MAYB Nationals Tournament is in Wichita Kansas the first weekend of August every year. This is the second year Jake has been with a team that goes to this illustrious tournament. Over 600 teams in grades 2-12 from all over the nation compete for the championship. This year, Jake played for AET (Alexander Elite Training) Elite 2025. These 5th grade boys worked HARD gearing up for the tournament, and were ready to take on whatever teams the brackets threw at them.
The tournament started for our boys on Friday morning, but Jake had been with his teammates since practice on Wednesday night. Since this team is out of Oklahoma City, there is a lot of driving involved to get him where he needs to be when he needs to be there. With all of the extra practice time leading up to the tournament, plus the team needed to be in Wichita on Thursday night, so he was staying with friends and traveling with another teammate to Wichita. Due to work, and doctor's appointments for Finn, Dad and I were going to miss the first 2 games on Friday,
The first game Friday morning was at 9:00am. AET won this game 38-32 over a team form Texas, and were off to a good start. The second game on Friday started at 11 against a Kansas team. This was a tough game and a close match-up, and we were following the score though Group Me posts as we got closer and closer to Wichita. When we were about 7 minutes from the venue, the clock ran out on regulation and we were going in to OVERTIME! We hustled to the gym, parked, paid, and rushed to the court our team was playing on to see the final minutes of the OT game. Unfortunately, we lost by 3 points - 38-25. But there was still one more game on Friday. Our evening game was against a team from Missouri. We beat them 60-32, and the boys headed off to the hotel tired, but happy with their performance on the day and ready for Saturday,
Day 2 started pretty early as well with bracket play. We were number 2 in our pool, and felt like this was the best place to start Saturday. Our first opponent was from Minnesota, and we won handily with a score of 40-25. After a location change for the next game, we played a team from Arkansas. We also won this game 32-27. These boys were having a good basketball day! Our next challenge was another Arkansas team. Unfortunately, we came up short in the end of this one and lost 51-47. One more game on Saturday night against a local OKC rival, Franchise. We beat these hometown boys by 10 points 43-33. That sent us back to our hotel tired, but ready to play for 5th place on Sunday! Not exactly what we wanted, but in the grand scheme of things, a really nice place to be considering the caliber and sheer NUMBER of teams in the contest.
Sunday started out slow and easy. We didn't play until 2:30pm, so we went to watch the 5th grade Championship game across town. After that game, we went back to our gym to play for 5th place. We were set to play another Minnesota team. These guys were tough, and we knew it. We were tired, flat, and no shots were falling. We were showing our fatigue. Jake came into the game about 7 minutes into the first half. On his first defensive series, he and a teammate both went up for a block, they collided, and Jake landed on the ground with a painful groan and a loud THUD. His buddy landed on top of him. Then his shoe rolled across the court. While his teammate bounded back up and started to jog back down the court, Jake didn't move. At this point I wasn't sure if it was knee or ankle. He was holding his head and had started to cry a bit. His coaches came on to the court. Dad and I were both in the stands, and after an initial look at our boy, the coach scanned the crowd to find us. That was my signal to get up and come see what was going on - Dad too! They got him to a sitting position, then our two coaches lifted and carried Jake to the bench. One of the site facilitators for the tournament came to see how we were doing. He was a Certified Athletic Trainer, and he started looking Jake over while I went to the concession stand for ice.
Initially, we thought some ice, a little rest, and he would be good to go. However, when the ATC came back to check on us at half time, he encouraged Jake to put some weight on the leg, and it was a NO GO! This is when we decided we would need some medical intervention. Jake is always the consummate teammate, however, and he was determined to stay for the second half of the game. We were still struggling in the game - another player had a hand injury - not a good thing for one of our best shooters - and the AET Elite 2025 team was falling further and further behind. With a final score of 51-35, we had secured 6th place in the tournament. Again, not what the boys had hoped for, but the number SIX team in the COUNTRY is not too shabby! We ended up the highest ranked 5th grade boys team from Oklahoma! The coaches and families were so proud of the effort and attitude these guys presented. After the medal presentation, post game talk, and prayer, it was time to get Jake taken care of.
Logistics of getting my Gentle Giant out of the gym when he couldn't walk was almost comical Also, we decided to send Finn on towards Oklahoma with a teammate's family so he would not have to sit through the medical testing and office visit. The coach and his teen aged son carried Jake out to our car - but not all in one trip. They had to stop and rest a bit along the way. A quick Google map search for urgent care centers led us to a clinic 5 miles from the gym. Unfortunately, we got out of the car, helped Jake hop inside, only to find they did not have a working x-ray machine. UGH! Back in the car, another Google map search, and another 8 miles to the next stop.
This place was AWESOME! So easy. So friendly. So CLEAN! We were in and out in about 40 minutes total. They took X-rays, and the clinician told us it was probably tendon related and to follow up with our primary car doctor early next week once we were back in Oklahoma, The nurse put him in a knee immobilizer, and on crutches. Jake had a quick lesson on how to use them, and we loaded up the car to head home. After a bite to eat, we were southbound on I-35. In the meantime, the family that had Finn met up with Nana and Grandpa in Guthrie to drop him off. He had a great time watching Jumanji on their in-car DVD player plus he got cookies and a LARGE Dr. Pepper from Quik Trip!
Monday morning, Dad called to get an appointment with our pediatrician for Jake. She did not have any openings until Tuesday, and after her assessment, she suggested a follow up with an orthopedic specialist. She has always been very conservative, plus she is raising 2 athletic sons, so she takes these types of injuries very seriously. The orthopedist we chose was the uncle of a player from Jake's Solid Rock team. Our appointment with him was on the next day - Wednesday. He reviewed Jake's x-rays, and determined that we needed to be conservative again to ensure perfect healing He told us that if an adult had this injury, it would be considered a knee sprain. But, since Jake is 11 and his growth plates are involved, we need to treat it more like a fracture. There is some widening of the growth plate on the outside of his knee that needs to go back into place, so he is non-weight bearing for 4 more weeks. He was put in a heavy duty knee brace, but can bend his knee fully. Still on crutches, back to see the doctor on Monday September 10.
So, after a crazy week with getting used to our new normal (ice every hour for 20 minutes, wrapping the knee, working with the brace, CRUTCHES!), it was time to go back to school for a new school year. For Jake, it's a whole new adventure. 6th grade at Stillwater Middle School! The school is working with us and helping him by changing his schedule to move PE to next semester, checking out the elevator key to him (so many stairs in that building), allowing him to leave his classes a few minutes early to avoid the crowded halls, and they ensured him a top locker. We have been back to school for 2 days now, and Jake is LOVING middle school and really doing very well with his limitations, We are anxious for September 10 to get here so we know what the next steps are! His team has started up Fall practices, and he is really missing it, but we have to heal completely, so we can continue the journey.
We had a fun end of summer trip, even with the injury. Finn LOVES hotel life! We had a wonderful room on the 4th floor of a Hampton Inn. Dad and I loved the mattress! We had dinner as a family late on Saturday night, and there was a brief moment in time when we thought Finn was about to be carried off by a low-flying hawk. We laughed, enjoyed each other's company, and appreciated a lot of basketball. Here are a few pictures from our adventure:
Jake and his travel partners
Warm Ups before game 1
Jake in action
rebounds for DAYS
Post Game Prayer
Jake and his poster
His Fortnite themed tournament shirt
Finn didn't want to check out of the hotel!
Watching the 5th grade Championship Game
6th Place in the NATION! AET Elite 2025
At the Urgent Care
Getting the immobilizer - always smiling
Crutches!
Middle School tour
At the Orthopedic Surgeon's office
Our new get up!
What it looks like getting ready for school
