Saturday, the boys and girls basketball teams made the 8 hour return trip to Kasana Children’s Centre from the National Basketball tournament. Here is an update from Tal Anderson, New Hope Academy Stallions coach.
Thursday the boys played a great game and won quite handily. All the boys got to play that game and they all did very well. By the end of the game each boy had scored at least once in the tournament!
The girls game ended up being at the same time as the boys game – it was not supposed to be that way but after our game ended we jumped in the car as fast as we could and drove to the girls game (about 10 minutes away). We made it just in time for the 4th quarter. When we arrived they were down one point. They played great and ended up winning by three points in a hard fought game. That put them in a three way tie for first – with only two teams advancing. Winning by three tied them with the team they beat for first in the tiebreaker and since since they had beaten that team, they were first in their pool!
Friday afternoon, the girls represented our Lord and New Hope very well in their knockout round of 16 game. They got off to a tough start and were losing by 11pts at half time. They kept working and got all the way back to being only two points behind with a minute left. The other team made a couple of free throws at the end to beat us by 4pts, ending up 9th overall in the nation! The girls congratulated the other team very well, thanked the referees and we had a nice time talking and praying after the game.
We were able to have a celebration dinner as a full group that was a lot of fun – lots of laughter and the chance to watch a slideshow of of the week’s events. We ended by thanking God for His goodness and provision during this week.
Thank you for your prayers for health and safety. Everyone had a good time playing to the Glory of God and supporting each other. They were a group dedicated to supporting each other and playing with character. We are all thankful for the opportunity to play basketball and cheer each other on this week.