The day was a late start for all - you never should underestimate the power of sleeping until 7am!
After we checked out of the hotel at 10am we headed for Arlington Memorial Cemetery and took the guided bus tour to see John F Kennedy's grave and the eternal flame, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the incredible changing of the guards ceremony and the historic home of George Washington's adopted son. The sense of dignity and deep respect over the whole place, the understanding of the Civil War and the role Robert E Lee played was one memory that will stay with me forever.
A quick trip around Georgetown and the university (including a photo shot for the Georgetown family) saw us leaving Washington DC, heading out into country Virginia. A quick stop at Burger King (or as quick as one shop can feed 50 people) satisfied the hungry hordes and we settled in for a good 3 hour drive.
The Freshman team was playing at one school in Monticello, whilst the Junior and Senior Varsity teams played at Robert E Lee High School in Staunton - the two schools a 40 minute drive apart. We dropped the Freshmen off early and they enjoyed the chance to watch the Monticello Varsity team train and walk through the gym whilst the cheerleaders were practicing. The game was a see-sawing affair, with the lead changing several times in the first quarter. Michael Cosh had 8 blocks before half time and was ably assisted by Seamus O'Sullivan who led the team with 16 points. Final score for the game was 39 - 35 - it was great to see Keneen Cole-Zaro's athletic prowess and Ryan Williams' enthusiasm all over the court.
The welcome at Robert E Lee High School was so warm and inviting, even though we were running a little late. Our Junior Varsity team warmed up well and started with huge energy - Micheal Moore played possibly the best game I have ever seen him play and Reid Foran was also outstanding at the point. Awesome contributions off the bench came from Christian Albiez and Samson Page. Our defence as a team, and individually, was just too much for our opposition and we ran away with a strong win 66 to 37.
Our Varsity team then warmed up, but started slowly, and in almost no time we were down 12 to 4, but the exciting thing to watch was that our defence was very strong. Early in the second quarter we called a time out and strong words were spoken - we needed to take more disciplined shots, run more offence and work harder to receive the ball. The good news is that this worked!! We slowly started to peg back the opposition, and went into the half only 11 points down after the split being up to 17 points. We started the second half much more committed, and played some of the best defence I've seen at Nudgee, at one stage gaining a steal after 90 seconds of defence (no shot clocks over here!). We worked hard at pegging them back, getting within 4 at one stage of the quarter. However, this was not to continue, and the eventual result worked out 35 to 66. Great contributions off the bench from Curtis Rudd and Cambell Taylor ably assisted Jake Dunsmore and Pat Moore.
The boys were off to billets for the night - it is interesting to note that a number of the girls here asked for specific players - after a pizza gathering in the school cafeteria. One special point to note is that the Robert E Lee coach Paul Hatcher is now in his 43rd season, with over 850 wins on his record, and his son is his assistant coach - sounds familiar, hey! We played in a wonderful gym with a seating capacity of 1600 - and the crowd would have been around 1000 who all paid $5 to get in!!
The staff and families headed back to dinner and our hotel - another short night as we have a big day on the road ahead tomorrow.
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