The Commish Corner - Little Legends: Spring 2016 Season

See all the Finals pictures here (over 500!):

(and download for free!)
https://legends.smugmug.com/LittleLegendsBasketball/Finals/Spring-2016

Champion Teams Summary!

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3/4 Division - Strap City!

This season "Strap City" showed a toughness we've never shown before. We practiced hard, played hard, and became a family. These boys became brothers in basketball. The team was one unit, everyone had each other's back. Leadership was on full display. The maturity and poise these 3/4 graders showed was amazing. I am truly honored to be their coach, they make me look like I know what I'm talking about! So proud of these young men. Hard work pays off so we work harder.

5/6 Division - Team Lightening!

Team Lightning came into the season stating they want a championship. They had their eyes set on the prize and was determined to get it. Lightning had some of the best 5-6 grade players in the league. Great shooters, even better defenders and it showed in the end. The team had a goal to become a defensive team. Defense win games, offense is the reward of playing great defense. These band of brothers did it, they accomplished the goal they set out for. There were a few injuries but it didn't stop the momentum. Every player was capable of filling each other shoes.

Team Lightning Chant:

Team Lightning what type of day is it? – It’s a great day to be a baller!!!

Team lightning how do you feel? - fired up!!!

How do you feel? - fired up!!!

How do you feel? - fired up!!!

There are two options to pressure, Overcome it or fold to it and we refuse to fold. Great Job Team Lightning aka CHAMPS!!!

7/8 A Division - Team DeWayne’s Ride to Championship!

Team Dewayne’s Spring Season has been a real roller coaster ride. The team of 8 players, made up of half Kilmer MS and half Longfellow MS 8th grade boys, and led by Dewayne Nelson, had a rough start early in the season by losing their first 3 games. The losses were contributed to a number of factors, to many to mention here. The team was not gelling to say the least.

The 3 straight losses were hard to swallow. Team Dewayne was in last place in their division. Something had to change. So Coach Dewayne and team parents decided that the boys needed more practice time to learn how to play their positions well, and to learn each other strengths and weaknesses on the court. The team took on an extra practice a week and started to gel. Week by week Team Dewayne defeated their opponents. It started out with 1 win, 2, then 3 straight wins. The team made it into the playoffs! Could the team continue their winning streak into the playoffs? There, the team would face off with the top 3 seeded teams in their division.

Team Dewayne had to be patient, discipline, and play smart ball to be successful in the playoffs. First up, the 3^rd place Hawks in the quarter finals, Team Dewayne bound and determined, led pretty much the whole game and pulled off their 4^th straight win- final score 51 to 42. Next up, 2^nd place McLean bullets in the semi-finals. Both teams knew what was at stake and both played a very physical game. In the end Team Dewayne fought and clawed to get their 5^th straight win, 37 to 33. Team Dewayne had earned their spot in the championship game against the 1^st place and undefeated team, James Gang. This would be the team’s toughest challenge yet, to beat the team that had defeated Team Dewayne by 24 points earlier in the season. The boys brought their A game, kept their cool, and kept the James Gang on their toes. The lead went back and forth until the last 1 minute of the game where Team Dewayne made 2 foul shots and a couple of lay-up shot to pull ahead in the final seconds to win their 6^th straight game and clinch the championship, final score 50 to 44 . The boys played their hearts out. What a sweet ride!

7/8 B Division - The Road to the Championship for the McLean Spartans!

If you would have asked Coach Johnson, of the McLean Spartans, at the end of Week#6 with a record of 2-4, whether his all 7th Grade team made up of all local McLean kids had a chance at the Spring Championship, I think his response would have been "No Way!" With that said the very next week would be the teams run to the Championship, winning all four of their final games to finish the season with a record of 6-4 and holding the Championship Trophies.
But it’s not because Coach Johnson didn’t think his team was up to the challenge or talented enough, it was because there was so much great talent throughout the League this Spring Season, which is a great tribute to how much Little Legends has grown over the years. To have 20 Teams in the 7/8 Grade Divisions on April 1st, I think set a record for the number of teams in an age group.
Championship Game Matchup on June 7th, 2016 Vs. Team Fisher, who we matched up earlier in the Season in a Week 4 Game, that the Spartans would end up winning 35-24, but the score did not reflect the matchup between the two teams during the game. We found Team Fisher to be a true gritty team that reminded us a lot of ourselves. Most teams not giving us much credit until we started playing. At one point in the season Vs. a true "A" Division Team and who we lost to by double-digits, told us that despite the score, we were the stiffest competition they had faced and admired how we never gave up and kept fighting until the closing buzzer. Back to the game. The Spartans would outscore their opponent by 28 – 8 at the end of the 1st Half, but with the help of one of their star players that arrived at the half, you could clearly see Team Fishers confidence boost when Alex Richlin entered the gym. So much so that even though our team was up by a 20 pt lead, as a team we knew that Team Fisher had some very capable scorers and we couldn’t let our foot off the gas or we would end up on the losing end of the story. In the 2nd half Team Fisher outscored the Spartans by 20-19, however the first half lead was too much to overcome. It was a strong performance for the McLean Spartans lead Point Guard Jaz Bissett and was also his 13th Birthday! The Spartans standouts of the game were Jaz Bissett with the team high 16 pts, Charlie Poole with 8 pts, Luke Norton with 5 pts, Michael Casler & Jacob Wells with 4 pts each. It was a true team effort, as every player on the roster that night, ended up with at least 2 pts each.

7/8 C Division – Thunder!