I spend many a weekend coaching boys and girls sports teams at the middle school where I teach: flag football in the fall, basketball in the winter, softball and soccer in the spring. If I posted about each of these weekend events, all Throwing Cookies would be is an Emerson Middle School sports blog, but this weekend, our student athletes had an opportunity that only comes once in a lifetime and with that I present my first Emerson Sports blog. Los Angeles hosted the NBA All-Star game and Emerson's boys basketball team earned their way into the NBA Jam Session Invitational.
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| FIrst, Emerson had to beat Nightingale at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex. They pulled off a come-from-behind victory almost as dramatic as their win the previous week over Palms. |
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| When our student-athletes arrived at the Los Angeles Convention Center, an NBA rep met us and provided our players with shooting jerseys and Gatorade starter packs. They then escorted the team through the Convention Center to the Jam Session. |
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| The team stretched and shouted out one last Emerson before their first game. |
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| On Saturday, Emerson met Henry in their first game and after scoring four points in the first ten seconds they never trailed. In their second game, a tough team from Gompers led by six in the final two minutes. Tough Emerson d, clutch foul-shooting, and a last second shot sent Emerson to the tournament's final four in dramatic fashion. |
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| On Sunday, foul trouble and a tough Portola squad ended Emerson's tournament run. Congrats to all our Panthers and thanks to the NBA for an amazing experience for all of the teams, families and schools. |
