The Minnesota Jr. Rolling Timberwolves are coming off a national championship in wheelchair basketball from the 2007-2008 season, having finished with an impeccable 28-0 record. Going into this year will be a major test with one of their star forwards having graduated last year.
The annual Courage Classic was held this year on November 8th and 9th in Hastings, Minnesota, where the Timberwolves kicked off their 2008-2009 season. The tournament held true to its promise of pure sports tension with the invited guests (among others): The Milwaukee Wizards and the San Diego Hammer.
Milwaukee, San Diego, and Minnesota each finished in the top 4 of over 100 teams from around the nation last year. The Timberwolves took the national championship last spring in a match with San Diego. Both Milwaukee and San Diego have Minnesota as a target to unseat for this season's national championship.
This year's Courage Classic kicked off on Saturday morning, November 8th. After cruising to two victories early Saturday, The Timberwolves faced one of last year’s top contenders, the Milwaukee Wizards, in the afternoon.
The game between these two teams was one of the best basketball games I’ve ever witnessed.
Having missed their first seven shots, the Timberwolves spotted the Wizards an early 8 points. That lead stuck throughout the game, never narrowing closer than to 4 points. Struggling to find their offense, the Timberwolves lost one of their stars from last year, Connor, to an injury early in the second half. Falling to the court head first, Connor took a nasty bruise to the forehead. Another star from last year, Ben, kept them in the game in Connor’s absence with some stellar play.
Falling to the court floor is one of the challenges of wheelchair basketball
With 5 minutes remaining, the team’s 28-0 record from last year seemed ready to fall in the team’s third game of the 2008-2009 season.
Connor’s return with just a few minutes remaining in the game seemed to inspire the Timberwolves. With a zone press defense, the Timberwolves stole two possessions from the Wizards and scored 4 unanswered points to tie the game with 30 seconds remaining.
Keeping up the pressure the Timberwolves worked the ball under the bucket with just 5 seconds remaining. Connor took a low pass under the bucket and made an unbalanced bucket to take the Timberwolves to their first lead of the game. It was all they needed, and the Timberwolves won their third game of the season...their 31st consecutive win.
In this series of photos, Robbie shows how a player gets themselves back up to play
Going into the championship rounds on Sunday, the Timberwolves cruised through the first game against Michigan with an easy win. But the championship game for the afternoon would be another story—they would face the San Diego Hammer.
After losing the national championship game last year to the Timberwolves, the San Diego Hammer walloped the same team the Wolves narrowly defeated on Saturday, the Wizards.
The Timberwolves squared up against a much improved San Diego Hammer club Sunday afternoon for the tournament championship. Unlike Saturday’s game, the Timberwolves came out strong against the much more aggressive Hammer. Scoring 8 unanswered points at the outset was the story of the game for the Wolves. While the Hammer tied the T’wolves with 5 minutes left in the game, the T’wolves came back with authority and won the contest by 8.
The Minnesota Jr. Rolling Timberwolves have won their first 5 games of the 2008-2009 season, stretching their winning streak to 33 games.
My son, Guthrie, demonstrates a "leaner"-- a shot designed to get over a larger opponent
Chuck makes a free-throw against the Wizards
Ben in traffic down by the post
Robbie makes a shot down low
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