Start of the High School Basketball Season

Hello friends,Hivers,and sports fanatics. For this article I'm going to flex on my son's craft, basketball. I'll start with a wrap up of his season last year. I will than tell the tails of his first two games of this season.

|2021-2022 STATS |2022-2023 STATS
|PPG |APG|RPG|SPG| |PPG |APG|RPG|SPG|
|14.5|1.8|3.6|0.7| |13.8|2.3|5.3|1.0|

PPG= Points Per Game RPG= Rebound Per Game
APG= Assists Per Game SPG= Steals Per Game

Last season he put together an excellent Junior season. He did have a slough of injuries that limited him at times. Despite averaging more points per game in his Sophomore season he improved in all other statistical categories in his Junior season. So he performed better as an all around player. One big difference was his free throw percentage. He improved from 64.0% at the free throw line to 75.6%.

Picture Source
He received second team honors for the conference he played in and made first team for the All City Team. The year prior when he played for a different school he made 2nd team for both the Conference and City Teams. I thought he should have been 1st team for both but I don't get to vote. It was a different conference which wasn't all that competitive to the one he plays in now.

So game one was a road game about 2 hours away. I didn't get to go due to being sick and being tired. Fornately they had a live feed so I got to watch the game in the comfort of my home. My son was also still recovering from a cold but he's much younger than me so he was much further along in the recovery phase.

All of his previous years the first game of the year for him has been just a feeling out game. If memory serves me right he ended with no more than just 8 points in those contests. This season started out much differently for him as he splashed 22 points! He got the first game monkey off his back.

I was going to have a friend help edit the live feed I watched but HUDL came through with decent clips of my son's game play. It's a video hosting service which provides footage for various sports events. Started primarily for American Football which served collegiate and professional teams. It now includes various youth sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball and others.

The big accomplishment my son did was hit 6 three point shots. His first season as a starter was his sophomore season. He matched this accomplishment back than as well. He certainly wanted to beat his personal best by hitting a 7th one.

So he almost had a flawless game. He made 8 of 11 shots. Behind the arc (3 point shots) he was 6 of 8 for 75%. The two misses were narrow misses, he was very focused and in a shooting groove 😊 the other two shots he made were a mid range shot and lay up. He also contributed 2 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steels. The amazing thing is he only played just over half of the game.

It didn't take long for him to make an impact. He scored 9 points in the first quarter alone and ended with 16 points before halftime. He made his first 5 shots. In the second half he only played about 6 minutes out of a possible of 18 minutes. Still he managed to get 6 more points to bring him to a game high of 22 points. It was a proud moment seeing the other team trying to adjust to his play by switching other players on him to guard him. His team had a big lead early in the second half and time was afforded to the bench players to get them some game time experience.

Game 2 was a home game and I just love the home crowd feel. The school is very much basketball oriented and it shows on game day as many fans come to watch.

https://youtube.com/shorts/xLAO1AizM68?si=RhAs2FAi17Xjjpl1

I took this quick video of his introduction. It's always fun to watch the introductions of the players. The players all have something different they do when their name is announced. My son has always had the same routine. Oh King Cole always gets crowned during introductions, hehe.

He had a solid quiet game. He had 18 points, which tied for the most among his team. He didn't do as well from the arc (3 point shots) this go around, 1 of 6. One of the shots was a heave from half court as the second period came to an end. The majority of the points he had were drives to the hoop. He went 5 for 8 from the field (non 3 point shots). On the free throw line he sunk 5 of 7 shots. In total 6 for 14 overall which is good efficiency. He added 1 assist, 5 rebounds, 3 steels and 1 block.

The game was competitive in the first half. They had 3 point lead going into the half (31-28), Cole had 6 points at that point. His team went on a 17-0 run to start the third quarter. This ended up being enough as his team coasted to a win with a score of 64-51.

My son's next game is at home on Friday. Well that's it for his basketball updates.

Take care, stay safe and have a great end to your week. Until next time!