Lynx vs Bearcats

Friday, Nicole dropped Rachel off at school before 7, and we picked her up some time after 10:30 p.m. She had basketball practice before school, and then four games to watch after school. Both JV and varsity, both boys and girls, won their games against Chief Sealth.

Rachel's JVC team continued the winning ways this morning, against Monroe High School, from Monroe, WA, as did the girls JV team. Varsity was another story.

We were back at Lincoln before 8:30 Saturday morning, ahead of Rachel's 9:30 start. While we waited, Nicole and I sat in the bleachers watching the second half of the US elimination from the World Cup at the hands of the Netherlands.

Rachel did not start the game, but did get a fair amount of playing time, especially in the second half. I expected the coach to cycle through the players, but she did not, substituting only sparingly until the game was not in doubt. Rachel played more in the second half partly because of another player's injury.

Although she didn't score any points in the game, Rachel made contributions with passing and defense. She has improved a lot since last year, especially in running the floor. She might have been the fastest one out there.

Rachel was planning to stay for the later games, and we decided to watch them as well. They went until just after 2 p.m. The JV game coincided with Argentina - Australia, which I watched on my phone, so I was only half paying attention. But I watched the Monroe varsity team warm up, and I mentioned to Nicole that I thought that game would be more difficult.

They had one player much taller than the others, especially the Lincoln team, who looked like she had solid passing, dribbling, and shooting skills as well. And the rest of the team also looked sharper at outside shooting. That turned out to be about the shape of things. Monroe outscored Lincoln 25-12 in the first quarter and had 71 by the end of three. The fourth quarter was not such a rout because they eventually put in their backups. We found out after that their star player is headed to Montana State next year. Rachel said she's 6'0". I don't know if any of the Lincoln starters are even as tall as Rachel.

Although it's not the best feeling to be on the losing side, it's still fun to see better players doing their thing. Even the dad behind us, who was pacing and yelling constantly at the Lincoln defense to "Deny! All the time!", eventually relented and cheered on Monroe when they made especially good plays.

Back at home we set to work a little later than intended getting things ready for Monday. I took apart two beds and the dining table while Nicole and the kids moved smaller things downstairs and packed clothes. There's still more to do tomorrow, including Rachel's bed, but it all looks manageable.