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!

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.  

Covid & Basketball

Well ... Covid-19 had been in the news, but it seemed a world away, not something that would affect us personally. Even when there were first reports of it appearing in the U.S. and even in Utah, it still didn't seem real. That all changed on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. The boys were waiting for the game to start, but tip-off for the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder game had been delayed for unknown reasons. Then it was announced the game was off and everyone in the stadium needed to leave. Shortly after that, the news reported that Jazz center Rudy Gobert had tested positive for Covid-19. The NBA suspended all game play, and other sports followed. People were panic shopping, and there were soon shortages at the stores. School moved online that Friday. Everyone was encouraged to "Stay Home, Stay Safe" ...  In the Family Update for February, I'd written about how Colton's West Jordan season had wrapped up, but that his Wolves were getting back together, and that basketball wouldn't be ending anytime soon ... I was wrong! The future was very uncertain.

Without basketball to play, or even watch ... the boys turned to some NBA-opoly. It's a real game, it's just old, and the teams are rather outdated. There was the "indoor hoop" play as well, until a dunk that was a little too-powerful broke it (we ordered a new one and the boys were back in business pretty quickly). Overall, I thought the Blackham Boys coped pretty well all things considered.

The NBA was back by July ... in a bubble. And local leagues were attempting play as well ...

Colton - West Jordan Jags (Winter) 2019-2020

Tanek, Carter, Ty, Ethan, Jackson

Colton, Elijah, Quinton, Dominik, Matt

There had been tryouts in the Fall. Colton had a couple friends he'd played with on the Showtime team in the fall that didn't make it, and he was sad about that. Carter, Tanek and Matt from Showtime made it, and Elijah and Jackson had played on the summer Showtime. Colton quickly clicked with the team though and they all became good buddies. Ryan Farmer, the 8th-grade coach from last year was coaching again. 

Here's a couple clips reels highlighting just him ...

... but I got to all the games and made videos, except for the last one in each league. Those were losses and the boys were very down and I wasn't sure if they'd even be interested in reliving those ;)

Find complete game highlights here - West Jordan Jags/8th Grade.2019-2020

It was a good season. They didn't win the championship, but won most of their games. I think I'll remember the controversy over Tanek being on our team. His family had moved into the Copper Hills boundaries a few years ago. He had been playing for CHHS, but after playing with Showtime in the fall and clicking with some people, he decided he would attend West Jordan for his high school years. It really wasn't that much of a stretch. His siblings were going there, as they'd lived in the WJ boundary before. Copper Hills however was not happy about the prospect of losing him and pushed the issue for the Bantam league. Tanek ended up making it official by switching schools (from Sunset Ridge to West Jordan Middle) in February. He'd planned on just finishing out the school year and then switching, but went through the rigamarole to make it legitimate for the season (CHHS still said our game against them before the switch, which we won, was a forfeit).  

The boys were planning on playing a Spring AAU ... 

but then came Covid, and it shut everything down.

Callahan Continues ...

 I always said that Callahan didn't just LOVE basketball, but he LIVED basketball. After his Varsity season, as he's graduated from high school and moved onto life, with school/work/relationships, basketball did move to the background. But he still enjoys playing.  I don't get to many of his games, but I hit a few here and there. 

Here's a game from a while back ...

Spring of 2019 he played in the T-ville league - They got the T-shirts!

Summer of 2019 Cal joined some CHHS Alumni for the annual Alumni tournament. As most of Callahan's graduating class was gone (only Stockton was around) so they joined the 2016 graduating class, and the won the tournament!

 Cal was having fun playing with some of the old crew again.

Dimple Dell League. Fall 2019. 

Here's Highlights ...

Unfortunately ... Cal broke his foot (reminiscent of 8th grade!) the next week. So back to a boot for several weeks while he recovered. He is back on the courts though. Playing with his buddies some nights during the week, and planning on some competitive church ball. Maybe I'll go see him play. 

Keaton - Cheering Them On

 This is Keaton.

This particular dress up (pictured above) was a school "sports" themed activity. He's got his Space Jam jersey (actually, it's Callahan's) and his sports socks. He always enjoys dressing up for themed events to cheer on the school. Senior year was filled with a lot of fun!

Starting with football ...

View this post on Instagram

While waiting out the evacuation (lightening at Friday’s football game) Keaton and Cameron provided some entertainment ...

A post shared by BlackhamBall (@blackhamball) on Aug 18, 2018 at 7:08pm PDT

... and then basketball season started up

… and it culminated with Keaton and the crew doing a drill performance

 Keaton has been great coming to a lot of Colton's games
to cheer on his brother too.

But he generally doesn't dress up for those ...

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

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)

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.

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 ;)

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!

Keaton - Senior Junior Jazz

Keaton and the KFC Crew  put together a team for Junior Jazz their senior year. Not every single guy on the team works at KFC, but most of them do. That did make for some difficult scheduling on Saturdays. Cooper wasn't playing this year :( but Colton was on two teams ... but I still managed to hit all of Keaton's games. At least all the ones he did. He missed a couple (he went to watch the drill team compete at region on 01/12, and state was 02/02 ... but Keaton missed that as well as he and the family were off on a cruise).  Here's the highlights I have ...

• Game #1 (December 8, 2018)
• Game #2 (December 15, 2018)
• Game #3 (January 12, 2019)
• Game #4 (January 19, 2019)
• Game #5 (January 26, 2019) 
• Game #6 (February 2, 2019)
• Game #7 (February 9, 2019)

I can't believe they didn't get a good team photo!

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.