Day 4 was the first 3 game day of the trip and the team was in for a long but exciting day. After waking up earlyish for a 7:30 departure, we made our way to a local Dipolog court for our first game. Played on a rocky court that was half road half court the team managed a solid win over the local team. Danny gave his testimony to the crowd and soon after we departed soon after for our next game.
The “Freak Show on Wheels” as I’ve dubbed our team, due to the amount of staring a bunch of westerners hanging off the back of a van attracts, rolled out for next game which would be in a more rural setting. The scenery on the way to the court was fantastic, with lots of rivers and rice paddies set against a mountain backdrop. We arrived at around 11:00 am and were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the court. It was undercover with nets on the ring and a nice surface. Despite an early surge by the Filipinos, team SA once again managed a comfortable win with Greg and Mark providing a dominating presence in the keyway. Tim Sobey gave his testimony at half time to the crowd and team SA left in high spirits.
Lunch was at around 12:30pm at Dipolog mall, and the team opted for a Jollibee meal (a Filipino version of McDonalds). Micko made the mistake of ordering a “Champ Burger” and had to stop half way after almost drowning in Mayonnaise. After lunch we spent an hour wandering around the mall buying a few groceries and searching for BB guns which, unfortunately, we didn’t find. At around 2:00pm we returned to the hotel and rested up for the big game that would be held that night in Sindangan .
At around 4:00pm we left the hotel for our big game. After about 2 hours driving along the incredibly picturesque Mindanao coast line we arrived at Sindangan. The game was to be held in the middle of the town and team SA was on edge as we warmed up for our game against the local college team. As the game commenced the crowd swelled to surround the court and Danny won the jump for what was to be a nail biting game. The local team had more height than other teams we had played thus far, and used it to good effect to pull out in an early league, until our big forwards decided to dominate in the key to bring the game under control. After leading narrowly at half time the Filipinos 3 point shooting came into its own and their lead was blown out to a max of 15 points. Once again team SA had to call on our height to get back into the game. It all came down to the last 20 seconds with the teams tied. A three pointer by the Filipinos clinched the game for them and team SA went down by 3 points, 54-57. Hedley gave his testimony at half time to a crowd of 5-6 hundred people with great effect, with at least 400 people signing up for more information. All in all it was a great night, despite the narrow loss.
At 11:30pm a very tired but satisfied team SA arrived back at our hotel for some hard earned sleep at the conclusion of a great day. Please continue to pray for us, and until next time; Peace out Girl Scouts!
-Andre Janssen
PS: The stars on the return journey that night were AMAZING!
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