Colton ~ Varsity (Senior Year) 2023-2024

It's Colton's (#5) senior year! Once again, he'll be starting Varsity for the West Jordan Jaguars.  Game highlights will be uploaded to the BlackhamBall YouTube - check that out HERE. Follow the BlackhamBall Instagram for #mycoltonclips and new photos. BlackhamBall has a Facebook page as well. Stats can be seen on the DeseretNews and MaxPreps websites.

Here's the schedule ... check the WJ Youtube for live streams of home games. I'll try to see if away games offer a live stream and will post on FB if I find them. While I plan on attending all the games in person, I really appreciate the live streams, so family&friends can peek in on games too. I'll update these game with links to the game highlights. 

HOME - (Friday, November 17) Intro to the team ... WJ Black & Blue game

HOME (Tuesday, November 21) WJ vs Davis
AWAY (Thursday, November 30) WJ vs ArborView/NV at Corner Canyon (4:40)

AWAY (Saturday, December 2) WJ vs Layton Christian at Corner Canyon (12:20)

HOME (Tuesday, December 5) WJ vs Mountain Ridge

AWAY (Friday, December 8) WJ at Bingham

HOME (Tuesday, December 12) WJ vs Alta

HOME (Friday, December 15) WJ vs Skyridge

AWAY (Tuesday, December 19) WJ at CopperHills

AWAY (Thursday, December 28) WJ at Riverton

AWAY (Friday, December 29) WJ vs Syracuse at Riverton (1:45)

AWAY (Friday, December 30) WJ vs Snow Canyon at Riverton (1:30)

***  (Region Begins)

HOME (Wednesday, January 3) WJ vs Cyprus

HOME (Friday, January 5) WJ vs Juan Diego

AWAY (Tuesday, January 9) WJ at Hunter

HOME (Friday, January 12) WJ vs Granger

AWAY (Tuesday, January 16) WJ at Kearns

HOME (Friday, January 19) WJ vs Taylorsville

AWAY (Friday, January 26) WJ at Cyprus

AWAY (Tuesday, January 30) WJ at Juan Diego

HOME (Friday, February 2) WJ vs Hunter

AWAY (Tuesday, February 6) WJ at Granger

HOME (Friday, February 9) WJ vs Kearns

AWAY (Tuesday, February 13) WJ at Taylorsville

State Playoffs

HOME (Tuesday, February 20) WJ vs Hunter

AWAY (Wednesday, February 21) WJ @ Orem

Here's a peek at the highlights of the highlights ...

Colton Collages - Senior Season

Getting good pictures of basketball games is a challenge! The action, the low light, the distance ... I'm always busy behind a video camera for live highlights anyway. I can't even express the joy I felt when I found out that a professional photographer had been contracted to cover a majority of the games (Nicci Dean Photography). Because of this, we have priceless pictures from Colton's senior season. 

The season opener was an intro to the team, with the boys divided up and playing against each other. Sophomore girls faced JV girls in the 1st quarter, Sophomore boys challenged the JV boys in the second. Girls again, Varsity (pulling a couple up to get 10 players) for the 3rd, then (who I was excited to see) the Boys Varsity. Black and Blue.  This game was played on Friday, November 17, 2023.

 

Pictures from the first game  (WJ vs Davis) 11/21/2023

Game #4 (West Jordan vs Mountain Ridge)  Tuesday, December 8, 2023

Game #8 (WJ vs CHHS) Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Game #9 (WJ vs Riverton) December 28, 2023

Game #15/Region Game #4 (WJ vs Granger) Friday, January 12, 2024

Game #17/Region Game #6 (WJ vs Taylorsville) Friday, January 19, 2024

Game #18/Region Game #7 (WJ vs Cyprus) Friday, January 26, 2024

Game #20/Region Game #9 (WJ vs Hunter) Friday, February 2, 2024

Game #21/Region Game #10 (WJ vs Granger) Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Game #22/Region Game #11 (WJ vs Kearns) Friday, February 9, 2024

This was also the Senior Night celebration, and the game that guaranteed the Region win.

While I captured almost all the games on video, and the highlights are fun to watch, there's something special about photos. I'm so grateful for these pictures! There were occasionally other professional photographs at the games, and there were some pictures available for a price (MaxPrepsPictures). I bought a couple, but didn't feel like I needed to grab as many as I had all these ones already. 

Nicci Dean Photography also covered the team photos/pictures for the program ...

Check out Cal's collages from his senior/Varsity year.

Colton ~ Senior Night

 In every high school player's life ... there's a senior night. It's usually the last home game on the region schedule. For Colton, it was February 9, 2024. While everyone had hit games throughout the season, we hadn't had EVERYONE at a single game ... except for senior night. It was great to have all the family out to support Colton. 

Parents had been asked to create a posterboard showcasing the student athlete.  Prepping the pictures, reliving all the games and teams ... it was a walk down memory lane for sure! It was fun to see all the different pictures of the boys through the years.  You can see Colton's board HERE, and I'll make another post with all the boy's boards.

While the start of the season had been a little rough, as 2023 changed to 2024, and Region play began ... the boys couldn't have asked for a better way to remember their senior year. Undefeated in region, a fact that was cinched on senior night (even with one game left to play). It was quite the celebration!

There was the traditional walk with the parents and a little write up of the boy's plans. 

The cutting of the net - Undefeated. Region champs! 

Colton set a new assists record at the school. 

Leis. Photos. Smiles. Celebration. 

Go Jags!

West Jordan Jags Seniors - 2024

Each family of a senior was given a tri-fold board to showcase their  player.

I'm the queen of photo collages, to that's the route I took.

It was fun to take a walk down memory lane!

You can see a closer look on the family blog.

Colton's Senior Showcase.

Also, check out more pictures from Senior Night/Region Champs ♥

Here's a look at the posters for the other players ...

Colton ~ Varsity (Junior Year)

Colton (#5) is a junior, starting Varsity for the West Jordan Jaguars (check the WJ Youtube for live streams of home games). Game highlights are uploaded to the BlackhamBall YouTube playlist - check that out HERE. Follow the BlackhamBall Instagram for #mycoltonclips and new photos. BlackhamBall has a Facebook page as well. Stats can be seen on the DeseretNews and MaxPreps websites.

Here's the schedule ...

Many schools live stream the games. 

(BlackhamBall Facebook shares links when available)

Here's a peek at his best game this season - 37 points in one game!

... and here's a highlight reel of some of the best plays throughout the season. 

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 ~ Sophomore Season

 

Colton had a great sophomore season with the West Jordan Jags. There was a solid senior presence, filling seven varsity spots. Several of these boys had been playing together since the 5th grade. Although Colton was a sophomore, he didn't play any sophomore games, but was saved for JV and Varsity.  As mentioned in the post about Freshman year, Coach Sawyer had left West Jordan (but he and the school will remain True Blue!) and Christian Wouden was named head coach.

Here's a link to the JV playlist (11 highlight videos). Because the HUDL hit the highlights of the varsity games, and while Colton got quite a bit of playing time, it wasn't as much as in the JV games, I didn't make as many varsity videos. I made a Colton Clips video of the Murray game, and one from the Holiday preseason (WJ vs WoodsX @ JuanDiego). There was an early game against Olympus (the team lost, but Colton did really well - nabbed some HUDL video as I hadn't been there in person) and then the super exciting Battle of the Belt rivalry game of WJ vs CHHS that KSL broadcast. The KSL stream with commentary is fun, but the various school streams were appreciated as family would often watch from home ... including Jen, after she knocked herself silly and wasn't able to get out for a month or so.

One of the parents was always taking pictures and got quite a few good shots.

The win against CHHS was HUGE!

... more team shots

While Covid continued, it didn't impact the season the way it had the previous year. There weren't limitations on tickets (although WJ and several other school would ONLY use digital purchases, no cash or credit card at entrance) and masks weren't required. We didn't have any games cancelled, and the social stuff (like team dinners, concessions) resumed.

... and a few photos from the team dinners.

We hosted serving homemade personal pizzas at the end of January. 

... Colton even made one of the pictures in the little local paper.

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. 

Colton - Freshman Year with the West Jordan Jags (2020-2021)

 

High school basketball is a winter sport, and the previous season (Jan/Feb & early March2020) wrapped up before there were any Covid shutdowns. Colton went to watch many of the games and looked forward to trying out his upcoming freshman year. After Covid came, most tournaments were canceled, rules were changed (limited spectators, masks, etc) and everyone was on pins and needles wondering if the boys would even get a season at all. 

November started up, and it was almost time for tryouts. The night before ... the Governor required a two-week shut-down. That was definitely a let down. But the moment it was allowed (two weeks later) a truncated tryouts happened (just two days instead of a week) and the season started. Colton made the team(s). Technically, all four. He was listed on the freshman team, but didn't play with them often, as freshman games were usually at the same time as the JV games. He was a starter on the sophomore team, and the JV team, and got a little bit of Varsity playing time ... he even started one game (see HERE). Each age had separate uniforms for home/away, and varsity had two away, blue and black. Colton had NINE different jersey sets! He got #5 for freshman, sophomore and JV, and #4 for Varsity (as a senior had already claimed #5).

... alas, the Christmas Tournament games didn't happen, at least not for West Jordan. Covid hit the team. A couple of Colton's teammates had it earlier in the year, most (all?) of the Varsity players tested positive over the holiday break. Several sophomores were out here and there. I often wondered if perhaps Colton was immune? He'd surely been exposed and around it a lot, but he stayed healthy. All the players seemed to recover quickly and completely. 

I didn't make it to every game, but I went to most of them. I'd come to Sophomore and JV in person, and then I'd usually head home and watch the live stream of the Varsity game while I walked on the treadmill. 

I'd try to make highlight reels, and #mycoltonclips (featuring just Colton's points, whereas the highlights got everyone's points, assists ... but I did miss much of the defense). It would be easy to get behind with so many games, so I would tend to focus on the wins, or ones where Colton had highlights, and then some of the video footage just ended up falling by the wayside.

I don't think I ended up making ANY videos of the few freshman games I had video for. I also didn't make any for Varsity. Here's a link to the SOPHOMORE PLAYLIST (7 games) and the JV PLAYLIST (5 games).  Then I made a couple Colton Compilations ...

Colton's (Freshman) Sophomore Season Highlights

Colton's (Freshman) JV Season Highlights

Freshman Followup...

Colton (and Ethan and Carter) DID go play with the freshman in a President's Day tournament to wrap up the season. It was held at West High, and NO spectators were allowed (that is out of my drive zone, so I wouldn't have gone regardless). The games were streamed though (usually they weren't, as they were played in Aux gyms and on off days), and I was able to capture them. The first game against West (Freshman Game 1) was an easy win, then WJ had to face Bingham (Freshman Game 2)... the last game against them had been a loss, but here, WJ got the win and moved on to the championship game! Another rematch, against Mountain Ridge (Championship Game). In the previous three matchups, Mountain Ridge had walked away with the win. But not this one! It was super close and stressful until the buzzer beater end. Congrats to the Freshman team! A great way to finish up the season.

The West Jordan Varsity team had to face the #1 seeded team in the second round, and they got eliminated there. Westlake made it to the championship game as expected, but then there was an upset as Davis managed to get the win and take the title. West Jordan only had two seniors graduating, so here's hoping for a strong season next year with returning players. The Region boundaries are shifting again for next year as well (WJ had been shifted to pool with schools to the North/West, but next year will again face the tough competition to the South... back to Bingham, CHHS, etc).

West Jordan Jags - PreSeason 2020

The Freshman West Jordan team WAS going to play in a Spring League ... but it suffered from Covid Cancellation syndrome. The boys still got together a couple of times to play in the open air at the park.  Then there was a clinic at the high school in June. Two sessions, one for 6th-9th, and one 10th-12th. The coach at the high school told Colton to attend with the older group. Monday/Wednesday from 1:00-2:30. 

Colton got tapped to play a few games with the VARSITY team. It was at a non-Jen location and I wasn't sure how much playing time he'd really get, no video, but Colton had fun. Then there was the Rocky Mountain Showcase that the West Jordan team would be playing in. Colton was playing on the Freshman team. And the Sophomore team. Based on feedback from one of the Wolves parents who'd attended the BMJ just a week before, I gave this one a try. It was at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy. They were not charging admission for spectators this time (although we did have to fill out health forms/contact info, and had to wear masks the whole time. No drinking fountains available so I was sure to bring extra water). 

July 7th - Freshman WJ vs Bingham

July 7th - Freshman WJ vs Pleasant Grove

There were more games, but I got a little behind, because, well, Colton had ELEVEN games in the first two days of the tournament! He didn't play any JV (those games were always at the same time as the sophomore games) but Coach Sawyer called on him to come play a little Varsity. But the fun didn't last. The tournament got cancelled because of Covid concerns.  The kids had participated in a car wash fundraiser, but had still had to pay some for the tourney costs. These funds were refunded when the rest of the tournament wasn't able to continue.

School started up in August. With Covid concerns, online options were offered, and Colton did a duel approach. Four classes in person at Joel P, and then three classes online. This was actually done more for basketball reasons than for anything else. Now his afternoons were free, and he could attend the 4th period basketball class at the high school on A-days. Until the high school got shut-down for a two week quarantine. In September/October, Colton was playing on a couple WJ (Showtime) teams, Freshman and Sophomore (in addition to Wolves). The coaches tried to work with scheduling and ... NO conflicting games! Amazing! BUT, all the Sophomore games were in Utah County. I didn't make it to even one of those games (I did get some video from one of the other moms, so there is one set of Sophomore clips). The Freshman games were closer, so I made it to most of them, but still just got a couple highlight videos completed. 

September 19 - Freshman WJ vs Riverton

September 24 - Sophomore WJ vs Layton

October 7 - Freshman WJ vs King Zone

Sophomore Showtime

 

... and some Colton Clips ...

... after the summer clinic, there was "open gym" at the school in the months before basketball tryouts. A couple nights a week, the boys could go and play, and the coaches would watch and get to know the boys and their moves. Until Covid Cancellation of course ... the boys were lucky to get in as much as they did. Made it through the Fall season without cancellations too. Again, spectators were limited, teams had to wait outside until the game before was done and those teams had exited. Masks had to be worn. We were happy that the boys got to play though! Next up ... basketball tryouts and High School basketball!

Joining the West Jordan Jaguars

Collin, Gage, Preston, Elder, Victor

Kaden, Colton, Nash, Michael, Carter

There has been a lot of turmoil in the schools this year, with the boundary changes and new schools being set up. Blanchard is stepping down as head coach at CHHS, and West Jordan lost their coach to the new high school opening next fall. Happily, the new head coach at West Jordan jumped right in and set up a Bantam program. Colton tried out and was one of three 7th graders to make the 8th grade team. Colton, Collin and Gage have been playing together for a while, but for all the rest, this was a completely new team. They had practices once or twice a week, and played in two leagues. Murray during the week, and the Bantam league on Saturday.

Here's one highlight reel I made ...

All the Murray games were held at Riverview Jr. High. The original schedule is listed below, but there were some switch-ups. The February 6th game was postponed due to extreme snow (the schools had all closed for the day) ... which was good, as Colton was out of town and would have missed that game anyway. 

Jan 9, 2019 ..... Murray 

Jan 16, 2019 ... Titans 

Jan 16, 2019 ...  East

Jan 23, 2019 ... All Poly 

Feb 6, 2019 ... Buff Ballers

Feb 13, 2019 ... East 

Feb 20, 2019 ... Stallions 

March 6, 2019 ... Stallions 

March 13, 2019 ... East

Bantam schedule and standings ...

This team was really just set up for this one season ... but they did come together again in the Summer to play up at the Utes camp tournament too.  This was lead by another Coach Farmer! Not Coach Phil (Farmer), although Coach Phil was helping out coaching the 7th grade team. I was happy Colton was able to get #5 for his number ;)