold them to just 8 points as our defense was working really hard. Alex Roper, Eric Ramirez and Michael Fretheim were all over the floor and did not make it easy for Morton to score. Dylan Curtis was also doing a great job at the top of our defense and slowed Morton down a bit. Keaton "socks" Kennon forced several jump balls in the quarter and was in the paint fighting for rebounds the entire quarter. By the half, Morton had cut our lead in half at 16-8. Kolton, Andrew Reeder and Eric Ramirez hit free throws for us at the half and we headed into the 3rd quarter with a 19-9 lead.

The 3rd quarter we continued to play very aggressive defense and held Morton scoreless the entire 5 minutes. Andrew Reeder, Kolton and Dylan Curtis would not let Morton near the basket, while Andrew Bone and Keaton got all the rebounds. On offense we continued to attack and Morton did not make any adjustments. Kolton scored 6 points in the quarter and Andrew Reeder would knock down a jumper from the wing to make it a 27-9 Eunices lead after three full quarters of play. The final quarter we cleared the bench and let some of our other 1st graders get a lot of playing time. Alex Roper played some point guard and did a good job there. Michael, Jace and Eric all continued to play very good defense and we cruised to the 33-17 win. It was a great effort by our kids today.

Kolton was on fire today as he ended with 25 points and 4 rebounds. He did not do that alone as his wing guys, Alex, McClane, Dylan and Andrew made it possible for him to score that many points. They, along with Andrew Bone and Michael were the ones setting the screens to free him up for those easy baskets. Great job to all our kids and see you all at practice on Monday at 6pm.

For this week we chose two players of the week, because of the great hustle by both players. Andrew and Eric were awesome on defense for us in the game today versus Morton. They both caused numerous jump balls and had several steals each. Andrew scored 3 points and had a couple of rebounds, but he was incredible at the top of our zone defense. He smoothered the Morton point guard into all kinds of mistakes. If they were able to get by Andrew, Eric was there waiting for them. He was like a little pest that you can't get rid of. He scored one point in the game and had 2 rebounds. Great job to both of these players and congrats on being named our players of the week!