In case you have not heard the news, let me be the one to bring you up to date. The Griffin Grasshoppers won the 2009 Hotlanta Invitational Tournament and completed the weekend undefeated. Great Job Grasshoppers! I must admit that I’m very pleased and proud of all the players that participated this weekend and accomplished this task. I know I have a very talented team but it’s been a struggle trying to get the right chemistry to play together as a team. During the weekend they accepted the challenge and brought home the championship trophy as expected. Parents, this was not a cake walk in the park for us.
Friday night in game one, the Grasshoppers defeated PBC 55-35. Saturday in game two, the Grasshoppers defeated Georgia Net Burners 55-46. Also on Saturday, the Grasshoppers played a third game against the Sports Academy and Coach Duck was able to clear the bench to allow the starters to rest as they rolled to victory 85-45. After completing pool play with a record 3-0, the Grasshoppers advanced to the semi-finals where they faced Executive III and defeated them 78-53 to advance to the championship game. The championship game was very interesting as the Grasshoppers had to play the Georgia Net Burners for a second time during the tournament. As a coach I know it’s very hard to beat the same team twice in one weekend. Besides, Georgia Net Burners were the home team favorite picked to win it all. After being down be twelve at halftime, the Grasshoppers fought hard and played aggressive defense that proved to be the difference maker. Down by one (71-70) with 7.2 seconds left to play in the game, the Grasshoppers had to go the full length of the court in order to win. Coach Duck called timeout, drew up a play and players executed it to perfection. As a result, the Grasshoppers won the championship game 72-71 on the play known as “Touchdown”.
