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!

Showtime for Fall - 8th Grade

Fall season, Coach Sawyer asked if Colton was available to play on Showtime again. Originally, Coach was thinking of one team, with 7th/8th graders, but ended up making a team for both grades. Colton had played with Ace, Lucas and Stephen on the Summer Showtime tournament. He knew Carter from last year's Jags team, and we pulled in Tannic from our Grizzly days. Add in a few other players (Jackson, Matt, Kaden) and it was a new team. Alas, Colton didn't speak up soon enough to get my coveted #5. He was #15 this season. 

The boys had some group clinic times at the high school, but no specific team practices. They played in the Thursday night Superleague, and the Saturday Superleague. And unfortunately, those Saturday games were scheduled at the same time, or back-to-back with Colton's Wolves, so he was late or missing at a few games with both teams. 

Here's a snapshot of the Thursday league (click to enlarge)

... and the Saturday setup

Links to highlight reels ...

Showtime vs Corner Canyon (game #1)

Showtime vs UBC (game #3)

Showtime vs Stars (game #4)

Showtime vs Mambas (Playoff #1)
Showtimes vs Corner Canyon (Playoff #2)
Showtime vs Golden Eagles (Championship)