On Monday Squeaker had to go in to the vet to have two teeth extracted. Fun times since the food had to be pulled the night before and his adopted brother was hungry overnight. He woke me up at 4:11 AM and proceeded to be Captain Persistent for the next two hours. Don’t ask me why but when it was Squeaker’s turn to announce that he was hungry (or just be copy cat) he just snuggled up on the bed with me which made it very easy to get him in the morning to put him in the carrier, minus the scratch on my chest. Then it was off to the vet. He barely made a noise on the trip which is very un-Squeaky like. Everything went well and I think he forgave me by Tuesday.
York High had their makeup game against South Western so that means I missed my weekly check in at Gift Horse. First was a stop at the Famous Hot Wiener Joint for dinner. Had to go by myself since I got back late from picking up Squeaker. Stopped at the West End one and then proceeded to South Western. I have never driven here so this was a first. I’ve never driven to Susuqehannock either, just mentioning that as it has no bearing on this but I think those are the only two York County high schools I’ve never driven to or at least within sight of. I did manage to miss the turn back to the school and got the scenic tour of a housing development before doing a big circle back to the same development. I walked into the game in the middle of the second quarter of the JV game but at least I know where to go now. This one was a fairly low energy effort. I think South Western just wanted to end the season though they have one game left. York got up by about 20 and just kind of held it there. The bench played liberally and every player dressed scored. York wins their regular season finale 71-50.
Big news on Tuesday. I bought my ticket for Opening Day in Baltimore. Yep, late March, I’m sure it’ll be cold but I will be well dressed for the occasion. They’re playing the Yankees and I am sure that will go well. It didn’t last year. Knowing my luck it’ll rain. I have been to a game where it snowed before, hopefully not that. It was only flurries. The worst was a few years ago when it rained not once but twice during the game. They wound up finishing the game around 9 or 10 at night after a 3:00 start. Of course last year the game I attended in March was absolutely gorgeous so we’ll see.
A quiet Tuesday thru Thursday at home. Friday was the first round of the YAIAA playoffs at West York. New Oxford took on Hanover before York took on undefeated Gettysburg. Hanover was a big underdog to start and that was made worse when their best player twisted his ankle last week. After a 3-3 tie to start the game this one was all New Oxford. Braden Long outscored Hanover all by himself in the first half and Abdul Jenneh had a dunk of the year candidate. Hanover played hard in the second half and New Oxford let up a bit but the lead was large enough that they didn’t even play their starters in the 4th quarter. New Oxford wins 69-41.
Then it was the main event. Gettysburg has a very good player in Quadir Copeland who can do it all but they have had an easy go of it in Division 2. And tonight it showed. York was faster and they were locked in. Didn’t shoot much from 3 but they did have a good night from the line. York led wire to wire in this one and Gettysburg was never really in it. Copeland got frustrated since he couldn’t do what he normally did and he got turned over several times by good York defense. Copeland did begin to assert himself in the 2nd half a bit but York’s defense clamped back down. This was one of York’s best games of the year and they topped Gettysburg 59-46. This is important because York might square off against Gettysburg in Districts but that would be in Gettysburg.
Saturday was a busy day for me. First Christopher Newport came to York College for a big clash. Pregame stop at MexItaly for lunch and a brew. Only stuck around for most of the game since I was heading to a surprise birthday party in Wrightsville. York played perhaps their best half of the year taking a 14 point lead into the half. The second half was the opposite. CNU stormed back and the whistles came fast and furious. CNU’s leading scorer fouled out with about 9 minutes to go and York’s leading scorer got hit with his 4th foul about then too. Since I had a party to go to I left at the 8 minute media timeout and York then proceeded to blow their lead. The game went to OT and then double OT before York pulled it out 101-97. CNU fouled out 5 players and their coach whined every time a foul went against him. Even when the foul was obvious he complained that they did not make a similar call on York previously, never did get T’d up though he did get a warning. York fouled out 2 players and Wagner never did pick up his 5th foul while scoring 38 points in his effort. This moves York into a tie for first but they still have an important road game against Mary Washington coming up.
Made it to the party about 5 minutes before the birthday boy. Afterwards I walked down Front Street to Hell in a Bucket. I did consider going up to Allentown to see the Bears and Phantoms play on Sunday but decided not to.
