Ramsiers?

This past weekend, the St. Peter the Apostle 8th grade basketball teams, both boys and girls, traveled to the great state of North Carolina to compete in the Shamrock Basketball Tournament. All weekend, I couldn't help thinking of the beloved 1980's basketball movie, Hoosiers.

No, our team did not have gold satin practice uniforms. 

But thanks to Margaret and Ed Chapman at Bahama Joes,

they did have some really cool cinch sacks. 

If you don't remember that one, check it out on Netflix or On Demand. It's a good one. Gene Hackman coaches a small town Indiana high school basketball team, which has to overcome a number of serious obstacles to make it all the way to the championship game. Make sure to watch the movie with plenty of tissue. Ladies, don't wear mascara.

Anyway, our Rams had some Hoosier moments themselves. First of all, because St. Peter the Apostle is a small school (only one eighth grade class), both its teams are small, with the boys' team consisting of eight players and the girls' team seven. All season long, it's been difficult to practice offensive and defensive plays without the coaches getting onto the courts themselves and getting winded, much less compete in games with no rotation of players.

Back row: Lawson, William, Ryan, Drew, Mills, Matt, Garrett, Adam
Front row: Claire, Cameron, Caitlyn, Bridget, Riley, Anna

But still, the Rams won more games than they lost, and they felt up to the Shamrock Tournament challenge.

Unfortunately, at the last minute, the boys' coaches were unable to join them for the trip, and for a day or two, our guys worried that they might not be able to go to the tournament at all. In fact, I even volunteered to serve as their coach just so they could play. Bless those boys' hearts! They said, "Come on, Coach Nancy! Let's go play some ball."

And then I realized what I'd gotten myself into (and ten thousand thanks go to Glen Price for offering to be my assistant coach) because the only coaching I could have given them was, "Score more; foul less." Really. That's all I've got.

So thank goodness, Coach Scott King came out of retirement and took those boys to the tournament. At least he's fluent in basketball speak and knows what to write between quarters on that little dry-erase board.

So off we went to the tournament to compete against the larger, taller, more skilled, and more moneyed Catholic schools in the land of Big Tobacco. When our boys saw that big gym (Which had no seats, by the way--What's up with that?) and those six-foot-four eighth graders (What do they feed those kids? Miracle Gro?), I think they got a bad case of the heebie-jeebies. It reminded me of this scene in Hoosiers (I wished I had brought my tape measure):
 

Coach King was kind enough to let me sit with the boys on the bench (I served as team photographer), and during the second quarter, I made one suggestion to #40 Garrett Ducey:  "Tell the opposing player he's got a booger hanging out of his nose, and then take the ball from him and go for it."

I don't know if any of the boys tried the booger play, but I saw many opportunities. Maybe next season.

I like this action shot.

Those boys played hard. And while the opposing team sent out their second string so their first string could rest up, our Rams ran and jumped and blocked and ran some more, huffing and puffing as they fought for that ball. I was really proud of them.

Anyway, by Saturday afternoon, the Rams were out of the tournament, but their spirits were high as they looked forward to the Saturday night dance. So after a shower and lunch, they shopped at the local mall before returning to the Hilton to get ready for the night's festivities. Adam even wore his new dance pants. And Matt styled his hair.

But then the weather turned on them. It snowed. Not just flurries like that morning. It snowed a few inches. Now, on one hand, that was really exciting because some of our kids (like Lawson) had never been in snow before, so that was really cool. Even the parents got a little rambunctious making snowballs. But when word got out from the tournament administrators that the dance had been canceled (a decision which will now forever be known as the dance cance), a dozen Savannah eighth graders deflated like three day-old helium balloons.

Snow at the Hilton

Not Lawson, though. He said, "I don't really like crowds."

I'm not so sure the camo jacket was the right style choice anyway.

It's not the kind of "blending in" one should attempt at an eighth grade dance.

Fortunately, Ryan Grady, ever positive, said, "Let's go bowling!" And he called the local bowling alley.

Mindful of the snowy but not especially icy streets, the St. Peters Rams and their parents formed a caravan to the bowling alley where they partied into the night in multicolored leather shoes. It didn't hurt that the DJ played classic '80's rock much of the time.

Who knew Lawson Remler was such a pro at the lanes? Can St. Peter's please start a bowling team?

Who knew John Lowenthal could do splits?

Too bad American Bandstand went off the air.

Who knew a tournament that threw every curve ball (I know it's a baseball metaphor--go with it) at our eighth graders could turn into such a great time? Our weekend may not have ended the way the Hoosiers movie did, but I think we had just as much fun because ended much like a combination between Old School and Superbad.

Carmen and I were wide-eyed with excitement.

Here are the parents planning the end-of-the year trip.