Noah plays varsity basketball

A few days ago Noah came home and told us that the varsity basketball coaches at St. Paul had asked him to play on their team.  An eighth grader playing varsity basketball?  In the States it would be unheard of, but in the land of international schools, anything is possible.

Noah's first game was against Hanoi International School, a team much bigger and faster than St. Paul.  Noah's middle school team had played their middle school team and it had not ended well.  Noah did not start the game...

...but early in the first quarter the coach put him in...

...and he scored the team's first four points.

Unfortunately the game didn't go too well at first.  St. Paul was down 9-1 after one quarter, 15-4 at halftime, and 21-9 after three quarters.

But then a strange thing happened -- St. Paul started to tighten up on defense and figured out how to play as a team.  They shut out HIS in the fourth quarter, and with under a minute to play Noah made a layup to cut the deficit to three and a teammate hit a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime at 21-21.

During the extra period, HIS scored two quick baskets, and although Noah buried a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one, they couldn't get the last basket and ending up losing 25-24.  Still, one of the more exciting games I've watched.  I don't know if Noah will play varsity basketball in the States when he gets older, but he can always say he played at least a few games of high school varsity basketball in his career.