4th Grade - Wainwright

Outstanding! It is always a test of a team’s determination to see how they react to a tough loss. Twice now this year, you have won the day after a loss. It makes all of us very proud to see that adversity doesn’t get you down; it just makes you try harder. Today was very impressive for some different reasons. We want to truly thank all of you for listening to us and doing what we ask. Today we asked some of you to play new positions. Abbi and Emma played in the #2 spot. Ellie also stepped up in the beginning of the game to learn the #3 spot. Looking back over the season, we run the most complicated offense of any team we have played. That is a tribute to all of you. Our offense would not be possible without your dedication and willingness to sacrifice for the good of the entire team. THANK YOU! Well, the score ended up 10 to 8 with the Eagles bringing home the win. The points were as follows: Abbi – 2 Kate – 4 Mary - 2 Olivia – 2 Again, the scoring was spread out with about half the team scoring, but today a couple of different Eagles scored. Practice Tuesday night should be a lot of fun. It will be nice to spend some time with the other 4th grade team. I know a lot of you have friends on the other team, and next year, a lot of them might be your teammates. Again, great job today Eagles. You have impressed us all year long and today was no exception! ___________________________

What a game! Two great teams battling it out in a see-saw contest that ultimately ended in a 12 to 12 tie. That game was soooooo exciting; you not only had your coaches jumping up and down like monkeys at feeding time, but your parents as well. I have never heard our fans cheer so loudly. It was awesome! Biddy C took the early lead and controlled the game early on, but you never gave up. We asked our zone players to expand our zone to challenge their outside shooting and you did it better than we ever dreamed possible. On offense you yet again surpassed yourselves with your best passing of the season. All of this combined with your hard work and determination resulted in you taking the lead late in the game. The points are as follows: Abbi – 8 Emma – 2 Sarah – 2 Terrific job fighting through some tough defense. There weren't any easy shots tonight. In addition to the baskets, we also saw some great steals, rebounds, and as we mentioned above, passing. Our work during practice on passing around the outside and good spacing is really starting to pay off. We saw girls thinking 2 passes ahead and going to open spaces away from the ball and, sure enough, the ball came around to them. Beautiful! As always you played as a team, and proved that when you believe in yourself, you can do anything. We couldn't be more proud of all of you. This was a terrific opportunity tonight to help you get ready for the game next week against Niskayuna. They are going to be very similar to Biddy C, and like tonight, you will need to rise up to the challenge. We have a short practice on Tuesday night so we will need to be ready to make the most out of the time we have. Great job tonight, Orange Crush! Let's carry this momentum into our next game. The Coaches P.S. A big thanks to the Biddy C coaches and players for helping us make lemonade when we were served lemons today. Here's our math equation for the day: 1 cancelled game + 1 cancelled game + 2 great Bethlehem teams = 1 UNBELIEVABLE GAME! ___________________________

The Eagles win again! We found ourselves in yet another close game, but this time you ended up on top 9-4. The experience you gained from those tight games earlier in the season helped you last night. You showed toughness, poise and grace under pressure. Similar to how the 4 pictures from our Pizza Party (below) came together to make a beautiful team collage, you are continuing to put the pieces of your own team puzzle together. Last night, you added a couple more pieces. Menands provided you with yet another challenge. Number 42 was very tall. She was difficult to guard and blocked many of our shots. But, as always, you came through with teamwork. You helped each other out on defense and made it difficult for them to get her the ball by coming up with more steals than we could count. Team defense was definitely the name of the game. On offense, points were really hard to come by, but we love how your passing and ball-handling skills are improving. Finding an open teammate and getting them the ball is the most beautiful play in basketball. It's an act of trust and giving that brings a team closer, frustrates opponents, leads to baskets and, last, but certainly not least, makes your coaches jump up and down like monkeys at feeding time. We saw several such passes last night, but don't be surprised if we spend more time in practice working to see more. The points were as follows: Abbi – 2 Emma – 2 Olivia – 3 Sarah - 2 We think if you look back over our season so far, you can all be very proud of your accomplishments. Our first couple games were definitely a growing experience, but then we learned our offense and we started winning. We have been in every game since, in fact, in the last 9 games you have outscored your opponents 144 to 107 (you know Coach Tim and his love of math! :-). After our Holiday break, we have not seen a team that can match your teamwork. On offense and defense you are learning our plays and bringing it all together. You've worked very hard, and it is showing on the court. Keep it up, Eagles, and let's finish the season strong! The Coaches ___________________________

That was fun! What a great night. Some Pizza + Lots of Great Basketball + A Little Pure Granulated Sugar = Tons of Fun Lest we forget a second time, a great big thanks goes to Mrs. Downing for setting up the party for us last night. She does so much for our team, but a lot of it is behind the scenes. It was great to see you having so much fun together. We really love how you guys have come together as a team, and not just on the court. We can tell that you like being together, and that's priceless. I know some of you mentioned that you were nervous before your scrimmage. Although that is normal and completely understandable, you couldn’t tell by how well you all did out on the court. We saw lots of good passing and teamwork. Coach Tim wasn’t able to write down all the baskets as he was too busy missing calls trying to referee the game, but he did remember Lindsay making one basket and he knows there were others. Plus, you guys showed so much Eagle spirit, we know the varsity girls could feel it, and are sure they appreciated the support. We hope you appreciated how hard they played and how well they played together. Who knows, that might be you out on that court playing for the BCHS Lady Eagles in a few years. We certainly can see that potential in all of you. See you tonight, The Coaches ___________________________

There are tough games and then there are TOUGH GAMES. That was a TOUGH GAME! This game challenged us in many ways both physically and mentally. The ball was different, the court was different, and the referee called the game in a different way than we were use to. But challenges make us better. Challenges make us stronger. We are very proud of the way you rose up to the challenge and did not let the other team take us out of our game plan. In fact, the exact opposite happened. Your aggressive play, both on defense and offense, frustrated the players on the other team, and that is part of the reason why they reacted the way they did in the second half. The score ended up 15-8, but the second half was 5-5. That shows just how close it was. The points were as follows: Ellie – 1 Emma – 5 Olivia – 2 But we were more impressed by all of your actions after the whistle had blown than during the game. We would like to mention a couple of them: • A special thanks needs to go to Kate. For the second game in a row, we only had two 3s. In fact this game we did not know this until the start of the game. Kate was supposed to play number 1 today, but we needed her to play number 3 instead. Thank you Kate for being so understanding! • Olivia, we would like to thank you for taking charge out on the court and coming to us with things you saw that weren’t right. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. It is our job to work with the referees when issues come up. You guys need to keep playing. Nice job Olivia! • And a special thanks goes to every single one of you. On several occasions, our players were either hurt or upset by what was happening out on the court. It means the world to us to see you going to your teammates to encourage or support them when they need you. Once again, we can’t be more proud of all of you. Your concern for each other means more to us than any basket, pass, rebound, or steal you could ever make. No matter how a game goes, we are a team. We celebrate our victories together and we console each other in defeat. For us 1+1+1+1+1 doesn’t equal 5, it us much much more. One of Coach Tim’s favorite words is “synergy”. It means the total is more than the sum of its parts. You are the definition of synergy. Have a great long weekend, and we will see you all Tuesday. Great game today, Eagles! The Coaches ___________________________