Barron Golden Bears 2013-the End of an Era

On Saturday and Sunday, April 4th and 5th, the Barron Golden Bears played in the Great Northwest Basketball League Eighth Grade State Invitational Championships in Steven's Point, WI. While we were all excited for the boys to play in another State Championship, it was a bitter-sweet time, as it was the last time our Golden Bears traveling team would play together. Not only did this weekend tournament wrap up the past six months of our basketball season, it was the end of the boys' four-year run together as a team.

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The boys came out ready to play on Saturday morning to face their first opponent, Edgerton. They pulled out a win in that competition, and went on to play Xavier in the second game. Xavier proved to be too much for us, as we lost our second game. Our third game found us matched against New Berlin West for a close contest. We ended victorious against New Berlin to enter into a fourth game of the day against Lodi. Lodi had a player that was about 6'6", and their team could really hit the three-pointers. They held the lead throughout most of the game, and we ended up on the lower end of the scoreboard as the clock ran out. We ended our Saturday with a 2 and 2 record.

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Here are our boys in the huddle, getting some "words of wisdom" from Coach Rasmussen... ~~~
Poor Andrew had been out of school with some kind of virus that had him registering a temperature around 102 since Wednesday. After missing three days of school and sleeping for the majority of the time, he played in the tournament "doped" up on Tylenol and cough syrup in an attempt to help him be healthy enough to play. Here he is taking a rest on the bench--he looks pretty peaked...

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In spite of feeling pretty cruddy, Andrew did a great job playing point guard. Of course, I have a few pics of him from the weekend...
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Exploding past the defender!
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Working the ball around the court...

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Firing up a shot!

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Beating the defense!

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Andrew for two!

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Surveying the court...

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The defense can't catch him!

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Our team watching the game with anticipation...

On Sunday, we played two games. Our first game of the day was against Monroe. Our boys earned a "W" in that game--due to our previous days record, the highest we could earn in the tournament was 13th place. Our last game, ironically, found us up against New Berlin West AGAIN! This was the team that we beat (barely) the day before, now we were playing them in the last game of our tournament for 13th place. Our boys played a tough game--went into DOUBLE OVERTIME, and ended up losing the last game by only two points! This earned us a Fourteenth place ribbon for the weekend with a final record of 3 wins, 3 losses.

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Our boys were really fired up for their last game--here they are in a huddle in the middle of the court getting psyched for the game! Look close--Timmy is in the middle, giving them a pep-talk! ~~~
And now, a few shots of the guys...

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Carsen puts it up underneath.

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Carsen, again, for two!

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Elliott working through the defense!

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Elliott grabs some air!

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Isaiah looks for the open play...

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Isaiah works it down the court...

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Macky tearing up the court!

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Macky puts it up!

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Michael sneaks by his defender...

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Michael goes up strong!

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Neil puts it up outside the three!

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Neil shoots around his defender...

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Nick lays it in...

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Nick goes up for two!

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Tim scores two!!!

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Tim warming up...

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Zach towers over the defenders...

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Zach shows off with his right hand!

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The fans had fun watching the games, too! Here are the little sisters, sporting their Barron Bears gear at the game...

(Abby and Ahna)

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Some big brothers came to watch the action, too!

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Austin and Derek cheesing for the camera

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Austin, Derek, and Micah hamming it up!~~~
Andrew's personal fan club!

Grandma Pat, Grandpa Denny, Grandma Deb, Grandpa Ken, Dad, and Austin

Thanks, Grandmas and Grandpas for coming to support Andrew and the Golden Bears!

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One tired big brother...

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The little sisters got to enjoy the swimming pool at our hotel in the evenings. Abby, Ahna, and Josie had fun swimming, "diving" for bouncy balls, demonstrating various jumping poses, and soaking in the hot tub.

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Here is Abby, demonstrating "The Squirrel"--named so by her, not me!

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The little sisters lounging in the hot tub--Abby, Josie, and Ahna

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Three crazy girls!
Ahna, Abby, and Josie

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Thanks, Golden Bears, for a fun four years. We look forward to watching you boys play next year in high school. A special thanks to our coaches, Coach Brent and, especially, Coach Bruce, for all of the time and commitment you gave to our boys to make them into the basketball players they are today.

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Two people we will miss next basketball season...

Thanks, Bruce, and good luck at Memorial, Nick!

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Thanks for all of the fun memories, Golden Bears! We are proud of you!