Portland West Coast Christmas Classic Dec 16-18

4th Grade Black

The Hoop Dreams 4^th Grade Black team finished fifth in the West Coast Christmas Classic in Portland December 16-18.  They finished the weekend with 2 wins and 2 narrow losses.   In pool play, Black lost the opener to Portland’s Fast team by 33 to 29.  Leading at the half, Black went cold in the second half.  Zack Ulmer led a balanced Black attack with 8 points on torrid 4 for 5 shooting.  In their second game, the 4^th grade dreamers lost a tight 45-42 contest to Mac Black. As in the previous game, the Dreamers lost a close half time lead; the boys were ready to finish the job and close the deal on Sunday morning against Seattle’s Rotary team.  Tied at half time, HD made some clutch baskets down the stretch to seal a 32-30 victory.  This earned Black the third place finish in their pool.

The boys were matched against PDX Bulldogs in tournament play.  Again HD held a narrow 12-11 lead at half time.  This time, the Dreamers pulled away with balanced scoring and good team defense to outscore the Bulldogs 31-14 in the second half and a 43-25 victory.  The team learned about finishing and game situations during the weekend, and about the importance of every possession in a close game.  Such teams throttled HD in their Portland debut last year, and we look forward to competing against them as the year progresses.  We will take the lessons from this weekend and get better.