December 14-15

Monday afternoon at McCaskey for the fourteen-mile bus ride east to Garden Spot HS in New Holland. The JV squad made its road debut a good one with a 64-51 win, the varsity was victorious as well but it wasn't easy. We played lethargically in the first half and trailed by four at the break, a third-quarter surge put us up by seven heading into the fourth. To their credit Garden Spot never folded their tent, they trailed by two in the closing seconds with a chance to tie the game with two shots at the foul line. Their shooter missed the first attempt, on the purposely-missed second shot one of their men was called for a rebounding foul. Randolph Speller went to the line and made one of two, a desperation GS full-court toss at the buzzer fell short as we escaped (that is the proper word) with a 71-68 decision. JPM had three players in double figures: Kobe Gantz led with 23, Ricky Cruz added 15 and Ran had 11. The team improves to 2-0 in the league and 3-1 overall but in the locker room after the game other topics were discussed. What was said will not be elaborated upon here because the locker room is private but the basic theme was to reinforce the idea that no game or opponent can be taken lightly. The boys are at home on Wednesday to finish the first round of crossover games when they host Ephrata. On Tuesday my mother had an eye appointment at the health campus, it was one of those for which she needed a driver. They changed one of her prescriptions and told her she needs to come back on Thursday morning for a followup. She already has an appointment in the afternoon for therapy on the knee she banged up so it's shaping up to be a full day. Take care, thanks for reading.