Varsity basketball returns to GWCS (at least for one game), and it felt great!

After getting permission to begin having outdoor practices in the middle of March, basketball diehards (lead by Alfred and Kevin) began showing up at Kings Park at 7:30 AM to work on their skills.  Sure, some of those mornings were right around freezing, some of those mornings were a little bit wet, and some of those mornings were only attended by two or three players, but all of those mornings were productively spent working on building a team.  The hope of playing any varsity games this year dwindled with each passing week.  Suddenly, with a few more amendments to the county health board protocol, it was time to schedule a game.  One of our old rivals, the Yeshiva School in Maryland was also looking to squeeze-in a game or two before the school year was over.

On Wednesday, April 28, we drove our team of eight players, in three vans, to Silver Spring to start (and for all-we-know) end our 2021 season.  After getting off to a slow start, we outscored Yeshiva in the second and third quarters to make it close, but then lost a competitive game as Yeshiva pulled-away in the end.  The last score of the game was a three pointer by Evan and the (tiny, tiny) crowd went wild!

Thanks go out to everyone who participated in what has been, the weirdest and shortest season of all time.  Thanks to Goldie and Connelly for coaching-up a storm.  Thanks to The Aschmann’s and Mr. Mestraud for driving us to Maryland (and helping to manage the team).  Thanks to Mr. Campbell for coming to the game and shouting encouragement throughout.  Thanks to Gabe the Intern for helping with the coaching and the rebounding.  Thanks to Kevin and Alfred for providing their reliable leadership.  Thanks to Grayson, Jay, Matthew, Evan, Jana, and Ryan for rounding out the roster, attending practices and playing hard in the game Wednesday night.  Also, thanks to everyone else around school for asking us about practice, wishing us luck before the game, and believing us on Thursday morning when we said that we were ‘so close’ to winning that one, and only, game.

We are still calling around the league to see if any more games might be possible.  It seems like the answer is ‘probably not.’  Regardless, we will continue to practice every morning, we will watch the video, and we will relish the memory of playing in that one game.  Why?  Because having a little basketball in your life is infinitely better than none-at-all.

Go Coyotes!

GW Community School
They’re Back… Coyote Cagers!
April 28, 2021