Champaign County YMCA Youth Basketball: Celtics 20, Bulls 14

The Celtics continued a recent trend of starting games fast and building early leads: They jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead and held off the Bulls this morning in Kindergarten Basketball at the Champaign County YMCA, 20-14.

This game wasn't competitive until the Bulls brought in two impressive substitutes in the third quarter. Michael (from the Bulls) was taken to the locker room with a bloody nose during the quarter, thus prompting their coach to "recruit" two other young men from the crowd to assist his team. Needless to say, it was a different game after that, but the Celtics did just enough in the final stanza to hold off a nice Bulls rally.

This was a very interesting game to watch: Joe hit a desperation shot for the Celtics from just short of half court just as the third quarter ended, bringing at least half of all the spectators in the YMCA gym to their feet in amazement. Honestly, that shot deserved a spot on ESPN Sportscenter - it was that good! And George converted an astounding rebound basket with his back on the floor in the fourth period. WOW!

Props go out to Nathan, who continued to hustle, rebound and play solid defense in his 12 minutes on the floor. Joe probably played one of his best games this morning: He led the team in scoring with about 8 or 10 points (including his remarkable half-court shot). Jack had several rebounds and a couple nice jumpers. In addition to his unlikely shot from his back on the floor, George knocked down a few shots too. Michael played the second and third quarters today, and he continues to play hard, especially on defense. He picked up one assist, and again, he had a pick-pocket steal on defense (which was turned back over to the Bulls by the referee as before). He also got down on the floor after some loose balls.

The Celtics improve (unofficially, of course) to 3-0 on the season and everyone is having a lot of fun! The coaches are enjoying this team a lot! And it looks like the parents are enjoying the games as well.

Next up: an 8:30 AM game with the Heat on March 17 at the Champaign County YMCA. With the upcoming spring break, the Celtics will be short two teammates: Both Joe (along with his father and assistant coach Mike) and Sam will be on vacations with their families and will miss the game. Michael will finally get a chance to play three quarters in this one, so we're hoping that he can get back in the score book again. We'll likely need some offensive production from him in Joe's absence.

GO CELTICS!