Carter's First School Sports - 7th Grade Basketball (District Champions)

Carter's first school basketball tryout week was something I think the entire family had looked forward to since Carter was 3 or 4 years old. This was THE week. Nov. 3-7 from 6AM to 8:30 AM each day.

On Thursday - Carter was called to lead CPR in front of the entire group of 100 7th graders and did such an awesome job.

In the middle of try outs, he was also in his final days for band regional tryouts. He handled everything so well. I often forget how much he is involved in and how well he can manage it all.

Carter made the "A" Team, the group of top 10 7th grade boys. Aunt Danielle surprised him with a heartfelt congratulatory gift.

November 13, 2019 - Carter woke up for this first game day vs. Nimitz. He gets to ride the bus there right after school and watch the "Go" team, the "B" team and get's to play at 6:30PM. We are so excited!

Game 1 @ Nimitz was exciting. Nerves were high. The day prior, Coach told Carter that he was in charge of warm out and leading the team onto the count as soon as the game prior had ended. Carter took this job very seriously and we were so proud of his HUGE leadership that he had displayed already. Although he didn't start and didn't get much playtime in the 2nd half, Lopez won and we were so proud of Carter as he officially kicked off his school sports chapter of life!

Game 2 vs Tejeda on November 20, 2019 ended up being a BIG game for Carter. Although he didn't start, he went in within the first 45 seconds of the game. His shot was HOT, making 4 3 pointers, and free throws totaling 17 points!

Carter with the team lined up behind him, ready to get on the court.

Game 3 vs. Bradley, Matthew Burke ended up reffing so The Burek's came to cheer on Carter and Matthew in their 25 point victory over Bradley.

Game 4: The biggest game in the first half of the season came 12/11/2019 at home, when Lopez hosted Tex Hill. They were the only 2 teams in the district with undefeated records. For the first time, it was a very close game and Lopez was down by one point at half and at 3rd quarter. They came back in the last few minutes to win by 4-5 points, giving Tex Hill their first loss of the season. Carter played a really strong all around game and had 3 buckets and free throws in addition to one of his baskets being the one to take the lead and change the momentum in a pivotal time. He also had incredible, consistent defense and a key steal late in the game that truly helped to solidify the victory!

Game 5: Just after the big Tex Hill victory, about 4 games into the season in mid December, 3 players from the A team got hurt, within the same week, including Carter's friend and city wide all-star player, Matthew. Carter had been the 6th player on the team, not starting, yet coming of the bench within the first 1-2 minutes of the game and playing most of the remainder of the game. These injuries made the 12/18/2019 game on Carter's 13th birthday a monumental one, as he would be starting point guard against Tejeda a strong team. Unfortunately, this was the first and only loss of the regular season.

Carter's team was back at it in 2020 with a very close win over Harris on January 8.

January 15, 2020 - A win over Bradley.

January 22, 2020 - a win on the road at Bush Middle School was the last game of the regular season.  This win solidified that they were District Champs! They only had one loss all year to Tejeda. Tex Hill tied Lopez's record but Lopez had beat Tex Hill.

Then, it was the big, final A Team 7th Grade Final Tournament of the Season Jan 30 & February 1 at my middle school almamater, Garner Middle School. The first game on Thursday was a win against Eisenhower.

Saturday started off with a team they hadn't played all season, Ed White. Ed White was the top team in the smaller middle school division. One of Carter's fellow teammates from his Tiger's team went to White. They came to play. They were down 21-36 at half time. They fought hard and ended up getting a brief lead in the 4th quarter, but ended up loosing 69-78.

 Carter took a charge!

They played Wood, for 3rd place. Carter learned how to get around a pick from a kid setting it, 3 times, his size! 

The other fun parts of 7th grade basketball. The random grabbing of the ball, in hopes of a jump ball. Carter got out of this one!

This final game was intense. They were down 15-19 at the half and it was 33-32 going into the 4th quarter. Free throws ended up being critical. Carter made 2 free throws to take the lead by 1 at 35-34, with just 5 minutes left in the game.Kerry made some crunch free throws and took the lead by 1, again, with 90 seconds left. With less than 7 seconds left, the game was tied, Matt, drove the ball down and made a lay up with 1 second remaining and they won the game!

Coach Allen.