Joel Basketball

Joel finished his fourth season of Barlow Youth Basketball with pretty much the same team as the previous years. This season was much better than last year. He got to play more minutes, had more confidence, and felt more a part of the team. Every member of the team was able to contribute, and it just made the whole experience feel much more more positive. Dan Stump and Isaac Eivers coached, and they did an awesome job with the boys. They qualified for state early in the season, and we decided to take the whole family to Bend this year. We stayed with Ryan and Michelle in Sisters, and the kids got to spend time with their cousins. A couple weeks before the tournament, Sisters had four and a half feet of snow dumped on them. The middle school girls' tournament the weekend before the boys' got cancelled because there was just too much snow.  By the time we got there, some of it had melted, and the roads were cleared and drive-able. The snow drifts, though, were over 5 feet in some places on the sides of the roads. Ryan and Michelle's front yard had so much snow piled up that they kids had snow caves and carved out tunnels--pretty fun for our kids who rarely get to see that much snow. We watched a lot of basketball, hung out with friends and family, and just had a really great weekend together. Great way to end the season. Joel's team went 2-2 in the tournament. They would have liked to win at least one more, but it was a respectable finish in the gold bracket.

Photo credit: Lynette Fay Photography