Wolves ... The End

 

Colton first played with Coach Phil, his son Gage, and buddy Collin when Colton was in 3rd grade (2015) ... he joined the Wolves in 2016. It's been eight years of practices and games and hanging out. Many boys on the team came and went, but the CORE FOUR were there the whole time.  Gage and Collin (and the rest of the team) were a year older than Colton, so 2023 was the year those boys graduated. There's not really league play for pre-college kids. At this point, it's either college ball or local men's leagues. 

There were two final tournaments ... one in March and one in May. 

In March, the boys played four games in a tournament at Summit Academy in Draper. I didn't make it Friday night, but I went to the two games on Saturday. These games felt a little like the NBA "Allstar" games ... not too serious/competitive. Lots of three pointers and attempted dunks. Not a lot of defense. Just the boys having fun. I made highlight reels of these two games.

Game #3       Game #4 

Colton had 47 points that final game!

We thought that WAS the end, but then one more tournament came up. 

This was held in Bountiful, which is a little out of my zone, even if I'm not driving myself. But, as these were the LAST games, and Colton could Uber me there, I was planning on attending and getting video. Unfortunately on Friday, May 26 I was struck with some sort of vertigo and couldn't get out of bed for days. I was SO sad to miss these games ... especially when they ended up winning the championship (picture at the top). I was grateful to get a photo, and happy the boys went out on top! 

Colton ~ Spring/Summer/Fall 2022

 This will be backdated to October 2022 ...

As the high school season ended, the "off-season" starts up. The Wolves were getting back together for a final season, the West Jordan team had some games, a clinic, a carwash ...  and Colton got an invite to Metro, a club/college recruitment team. While it was a great opportunity, we didn't feel it was in the cards for Spring 2022 - but he will be playing with them next year after high school basketball ends.

The Wolves got new jerseys and started up with Thursday night practices. As all the Wolves except Colton will be seniors next year, they are playing in the Varsity division. They had some ball in Spring, Summer and Fall. For West Jordan there was some post-season play with the "new" Varsity squad, Colton (and Ethan/Carter) are playing up with the seniors. Colton got an invite (from Coach Sawyer) to step in on a St. George team (Ignite) playing JV (his age group) and then played way up, when Callahan's men's league team needed a sub. I didn't make it to all the games, but tried to hit the ones that were closer to home. Video links are posted where highlight reels were made. 

• March 18/19 Wolves at Riverbend (3 games) Highlights from one game HERE 
• April 1/2 Wolves at Jordan/Alta (Colton didn't play, PROM priority)
• April 11 ... West Jordan Basketball Banquet at the High School
• April 15/16 Wolves at Riverbend (3 games)
• April 27/28/29 Wolves at Riverbend (3 games) vs Premiere 
• April 28/29 Ignite at Riverbend/Sport City (5 games)
• May 3-7 West Jordan at Jordan for Shot Clock Tournament (5 games) Cottonwood, Wasatch, Highland, Judge, PleasantGrove
• May 13/14 Wolves at Heber (four games) Game 1, Game 3 
• May 15  Colton and Callahan Men's League (May@GeneFullmer, Aug@Tville)
• May 19/20/21 Wolves at Juan Diego (four games) vs Bandits
• May 27/28 Wolves at Sandy Expo Center (three games) vs Dubtown, BBA, Tigers 
• June 2-4 West Jordan at the Ute's Camp/Tourney
• June 6-10 West Jordan Team Camp
• June 16-18 West Jordan "Nets on Fire" St. George vs Cedar, Pineview, MountainView
• June 23-25 Wolves/RockyMountainShowcase at Sandy Expo (5 games) vs Force, Bandits, Fusion, Elite, JamOnIt
• July 1 Wolves/KMTC ~ Chile Challenge
• July 20-22 Wolves Las Vegas Tournament 
• September/October Wolves in Karl Malone Training Center Fall League vs Emery, Patriots, 10/08, 
• October 28/29 Halloween Tourney at Alta w/Wolves vs DNA, ClubCrossOver, MountainView

That wraps up the pre-season play ...

Colton ~ Spring/Summer/Fall 2021

 

The official basketball season wrapped up in February, but there was NO downtime. Colton was playing again immediately, as his Wolves got back together, and he continued playing for West Jordan (Showtime during the Spring/Summer months).  Lots of practices and lots of games ... here's a little excerpt from my journal on Saturday, March 20th

FIVE games today (really six, but two were at the same time, so he missed one). The first was at 12:00 at the RedBarn ... and it was raining! The boys (Wolves) got beat pretty bad. Home for a bit then #5 and I headed out for his 4:00 game. Summit Academy High School ... first time at this location. Close to where I used to work with CK. That one started late, as there were no refs for a while. Not sure what happened there. Luckily it was okay, as we didn't have another game right after. The boys/Wolves won that, which meant another game at 6:00 at Sport City. We all just went straight there, no rush, but no time to do anything else. #5 had a 7:00 game with Showtime, which was going to be easy (based on previously playing that team) so we asked Coach Sawyer if he was okay with #5 being late, and he was fine with that - so #5 got to stay and play to the end, and it was close right up to the end, but the Wolves got the win. We then rushed to the 7:00 game, and they were doing fine. 20-5 when we arrived. Easy win. Then Showtime had a tough semi-final game at 9:00, and Wolves had a championship game at 9:00. We felt like we had to stay with Showtime, and Showtime got the win against Mountain Ridge. So we'll play again on Monday for the championship. The Wolves got the win, even without #5. Yea! Good basketball day, although long! #5's heel was hurting at the end.

So both the Wolves and Showtime won their respective championships in March (March Madness Tourney for the Wolves, State AAU/Freshman for Showtime).  Most of these games were local (Summit, Sport City, Jordan High) and I was there and filming ... I'm not sure why I don't have highlights from any of these games. I think I was still a bit behind on the high school season and was giving that priority. At the end of the month (March 26/27/28) the Wolves headed to St. George for a tournament there. 

April was busy with more practices and games for both teams as well as the end of year banquet for the Jags, saying farewell to the seniors and recapping the season. It was held at the school in the cafeteria. With Covid protocols still in place, there was no meal, just snacks.   Early in the Spring, we got the news that Coach Sawyer had accepted a position in St. George, so West Jordan was losing him as a coach. Coach Wouden took over coaching the remaining Showtime games, and he was named Head Coach at the school. Game play continued on for the next few months. West Jordan had a full varsity team for the next year, so it was only seniors playing varsity in these games. Colton played Soph and JV. 

The West Jordan team headed to St. George in June for the Crimson Cliffs Challenge (Colton wrote up his memories of that, see it HERE on the family blog). They'd had a car wash a little earlier to help raise funds for the trip. Thanks again to Berlin's for "adopting" Colton and getting him where he needed to be. The sad news about Coach Sawyer moving was eclipsed by tragedy, and there were several team gatherings in support of the family. 

In July, Colton and the Wolves went to Vegas for a tournament there. Colton hurt his shoulder in the first game and wasn't really able to play, but he still had fun and was glad he had gone. In the Fall, the Wolves had more tournaments, while West Jordan started up their basketball clinic, having the gym available for play and practice in prep for tryouts in November. Colton was going to school at 6 am to shoot, then staying after for the clinic, then often staying later for school activities. A few times I did a Little Caesar run to keep the boys fed.

Here's the hoop highlights I have from the "off-season" ...

• April 10 Wolves vs Bingham
• April 17 Wolves (at the Red Barn)
• May 8 Showtime (Soph) vs Bingham (Shotclock Tournament)
• May 15 Showtime (JV) vs Force) 
• May 18 Showtime (Soph) vs EM Flight
• May 18 Showtime (Soph) vs Olympus
• June 17 Wolves (Game #1 Big Mountain Jam)
• Aug 23 Wolves  (at Summit Academy)
• Oct 1 Wolves (West Coast Elite Game #1)
• Oct 1 Wolves (West Coast Elite Game #2)
• Oct 2 Wolves (West Coast Elite Game #3)

Covid was still a concern, but after a full year, it wasn't oppressive anymore. Most of the spectator limitations were lifted, but masks were still required at games. The vaccine was becoming available  and finally, the mask requirement was lifted. There weren't any big basketball impacts (no Covid cancellations like last year). The rapid-testing that had been required during the official school season were not required for the off-season. Ticket prices for spectators kept going up ... the October tournament had a $25 entry fee for the two-day event. 

The Pack is Back ~ Wolves 2020

In May, the Wolves started practicing again. Practices were at the Riverbend Event Center, and then practices were also at Lincoln Academy in Utah County. As these were locations Jen doesn't drive to, there was a lot of carpooling going on. There were some scrimmages, and then a few games ... all in Utah County, so again, no Jen, no video clips. 

New Jerseys

In June - the boys went to Idaho for a tournament there. 

The Berlin family let Colton tag along with them. 

In July - It was the BIG MOUNTAIN JAM at the Mountain America Expo Center. Now, this IS a location I can drive to, it's just in Sandy, but they charge so much for spectators, and there are usually so many courts set up in the space that it's a little overwhelming with crowds and yelling and whistles. I have skipped games at this location before, and did so again. But Collin's mom Mai took video and got it to me, so I still made highlight reels and got to see the action. Here's Game #1, Game #2 and Game #3. Here's a spotlight on Colton from one of the games ...

 

After the Big Mountain Jam had its run, the Rocky Mountain Showcase was happening the next week at the same location (Colton would be playing in it with West Jordan) ... but it wouldn't make it. It was determined that someone with Covid had been there, and it had to shut down. Shortly afterward, we heard that one of the Wolves had tested positive, as had one of the parents of a West Jordan player. The Wolves did have one more summer tournament still ... another trip to Idaho (missing a couple of players). 

The Wolves then played in a Fall League ... many games were too far South for me to make it to. The restrictions on spectators were pretty tight anyway, so Colton's carpool actually got to benefit, as each kid was only allowed ONE spectator/parent. With me not attending, both of Collin's parents would be able to watch. There were a couple of games closer, at Sport City, so I went to watch there, and have video highlights. September 12, 2020 and October 3, 2020. 

Here's another set of Colton Clips ...

... and that wrapped up the Wolves. As traditional basketball season set in, the boys would be trying out for their school teams and hopefully be playing there for the next few months.  

Fall Wolves 2019

 Another season with the Wolves ... but as all the boys except Colton are 9th graders, we'll probably lose some/all to high school teams shortly. So this was a great final season. Wolves were in the division 3 superleague, playing in the Saturday and weeknight leagues, and they won the championship in both! They had an undefeated season in the Saturday league. It was a struggle, as Colton had scheduling conflicts, and there were many injuries that had players out for weeks at a time. Some weeks, Wolves barely had five to play (and one week they played with four!) 

...  the Saturday league stats

Colton missed game 1 and game 4, as they were scheduled at the exact same time as his Showtime team. Sometimes times work out, but the scheduling gods were NOT in our favor this season. 

Wolves vs SLBC (game 2)

Wolves vs Shock (game 3)

Wolves vs Thunder (game 5)

Wolves vs Thunder9 (Playoff 1)

Wolves vs Thunder 10 (Playoff 2)

Wolves vs SLBC (Championship)

and a peek at how the Monday league went ...
Happily Colton didn't miss any of those games
(but I didn't make it to the semi-finals myself)

Wolves vs Swoosh (game 1)

Wolves vs Mambas (game 2)

Wolves vs Leverage (game 3)
Wolves vs Mayhem (game 4)
Wolves vs Olympus (game 5)

Wolves vs Scorpions (Playoffs #1)
Wolves vs Leverage (semi-finals)
Wolves vs Mayhem - Championship

Summer Wolves 2019

The Wolves didn't play in any summer league, but the participated in a few tournaments. The most memorable being the Big Mountain Jam. They got the trophy in the D3 8th grade league. Even though this tournament is close, and within my driving capabilities, the cost (they charge for spectators, and it's pricey!) and chaos (SO many games going on at one time) encouraged me to sit it out and just send Colton with teammates. So no video from any of these games. Happily, pictures were shared for me to snag.

The Big Mountain Jam was mid-July. The boys also played in a tournament in June. I hit a couple of the games at Juan Diego, but didn't get to the ones further South at Timpanogos. Didn't get around to making a video with what I had. Then the boys had a road trip to Vegas for a tournament there.  Again, no video from me, but here's a snapshot that was shared ...

Spring Wolves 2019

Spring season ... Colton's West Jordan team wrapped up, so it was back to being a lone wolf. Still getting some practice and a few games in, but none of the conflicts that come with being on multiple teams.  The Wolves did double duty though, playing in two divisions in the Salt Lake Superleague. Almost all the games were scheduled back to back, which is good for travel/time.

I only made a couple videos, of the first two games ...

Wolves vs Thunder (03/23/2019)

Wolves vs Colts (03/23/2019)

The boys took a road trip to Casper, Wyoming and played in a tournament there.

... and got together for Gordy's birthday.

... and the boys had quite a few weekend sleep-overs

Basketball buddies on and off the court.

Winter Wolves 2019

Winter is the main basketball season. When Junior Jazz and school teams are playing. Several of the boys were playing on school teams, so while the Wolves stuck together for Winter, they just played in one league (Dimple Dell on Saturdays), and had the one weekly practice on Fridays. 

I went to all the games and got video (well, they did a couple tournament, and I did not make it to those games), but I just never got around to making muvee highlights this season. Not one game! Of the seven games, Wolves won three, lost four. It was a HUGE group, with 18 teams. Not sure why Dimple Dell didn't divide up the teams into upper/middle to try and make the match-ups a little more balanced. 

Games were ...

1201 Wolfpack

1208 Buckets

1215 Sonics

0105 All Poly

0112 Bulldogs

0126 Brighton

0209 Corner Canyon

The boys also got together for Collin's birthday ... more basketball! 

Off to see the Jazz play!

Wolves - Fall 2018

When Fall rolled around, Copper Hills had their try-outs for their Bantam league too. But, with new boundaries coming (Cal and Keaton were lucky enough to get in on permit) the chances of Colton actually attending CHHS in the future was slight. He decided to forgo tryouts and just stick with one team, his Wolves. Still double games on Saturdays though, as they were playing in two leagues. We added Michael to the team.

I'm not sure why, but both Dimple Dell and Gene Fullmer only divided the 8th grade into two divisions, upper and lower. Both leagues had over 20 teams participating, plenty to create a middle division as well. Wolves are middle division ... there are upper league teams that we'd have no chance against, and lower division teams are easy wins without challenge. Last Fall, Dimple Dell league had a middle division, and every single game was close and challenging and it was a great season. Here ... the end results going into the playoffs are skewed depending on the regular season matchups (just five games/12 teams).  Wolves started in the upper division in both leagues, but after blowouts the first two games in the Gene Fullmer league, switched the lower division there.  Wolves stuck with the upper division for Dimple Dell. Both leagues divided the playoffs into upper/lower based on the season standings.  

Gene Fullmer Fall 2018

1. Utah Select (won the upper division)

2. Cyprus

3. Premier (still upper division 34-26)

4. Sonics (14-44)

5. Legacy Red (16-51)

6. Hoopsters (13-45)

7. UBC (36-33)

8. Mayhem Black (12-48)

9. Hoopsters 

10. UBC

11. (Championship) Thunder

Wolves were 7-4 for the season. I tried to list the scores (first number is the team listed, Wolves score is the second one) ... by the time I got to this update Gene Fullmer and pulled the Quickscores Website info down, so I'm missing some. I didn't catch the end score on my video on those either (sometimes the officials zero out the scoreboard SO quickly!) Colton missed the championship game :( He was so sick! Wolves won the upper/lower division.

Dimple Dell Fall 2018

1. Utah Force Red (58-36) 

2. Salt City Hustle (49-26)

3. Salt Lake Sonics Grey (45-38)

4. Lone Peak Gold (12-43)

5. Utah Force Black (24-56)

6. Legends (28-37) 

7. (Championship) Rams (20-28)

Colton missed the first game (his brothers's wedding reception) and the first play-off game (still sick) but made it back for the lower/upper championship, which the Wolves won! Got t-shirts for both championship games. They are always a little big on Colton!

The Wolves also participated in a Dodgeball challenge ...

... onto Winter Wolves!
(and Colton will be playing on a West Jordan Bantam team too)

Colton - Summer Wolves (7th)

I love this picture ... with the placement of Colton out front, he doesn't look like the tiny team player he is! This was taken in Cedar City as the Wolves traveled to a tournament there in June. I, of course, don't travel, but one of the other families took Colton along with them.

The Wolves played in the Dimple Dell Summer Superleague, which was a short season. Just five games in the season, then playoffs. Colton missed the first game, as he was with the family on a getaway to Bear Lake. The Wolves won without him,  in fact, they won all five games and were the top seed.

There had been eight more teams too, so the season results can be a little skewed. The top eight went into playoffs, and the bottom eight had their own playoffs. The Wolves faced Murray, and Murray got the win. Murray then won the Panthers, then played the Herriman Mustangs in the championship. The Mustangs got the win. Here are my highlights from the season ...

• Game 1 (07/14/2018) Utah Dash
• Game 2 (07/28/2018) Kongo
• Game 3 (08/04/2018) Clutch
• Game 4 (08/11/2018) Rebels
• Game 5 (08/18/2018) Riverton

*** Other Summer Stuff ***

The Wolves also participated in a tournament at the South Towne Expo center. 

To say it's crazy is an understatement! 

Just a peek ... they put up dozens of temporary courts.
Oh the noise. The yelling, the whistles. 

I'm not sure if they are actively trying to discourage spectators (for space)...

But the pricing DID discourage me. 

I just sent Colton with teammates and didn't see (or video) these games.

The boys also played in a tournament at Soccer City. 

I took video but never got around to making highlight reels.

Colton - Wolves in Spring (7th)

Spring season ... the Wolves played in two leagues, the Dimple Dell Superleague on Saturdays, and the Murray Topflight league on Mondays. The Wolves got new RED uniforms, we added Kian to the team, and welcomed Siah back. Both leagues provided some easy games, some challenging games, some wins, some losses. In both leagues, the team we played in the final regular season game, was the team we played in the first playoff game. Funny how that works out. Colton (and I) made it to all the games, here's the video highlights ...

Dimple Dell Superleague
1. Wolves vs Legends (03/31/2018)
2. Wolves vs Buckets (04/21/2018)
3. Wolves vs Attack (04/28/2018)
4. Wolves vs U3 (05/02/2018)
5. Wolves vs Chargers (05/02/2018)
6. Wolves vs EMB (05/12/2018)
7. Wolves vs SV Elite (05/19/2018)
8. Wolves vs SV Elite (06/02/2018)
9. Wolves vs Miners (06/02/2018)

Murray Topflight
1. Wolves vs TC Elite (04/02/2018)
2. Wolves vs Bucketzz (04/09/2018)
3. Wolves vs Titans (04/16/2018)
4. Wolves vs Murray (04/30/2018)
5. Wolves vs Mayhem (05/07/2018)
6. Wolves vs A-Train (05/14/2018)
7. Wolves vs Judge (05/21/2018)
8. Wolves vs Judge (06/04/2018)
9. Wolves vs Mayhem (06/11/2018)

Colton - Winter Wolves

For Winter - not only did Colton play on two teams (Grizzlies and Wolves), but then the Wolves played in two leagues. Dimple Dell on Saturdays, and Murray on Monday nights. Brig joined the pack for these two leagues. 

Dimple Dell League

• December 2, 2017 ...  Wolves vs Bengals
• December 9, 2017 ...  Wolves vs SL Sonics
• December 18, 2017 ... Wolves vs Cyprus
• January 6, 2018 ... Wolves vs Corner Canyon *
• January 20, 2018 ... Wolves vs American Fork *
• January 27, 2018 ... Wolves vs NWBA
• February 3, 2018 ... Wolves vs Future (I didn't attend, no video)
• February 24, 2018 ... Wolves vs Utah Dash (Colton didn't attend, no video)

Murray Top Flight League

• January 8, 2018 ... Wolves vs Stars
• January 15, 2018 ... Wolves vs Murray *
• January 22, 2018 ... Wolves vs Stansbury
• February 5, 2018 ... Wolves vs Titans
• February 12, 2018 ... Wolves vs TC Elite
• February 19, 2018 ... Wolves vs A-Team (Colton didn't attend, no video)
• February 26, 2018 ... Wolves vs Warthogs
• March 5, 2018 ... Wolves vs Warthogs 
• March 12, 2018 ... Wolves vs All Poly (just didn't get around to making a video)

Colton averages about 10 points a game ... but this season, in both leagues, he had three games in a row where he was on FIRE (* above) with 30+ points! Murray kept a stat sheet and shared totals after the first few games. It was fun to see Colton there at the top for scoring and three-pointers!

These stats were early in the season, but Colton still finished up 2nd for scoring and I think third for 3-pointers. That was even with one game where he didn't score at all (still played a great game, had 11 assists, which is currently Cal's record held at Copper Hills) and then he missed a game ... out with knee issues.

It was there on January 27, playing the girls, when Colton went down hitting his right knee badly. He continued to play that day and in future games, but struggled with pain quite a bit. I ended up running him into the doctor mid-February where he received a double diagnosis of "Jumper's Knee" (an overuse injury, which is what I suspected. Cal had this at about the same age) and bursitis (from the fall. He had a visible bump that hadn't gone away). Remedy?  Rest. Some ice and compression too, but mainly rest. Colton was supposed to play in a President's Day tournament that weekend, but we bowed out. He missed several practices and a couple league games. He probably returned to play a bit early for the tournament (win or go home) ... it was just so hard to not play when physically he COULD, he just shouldn't. Then the season ended and he had a few more real weeks to rest.

Practices were Thursdays at a church gym in West Jordan and Fridays at the SLCC gym.

Very grateful for parents willing to chauffer Colton around to help out. 

Colton - Fall Wolves

As Fall rolled around, the Wolves were playing in two leagues. The Gene Fullmer superleague (7th grade middle division) and Dimple Dell (7th grade middle division). As Colton was playing with his 6th grade Grizzlies again, there were a few conflicts, but overall, the schedules worked out (the first and final games were at the exact same time! There were a few back-to-back games, some close enough that Colton made both, others that he missed portions of). 

We added a couple "big" guys, Cyrus and Christian. 

• Game 1 (September 9, 2017) Wolves vs Thunder
• Game 2 (September 16, 2017) Wolves vs Mayhem
• Game 3 (September 23, 2017) Wolves vs Thunder **Colton on Fire
• Game 4 (September 30, 2017) Wolves vs Storm
• Game 5 (October 7, 2017) Wolves vs Select
• Game 6 (October 8, 2017) Wolves vs Ducks
• Game 7 (October 14, 2017) Wolves vs Copper Hills
• Playoff Game 1 - Copper Hills (they forfeited to us)
• Playoff Game 2 - Select (we forfeited to them, it was unwinnable and Wolves had an important game a bit later in the day).  Ducks and Select played in the championship, and while Select had bested the Ducks during the regular season, the Ducks took the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the Gene Fullmer league didn't have enough teams to have both an upper and middle division, so they were combined. The top three teams (Storm, Select and Ducks) were definitely "out of our league" so to say! All the other games were pretty fairly matched (and those three were fairly evenly matched with each other).

The Dimple Dell Middle Division was very evenly matched! Every game was quite close and could have gone either way. Wolves had an undefeated season, right up until the final championship game, when we couldn't quite get the win. Happily, Colton got to play in the championship game. It had been in question as it was originally scheduled at the exact same time as his Grizzlies championship game. Then the Wolves were playing in a tournament that had a scheduling conflict, and Dimple Dell and the other team were kind enough to reschedule. With that ... Colton was able to play! If they'd lost without him there, we would have always wondered if perhaps he could have made the difference. At least now we know that's just how it would go. I never got around to making highlight reels of the Dimple Dell games. Here's one little clip I did post to Instagram though ...

Ah ... the Wolves Fall season in the Dimple Dell league ended and Winter started yesterday ... and I never got around to making videos of those games. This shot was Colton's most memorable. He'd come late (straight from a Grizzlies game) and there was less than a minute left in the half. Enough for Colton to get off a 3 point buzzer beater! #mycoltonclips

A post shared by BlackhamBall (@blackhamball) on Dec 3, 2017 at 9:29am PST

Colton - Summer Wolves

Summer can be a bit crazy ... we did have a few family trips to Pineview, and a summer vacation to Seattle/Canada. Colton did miss one of his games for the trip, and went to one (game 4) but didn't play, as a bad blister on his baby toe was just too painful (the team still got the win without him).  There was also a tournament at the South Towne Convention center ... Colton just played the Thursday game before heading out of town for a St. George getaway 

Wolves played in the Dimple Dell league. 

As the school season ended, the boys moved up to the 7th grade division. 

• Game 1 (July 10, 2017) Wolves vs Panthers
• Game 2 (July 15, 2017) Wolves vs Park City
• Game 3 (August 4, 2017) Wolves vs Salt City Hustle
• Game 4 (August 19) Wolves vs Utah Club Black
• Game 6/Playoffs (August 26, 2017) Wolves vs Panthers
• Game 7/Playoffs (August 30, 2017) Wolves vs Legends

Manzanarous is in the team photo, but he moved on mid-season. Siah joined the Wolves, and most of the summer was played with seven players. 

Colton - Spring Wolves

At the end of the Winter season, the Wolves got new uniforms. Black and white with red shooting shirts. This Spring season was a little tough. Playing in the Dimple Dell 6th grade middle division, we ended up 1 and 7. Just the one win to start the season. I must admit, I got a little lazy. Even though there are always highlights, even with a loss, sometimes it's just not worth the effort of going through the clips and making the muvees. Still did a few though.

• Game 1 (April 1, 2017) Wolves vs E3
• Game 2 (April 15, 2017) Wolves vs Dash
• Game 3 (April 22, 2017) Wolves vs Empire
• Game 4 (April 26, 2017) Wolves vs Chargers
• Game 5 (May 7, 2017) Wolves vs Sonics
• Game 6 (May 13, 2017) Wolves vs East
• Game 7 (May 13, 2017) Wolves vs Storm
• Game 8 (May 20, 2017) Wolves vs Chargers

The Wolves also played in an AAU Memorial Day tournament ... won two, lost one. Not sure why I never got around to making highlight reels here. I just forgot, and then it was too far in the past. We lost a few team members ... one of our Issaics and one of our Collins. Isaiah too. 

Colton and the Winter Wolves (6thGrade)

Colton and the Wolves are continuing to play during the official basketball season. Winter Wolves! They are participating in two leagues, the Dimple Dell Superleague (middle division) and the Murray TopFlight League

Dimple Dell 6th Grade Saturday Superleague

• Game 1. December 3, 2016.Wolves vs SLC Future
• Game 2. December 10, 2016. Wolves vs Skyridge
• Game 3. December 17, 2016. Wolves vs South Valley Legends 
• Game 4. January 7, 2017. Wolves vs Lehi
• Game 5. January 28, 2017. Wolves vs East
• Game 6. January 28, 2017. Wolves vs Bengals
• Game 7. February 4, 2017. Wolves vs Dash
• Playoff Game 1. February 11, 2017. Wolves vs Lehi
• Playoff Game 2. February 25, 2017. Wolves vs Sonics

Murray TopFlight Tuesday League

• Game 1. January 10, 2017. Wolves vs Olympus
• Game 3. January 24, 2017. Wolves vs Stallions
• Game 4. January 31, 2017. Wolves vs A-Train
• Game 5. February 7, 2017. Wolves vs Premiere
• Game 7. February 21, 2017. Wolves vs Murray

With Colton playing on two teams, both playing in a Saturday league, I was concerned about game conflicts. Happily, HE didn't have any (I had some, when Colton's team and Cooper's team would play at the same time). On Tuesday nights, the high school had their games, and I was afraid I'd miss most of Colton's Murray games, but again, we lucked out with late games (9:00 start), which I usually hate, but was happy with here, because then I could still come after Callahan's game finished up. 

We also played in Dimple Dell's Christmas Tournament 

(Game 1, Game 2, Game 3)

Wolves in Autumn

New Uniforms. Back to Black.

With the turning colors of the leaves in Autumn, the Wolves changed their colors too. New uniforms. Similar style, but bigger (these boys grow!) and in black, with a shooting shirt to match. Looking good Wolves!

Looking toward leagues for the Fall, Gene Fullmer is nice and close. There is a mid-week league through Salt Lake County, and Dimple Dell was also one we were considering. Then a new league in Lehi was looking to add a few more teams and offered some enticements to join them. The decision was to try Gene Fullmer and Lehi for Fall ... double games most Saturdays.

The Lehi league started up first ... it's a long drive. I don't do freeways. Colton and I have had to catch rides to these Lehi games. Held at the Karl Malone Training Center, I'll admit I was hoping for a little more from the facility (from a basketball mom spectator standpoint). They have three courts mashed into one room. Family and friends watching are sitting on the sideline. ON it. There really isn't room to move around, which doesn't stop children from running and playing (I wish those in charge would keep things under control a bit better). While they've been great working with our coach as far as scheduling (to avoid conflicts with our other league) as a parent, it's been frustrating to not have any online schedule or stats posted. We are only notified of game time a day or two before, have no idea who we are playing, or where we stand. Almost every other league now uses "quick scores" or some other online tracker, so I guess I've been spoiled. The games themselves ... so far they've all been quite close and competitive. A good challenge for our boys. Because of the drive, I've just sent Colton to a couple games, so I don't have highlights for every game.

Lehi Highlights 

The Gene Fullmer games started the week after Lehi. We had thought they were doing an upper and lower division, as there were 12 teams, but pre-tournament they just randomly matched teams. Unfortunately ... there is quite a mismatch in this league. Our first game was an easy blowout win. The next two games were against tough teams, we suffered blowout losses. What happens when those teams play that first team? Yikes! It fun (but doesn't help you improve much) to play lesser teams, and while you still can learn from playing much better teams ... it's a little tough to keep the chin up. 

Colton's Summer Wolves

No downtime for these boys! The Wolves played on into the summer. There was a pretty big break there though, all of June was off, most of July too.  We were playing in the Dimple Dell Superleague. As school had finished up in May, we'd technically moved up a grade, now playing 6th grade (Colton will be in 5th). No upper/lower divisions here, and this was a challenge, facing some really talented teams. We only managed one win, but got some good experience. 

Here's Highlights ...

I MUCH preferred playing at the Dimple Dell Rec center this season, unlike last Fall, where they scheduled us up at Butler Middle School. There were nine teams, and only five season games. We didn't get to play all the teams, and happened to hit all the hardest ones (and had to play Future twice). Practices were still Friday evenings at SLCC. On to Fall ...

Colton - Spring Wolves

Spring Season is here! We lost one player from our winter team (Max rejoined his former team "The Scorpions" who we will play against) and so we added Issac. That's right. ANOTHER Issac. We already had two on the team ... now we have three! With 10 players, Coach Farmer generally plays the boys in sets of five. Colton, Gage, Isiah, Kiony, Gordon are one set, and the other is the Issacs and Collins (we have two Collins too!). 

Practices are still Friday nights, 6:30-8:30 at SLCC. Again, a HUGE thanks to the Berlin family for letting Colton catch rides! We are playing in two spring leagues, a Saturday Superleague  with Gene Fullmer (schedule/stats), and a Tuesday one with Murray Parks and Rec (schedule/stats).

You can catch all the highlights ...
Games 1&2
Games 3&4
Game 5 (Rebels)
Game 6 (Grizzlies)
Game 7 (Scorpions)

... and the Murray Games
Two games each week, always against the same teams. A-train and Future

April 4
April 12
May 3
May 10

Colton clips... Love my little basketball boy!

A video posted by BlackhamBall (@blackhamball) on Apr 26, 2016 at 4:37pm PDT

After the regular season, there were playoffs ... we played the Grizzlies again, and then ... a rematch against Mayhem. We'd already played them twice (games 3&4) ... lost one, won one. The boys really wanted to win the championship, but it wasn't meant to be. Mayhem came out strong, and our boys could NOT get a shot to drop the entire first quarter. Finally, got some baskets and got close enough to make the end exciting, but couldn't clinch it.

Sometimes I think we need to take a picture BEFORE the final game (we can always take another "#1" one after if they win) ... the boys, especially Colton, were having a bit of a hard time smiling after the loss. On to Summer at Dimple Dell!