Short Update

Not too much going on but working on graduation things for Shelby and for others. I got the last half of Shelby's invitations in the mail today and have a few to hand out at church on Sunday and then that will be done! Yeah...

I dropped off Shelby's uniforms at the school today as I got them washed up after the All Star games in Minneapolis. I also had to drop off the ball from her "1,000" point game so the art teacher can paint the date, 1000 points and then her final career total will also go on there. Greg said her final was 1,880 points and she is now the second highest scorer on the wall behind Angie Chernugal with over 2,400 points. When she hit her 1,000 points she was at the Holiday Tournament in Hibbing so they gave her the game ball and it has an anchor on it so that makes it special too.

Tomorrow I am busy working on a couple of graduation invites for seniors and a senior picture order from a session in October....nothing like waiting until the VERY last minute! I also need to work a little more on the senior slide show...scan two more of the seniors and wait for a couple more to give me theirs...then I can finish it up and put the music to it. It has been fun to see all of their baby pictures.

A chilly and rainy day today and tomorrow so it will be a good day to sit at the computer and work on things....

A Few Pictures From All Star Series

Here are just a few pictures. I didn't get too many the second game that were to my liking. I didn't have my camera set right or something because they are a little too fuzzy! I'm just posting one of the Class AA team and where they are all going to college and a picture of the "remaining" six girls from the Class A team. As you can see, they are pretty wore out! They lost to the Class AA team 100-61. The reason they only had six was one girl had prom Saturday, one girl had a big softball tournament and the other one left the hotel Friday night, stayed out until very late and when she got back she was told she was off the team and could not play the next day. The right thing for them to do and it left a hardship for Class A, but had to set a precedent for the future.

I like the pictures of the Class A team from the first game as they are all in their home uniforms and the colors are great! They had 9 girls that game but lost 81-57 to the Class AAA team. They had girls going to St. Cloud State, Providence College, Briar Cliff/Southwest, two to University of Minnesota, Bethel University, Drake University, University of MN-Crookston and a couple undecided. The one picture of Shelby "trying" to guard Princeton's #25, Katie Loberg, is 6'4" and going to the Gophers. Lots of talent on all of these teams.....

I just have her home uniform to wash up and then we can return her uniforms to the school for the last time....sad but she is ready for a new start with a new program and new teammates. She will surely miss the Bigfork girls, but it's time to move on.....

So Impressed with the MN Coaches Association All Star Series

What a wonderful couple of days I had with Shelby and her Grandma Max....this had to have been the classiest, most enjoyable All Star games I have ever attended! Not taking away from the other All Star Games' Shelby was in this year, but this event was very put together and just VERY nice all around. I was just so impressed with everything and even though the Class A team lost both of their games, it was an honor just to be a parent of one of the players and enjoy it all....

My mother-in-law and Shelby's Grandma, Maxene, came with us and we had a very nice time...we left Hibbing Thursday afternoon after Shelby and the Bigfork Choir competed in the State competition in Virginia and got to our hotel around 6:30 pm....my driving directions from Google worked just great!

We checked in and of course had to get off to the Mall of America right away as that was the only day Shelby would be able to get any shopping done...and if you know my Shelby, she LOVES to shop! But we did have a few things we needed to get for graduation, so it worked out great and we had fun. We took Grandma Max to the Bubba Gumps restaurant on Floor 3 and it was delicious. We were pretty tired after and headed to the hotel and went straight to bed....up early to get ready and get Shelby to the Minneapolis Hilton by 9:00 a.m. Traffic was a little busy at it was morning rush hour but we got there in plenty of time. Parked in the parking ramp and had to pay $5 just to walk her in and then be told to leave right as we dropped her off! The lady asked what Class she was in and when we said Class A, she said "okay, you can leave now!" So we did.....paid $5 for parking for about 15 minutes....

We left for IKEA to shop for some graduation party items and then to the Mall of America again...took Max to Johnny Rockets for lunch and she got a kick out of the old fashion diner as we ate at the counter and put our $.15 in for three songs from the jukebox. Roy Orbison, Dion and I can't remember the other one.....went back to the hotel and relaxed for about an hour and then off to the first game at MacCalester College. What a super nice venue that was...brand new. We walked in and Shelby's coach from Bigfork (Coach Greg Powell) was there with Adam Johnson, a UW-Superior asst coach. We went in with them and waited a bit for the teams to arrive....they walked in with their new Nike warmups and looking sharp. Visited with Amber Dvorak's parents for a bit and with Amber, as she couldn't play in the first game as she is a Division 1 recruit and can only play in two all star games. She played in the Border Battle with Shelby so that counted as one game and since this one had two games, she could only play in one of them and they decided she would play in the second game. She was told to play it cool and not attract attention could not even step on the playing floor!

Class A played Class AAA and lost that game 81-57. I believe both teams had 9 players but the Class AAA definately had height advantage and another 6'5" Gopher recruit. I was amazed at the talent and the majority of the girls playing were going to Div 1, 2 and 3 schools. There were a few that were undecided but most were commited. Each girl wore they own school jerseys and the Class A team were the home team, so they wore the dark jerseys....my favorite because they were all different colors! I will post pictures tomorrow as I just downloaded them and haven't gone through them yet....

The next game was Class AA vs. Class AAAA and that was a much closer game. I can't remember the final score but it was back and forth and close the whole game. AAAA might have won by 5? Can't remember! Fun game though and I thought Class AA was going to win it the first half.

Today Class A was shorthanded and only had six girls....very hard on them as the Class AA team had their 9 girls and all were very talent girls going to Division 1 and Division 2 schools. Class A actually played close for a bit but since there was no relief for the three guards (played the entire game), it was just too much for them. They subbed the three taller girls and the three guards stayed in the entire time. So Andrea Gould (Wrenshall), Alyssa Gullekson (Fertile Beltrami) and Jessica Benson (Grand Meadow) all took turns, each one sitting and taking their turns on the court. Nicole Smart had the hot hand today for Class A and was awarded MVP honors for their team while Brittany Chambers was awarded MVP for the Class AA team.

I will fill in some more info tomorrow as there is more to talk about....here are a few pictures of the girls from Shelby's camera and the banquet....I will fill in about the banquet tomorrow and go through my action shots tomorrow....late and ready to hit the sack! Here are some cute ones from today.....some are in the locker room from today's game and the others are from the banquet this morning...one has the four roommates with Gopher Emily Fox (guest speaker) and the other picture they are with Taylor Hill (Ms. Basketball winner). Shelby roomed with Nicole Smart (Ada-Borup), Sam Lynn (Adrian) and Alyssa Gullekson (Fertile-Beltrami). Ada-Borup was the Class A State winner this year and Adrian lost to Barnum in the first round game at State this year by only a few points.

Taking Off for the Big Cities...

We are leaving for Minneapolis this morning and will pick Shelby up in Hibbing after their performance at the Choir State competition in Virginia. Shelby's grandma Max and I are going with her and will have a good time visiting and watching her last high school basketball game, albeit with other teammates! I like the fact that each girl will be wearing their school uniforms so that will make for some nice pictures...and the very last time she will be wearing the Bigfork Huskie uniforms.....how sad.

I'm sure we'll make the trek to the Mall of America tonight as our hotel is nearby and she will want to "look" around...right! She needs a sundress to go under her graduation gown as the girls are wearing white gowns and the boys black this year...the girls are all wearing white sundresses underneath. I'm sure we'll find something at the mall...hopefully on sale.

I will post info about the tournament, the banquet on Saturday and pictures from the games when I get home....so check back in! Now, I need to get busy and get my stuff together before I leave...later!

MN Girls Basketball Coaches Association Website

The site finally has the 2008-2009 All State first teams and Honorable Mention teams for each Class up now. Go to http://www.mshsca.org/girlsbasketball/index.htm

If you look to the left you will see "All Star Game" and click on that link to see the four teams for the games this weekend in Minneapolis. They meet at 9:00 am on Friday morning so we will drive down Thursday afternoon after Shelby is done with their choir competition at the State meet in Virginia.

They play Friday night and then again Saturday afternoon....check back on Monday and I will have some pictures posted from the games!

Huskie Cafe Menu Collage

This is a collage of tournament photos that I did up for the local Huskie Cafe....they have Bigfork Huskie sports' memorabilia all over the cafe and wanted to include a collage from this years' team in their menu! So here is the collage I did up for them to place in their menus! It is an 8.5x14.

BHS Choir Competing at State on 4/23

The Bigfork High School Choir will be competing in State competition on April 23, 2009 at Virginia High School. Luke Votava will also be performing a solo....when he performed at Greenway to qualify for State, he made the judges cry. He and the choir will be performing tonight at the National Honor Society induction so if you have a free night, please come out to the Edge Center at 7:00 pm. Both Jared and Shelby are in choir together, along with Megan Powell and Annalise Klamm, who were of course on the State Tournament basketball team together! (Got to put that in there you know...) I will get a few fun shots of them tonight and put some up tomorrow.

Shelby was worried she wouldn't be able to compete in the state competition as we head to the cities on the 23rd for the MN Coaches Association all star game that night. We will leave after she gets back from the State choir competition! Two State appearances in one year...who would've thunk it?

Also found out last night that Jared Anselmo will be having a piano recital on Sunday, May 17th at the Edge Center. I'm not sure what time but will post it when I find out. He is a very talented pianist and musician who has studied piano since he was a little boy. He and Shelby have been very close since 4th grade and I've always wished they would perform together one day. They've talked about it for about 5 years but have never actually got around to doing it....here is a picture of the two I took when we were taking a few senior pictures for Jared.

Jared will also be Shelby's prom date this year, as they promised each other 3 years ago they would go to their senior prom together. They will be a striking couple...

My Baby Turned 18...

My little baby turned 18 on Monday, 4/13, and that was sad for me. I can't believe that many years have gone by and she is growing up and will be moving off to college in the Fall. She was born in Buffalo, WY in an April snow blizzard, which is just about like her personality. She came in with a roar and has the personality to match that roar!

I had back labor so it never seemed like labor to me...just a very bad backache. I had stayed with a friend in town because of the storm as Danny was out of town working in Gillette, WY. Went into the hospital around 8am and Danny left Gillette in the storm and got on the freeway right before they closed the roads. He hit a barrier and put a dent in the car....and made it to the hospital around noon. She was born at 4:12 pm, 7 lbs. 8 oz and 21 1/2" long. She was named after the Julia Roberts' character on Steel Magnolias. She didn't have much hair and it took her quite a while to finally get some too!

My pregnancy was easy with no complications and she was a happy baby that was very healthy and hardly ever cried....

So our little girl ended up being 5' 5 1/2" tall and weighs around 120 lbs at age 18.

Just thought I'd share a few baby pictures of her and a couple of her senior pictures as I've been going through a ton of them for graduation stuff. The picture of her with her first Easter basket and bunny is appropriate as Easter was one day before her birthday this year!

A New Era of Girls Basketball at BHS

I say a new era, but that probably is just my thinking as Shelby is done at BHS with basketball! What I mean is there are two groups of younger girls that will now be playing in several spring and summer tournaments...YEA!!!! I was happy to hear that other parents are stepping up and taking initiative in organizing the 8th grade girls and will be taking them on many tournaments this summer, some that are MYAS or AAU! That's a good thing...

I believe they are also playing this coming Saturday, April 18th at a Pacesetters tournament in Virginia. I may just have to go to that one....

Megan Powell is in track and Adrianna is doing track for the first time this year in shot put and discus. I told her mom years ago she should be throwing in track! I think she is going to do great and now Megan has someone to hang with at the track meets. I wish them both well and will try to go to a meet and take a few pictures. I think I will wait until it warms up though and we have a nice sunny, WARM day! I will definately post some pictures of the two girls.

Annalise ALWAYS enjoys her free time....Shelby finally has some time to relax before her last All Star game in Minneapolis and is catching up with some of her friends from Blackduck...

Off to work on scanning pictures for her senior class slideshow...

Quote of the Day ~ 4/8/09

I will try to remember to keep putting a quote of the day up...not doing very well remembering, am I? Anyway, here is one I liked today.

A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.
~Charles Schwab

Priceline.com is Great!

Went on Priceline.com to find rooms for the MN Coaches All Star games in Minneapolis and found a three star hotel in Bloomington for $40 per night...and that includes taxes! I haven't used Priceline for over a year and am glad I did....I checked what the prices would be if I called on my own and it's $110 per night...unbelievable! So a good day all around....

If any of you have not used Priceline.com use it! It is well worth it....saved us a lot the last two years she played AAU. I would get the Hampton Inn near Bloomington for $40 per night...and they had a nice breakfast and the BEST beds ever! Just have to put the area in (or a couple) near where you need to stay and start with $35 for a bid...you might have to go up to $40, but that is still better than $100 per night!

Mission Accomplished!

I can't even believe it...found a dress the first place we went to! She liked the first one, then tried the second and it was gorgeous, then tried a third and she really liked that one alot, so tried the fourth just to see....tried the second one on again and realized it was THE ONE over the third one for sure. Confused yet? And that was just four dresses...not bad. Fits perfect, found shoes and do not even have to have it hemmed....and a garter to match! Still can't even believe it....it is beautiful. She will wear it to two proms so we will get our money's worth (yeah right)...but like I said, it is beautiful and looks beautiful on her. I will post a picture after she wears it the first time....

Also found some items I needed for her graduation party, so the trip to Bemidji was successful!

Starting the Search for the Perfect Prom Dress...

We are running to Bemidji to check out one of the stores there for the "perfect" prom dress. Now I'm sure that will be interesting and expensive! I told her last year that she could pick out a nice one since it's her senior prom and she has worn many of her cousin's dresses in years past. Dang, Seniors are expensive!!! Another check for her cap and gown and senior items tomorrow, reserving her graduation site down payment, graduation invites (that I have yet to work on), Sam's Club last week for the plates, etc., and now the infamous prom dress search.....AND she turns 18 next week! All at once....too much for this mama!

I'll have to post back on how the "search" is going...it would be nice to find one right away and not have to travel very far :)

Border Battle All Star Game

The third All Star game for Shelby this week was the MN vs. WI "Border Battle" All-Star game held at the University of Wisconsin-Superior campus. It was a much publicized event and was the First Annual so there should be many to follow in the coming years. It was very organized and had very nice brochures, nice t-shirts and was held in a very nice facility. The lighting in the gymnasium was not to my liking as the pictures turned out very yellow...that is why I converted them to black and white and also one of the reasons I didn't take very many!

I have to say I was disappointed at how the teams were matched up as the WI team consisted mainly of guards with three very tall posts, 6'7" and two girls that were 6'4". The girls from the MN team were mostly posts so you can imagine how the outcome of that game went! AND the majority of the WI team played together for a few years on an AAU team so they had plays and of course, team chemistry.

As the MN team did have 6'7" Gopher recruit but she was matched up well and when you have pretty much one guard (Shelby) that makes for a slow team and girls that are not used to getting out on defense....WI was able to shoot as many three's as they wanted. They had three guards on the floor at a time and were able to put pressure on our girls that weren't used to having to bring the ball down. There were supposed to be two more guards on the MN team but both had prior commitments and had to back out. I just wish they would have found two more to replace them as there are lots of good guards in Northern MN to choose from.

The final score was 105-61~ Ouch. It was not a fun game for me to watch and I know Shelby was frustrated, even though she did have a fun experience and was glad to have been chosen. Just wish the teams were better matched so the game would have been closer and more fun to watch.

I guess the boys' game went into overtime and the WI team won over the MN team by one point! 103-102. Bet that was a fun one!

Anyway, here are a few pictures. Before the beginning of the game and at the end of the game each team met in the middle to shake hands. How about Shelby grabbing that ball from the 6'7" girl going to D1 Kentucky? She got the jump ball and the possession went to MN! THAT was funny! I also like the one of Shelby in the huddle standing beside 6'7" Dvorak. I was going to get one of them together after the game as they hung out before and caught up with each other as they used to play on the AAU Northern Lights team a couple of years ago. The coach for the MN team was John Bauer from Itasca Community College who will of course be her coach next year at ICC.

Shelby was pretty worn out as she had All Star games Wednesday night in Duluth, Thursday night in Virginia, then a full scrimmage at ICC Friday night and the game in Superior on Saturday and she has been fighting a cold...so she's pretty pooped and ready for a break!

She does have one more All Star game for the Minnesota Coaches Association that will pit 10 girls from Class A, AA, AAA and AAAA against each other in a two game tournament. They also have a Banquet at the Hilton in Minneapolis Friday morning for the four teams and will also announce the Ms. Basketball winner at that time. That will be interesting. I'm pretty sure it will go to Taylor Hill but maybe we will all be in for a surprise? Doubt that.

They will then play at 6:00 and 8:00pm on Friday the 24th (at Macalester college) and then the losers at 1:00 pm and the winners at 3:00 pm on Saturday the 25th at Edina High School. They each wear their respective high school jerseys so that will make for some fun pictures!

Goble Earns Back to Back MVP Award

Shelby played last night in the 2009 Coca Cola "Pride of the Northeast" Girls High School Basketball All-Star Game at Mesabi Range Community College in Virginia. She was on the Red Team which featured Kassy Wenneson of Babbitt, Shelby of Bigfork, Bryn Joki and Jessica Cagle of Grand Rapids, Misa Matetich and Melissa Nyberg of Hibbing, Danika Stelton of International Falls, Kaeley Whiting of Mesabi East, McKenzie Overbye and Vanessa Aultman of Mountain Iron-Buhl, and Jessa Youso of Virginia. Alexis Podpeskar of Virginia was an honorary team member due to an injury at the end of her senior season. They were coached by Dave LaCoe and Beth Joki of Grand Rapids.

The White team had girls from Esko, Hermantown, Proctor, Silver Bay, Wrenshall, Lakeview Christian and Duluth Marshall and were coached by Brooke Chaffee of Two Harbors. She had played in the All Star game when she was a senior in high school and it was the first time an alumni of the game had come back to coach a team.

The Red team defeated the White team by 80-65 and Shelby was awarded MVP honors the second night in a row! We were happy and surprised with the one she won the night before in Duluth so this was unexpected but certainly a nice surprise! She ended up with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists and played 21 minutes in the game. There were two 20 minute halves and a shot clock but there was never a shot clock violation last night. I completely forgot it was even running!

All the hard work and dedication over the past few years is definately paying off in full! Congratulations Shelby, we are very proud of you!

All Conference x 5

Last night Coach Powell attended the Northern Lakes All Conference meeting to pick up some serious hardware....The Conference Champion trophy and the girls' first place medals AND all FIVE starters received All Conference awards last night! That is pretty impressive and probably another first in the history of girls basketball at Bigfork High School!

This team has broken lots of records and brought home lots of awards to our little community. Congratulations go to Theresa Stewart #25, Megan Powell #31, Adrianna Ivanovic #24, Annalise Klamm #5 and Shelby Goble #3 for being awarded All Conference last night! We are proud of all of you!

Here are the girls chosen for Northern Lakes All Conference:
BIGFORK

Shelby Goble
Megan Powell
Adrianna Ivanovic
Annalise Klamm
Theresa Stewart

NASHWAUK-KEEWATIN

Elizabeth Sletten
Lindsey Kingsbury
Jonnie Anderson

DEER RIVER

Leigh Peterson
Kari DeYoung
Aspen Marleau

GREENWAY - Jonna Pittack
HILL CITY - Jessica Wagner
LITTLEFORK-BIGFALLS - Haylee Gates

Bigfork Shines at Kernz & Kompany All Star Game

Megan Powell, Adrianna Ivanovic and Shelby Goble played last night along with three MIB Rangers in the Kernz & Kompany All Star Game at Duluth Denfeld last night....their All Area team was ahead of the Duluth Area team at the half by 9 but fell 4 points short in the end with the final score being 67-63. So it was a pretty good game...

Andi was #32, Megan #57 and Shelby #45.

The girls really enjoyed their playing time and visiting time with the Ranger girls and in my opinion, those six were the best players on the floor! I kept wishing the coach would have put all Huskies and all Rangers in, but he had to keep the playing time fair I guess.....that's all you had to do Buffeta and the game was yours! haha

Before the game began, they had a free throw shooting competition and 3 point shooting competition. Shelby was 8/10 for free throws and took third and also took third in the 3 point contest. I can't remember what she had for points in that contest and I believe Jessica Vork of Cloquet won the 3 point contest. Another girl from the Duluth Area team went 10/10 in free throws and took first in that contest.

At the end of the contest the media selected the MVP player of the game and for the first time in the history of their all star games, it went to a player on the losing team, and that was to Bigfork's Shelby Goble! She ended up with 20 points and had three And/1's....I think she had one 3 on the night but made quite a few free throws also. Taking the MVP award was a first in Shelby's basketball career so it was fun for us to see. Her Grandma Max and Dad and I were at the game with her..Adrianna also rode with us as her mom could not get off of work when the game was rescheduled....they were pretty bummed about that. Andi and Megan both had 7 points for the night so the Bigfork girls had 34 points out of the 63...again, pretty impressive!

I thought the Bigfork girls represented their school and team VERY well and it was fun seeing them play together one last time....you could definately see the chemistry when they were in the game together. :)

Here are a few pictures from last night...I did not take many as I just enjoyed the game. I will take quite a few more tonight at the Coca-Cola All Star game in Virginia....that game will take place at 6:00 for the girls and 8:00 for the boys.

Link to WDIO...click on the video at the right and they have a small piece on the all star game showing Shelby at the the end of the clip.

http://www.wdio.com/article/10347/

Also link to a small piece on the game last night in Mesabi Range Daily paper. It starts off talking about the Coca-Cola All Star game tonight in Virginia and the rosters....scroll to the bottom of the article to read the recap of the both the boys and girls games from last night in Duluth.

http://www.virginiamn.com/articles/2009/04/01/sports/doc49d43d248b2d8816011533.txt