…garsh I love sports; even if it is basketball

You may or may not have heard that our girls’ varsity basketball team has made it to the state Final Four; you might also have heard that this is the first Bedford County team to make it this far…

yeah… Everett might be a tad bit excited. Fire trucks, T-Rex sightings, red outs, white outs… we’re officially brimming….

The first thing people notice about our team is – this is a complete team; their success makes perfect sense when you consider how well rounded this group is.

We have “The Star” – a young lady who eclipsed the 1,000 point mark in her junior year and is on pace to be the highest scorer in Warrior history. She is an amazing young lady who’s unparalleled talent is only overshadowed by her unwavering faith; when she receives praise, she hands it right over to God.

We have “The Worker” – a player who is often tasked with defending a girl much larger than her yet, she always seems to win the battle. She competes in the trenches and she does it with quiet confidence. She is arguably the heart of this team.

We have “The Girl Everybody Wants on Their Team” – a girl who takes a charge and comes up laughing. She has a sweet spot in the corner and nobody cheers harder than her when a JV player gets some court time. If “The Worker” isn’t the heart of the team – it’s because this girl is; she’s a character and she is the team favorite.

We have the “We Need a Jump Ball” girl – a fiery red-head who gets in there and mixes it up. She’s not a top scorer but she makes it all possible with her “the ball is mine as much as it’s yours” mentality. She’s great under the boards whether on offense or defense.

We have the “Who the Hell is that 5 Foot Nothin’ Girl” – a fire cracker who would wear out the energizer bunny. She rattles the best players in our league and she never runs out of energy. Her play is 6 feet tall.

Our 2 “notable reserves” (as quoted from a newspaper) consist of a girl who makes 3’s like it’s her job… which… I guess sorta is her job… as a basketball player and all… she’d probably start on any other team.

And rounding out our history-making varsity girls’ basketball team is…..

my girl Alex, the other ‘notable reserve’. Her problem isn’t lack of talent but lack of confidence. She kinda got the shaft because there was no JV team last year – that court time would’ve done wonders for her. She holds her own, though; plays pretty good defense and is finding her way on offense.

I think what makes this team so profoundly successful and unique is the humility with which these girls compete. Individual successes are brushed aside for team talk and there’s not a single girl on this team who feels she could win without the other girls. There is a chemistry, a dynamic with this team that makes us think they can beat any team they face… and for the most part… they have.

The community is remarkable, too. We routinely fill the stands in our Warrior red. People drive for hours to cheer on the girls and the girls reward them for their dedication. It’s a love story of the purest form, written one game at a time.

And it is that love story that drove me to write THIS story. Because I saw it…

felt it…

Friday night.

Alex got a little more playing time than expected because we lost a girl to an injury and another of our girls fouled out. The injury was a devastating blow to our team on a number of levels but our lead was solid and everybody stepped up and competed at the next level to compensate for the loss.

With about a minute left in the game we were up by 22 when the bruiser on the other team fouled out – Alex was on the receiving end of the foul. We were in double bonus… for those of you not familiar with basketball that means every foul committed by the other team leads to our girls getting 2 foul shots whether or not they were shooting when fouled (that has taken me a mere 7 years to grasp).

As Alex went to the line, the crowd went wild. Mostly because it was the 5th foul for the perp who was the very girl who took out our player and (I’m not too terribly proud of this but….) it felt a little good to see her benched. But it was after the girl sat; after the dismissing chants quieted that I felt the depth of the love our fans feel for our girls.

I couldn’t stand, I couldn’t cheer… I sat frozen… wanting so badly for Alex to drain these free throws. Not because we needed the points – we were up 56-34… but because ALEX needed them… for her. So there I sat, head down, nervous, wishing, hoping… when I noticed the crowd’s applause and cheering picked up. Everybody was standing and cheering for Alex…

We have some pretty knowledgeable fans – they knew the game was sewn up with 54 seconds left, up by 22 points but they stood and cheered for Alex because they know how hard she works; how badly she wants to contribute. These people… so impatient for the final buzzer so the celebrating could begin… stood up and shouted encouragements to my girl. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed… I keep watching the video – listening as our fans let Alex know they were behind her all the way… and I cry every time. My community wanted those points for Alex and only for Alex.

I’d love to say she drained both shots and walked away with some newly found confidence… wouldn’t that be all Rudy-like…

Alas, she’s our kid…

both shots bounced off the rim… no movie rights bein’ sold on this one…

Meh…. that’s a pretty damn big stage to be thrust upon… I’d have probably thrown them both behind me… I definitely wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near the backboard, let alone make contact with the rim. She told me later she felt like a dope… but she smiled when I showed her the video and she felt the love…

Now we move on – we’re 1 of 4 teams remaining. Our injured starter is questionable and Alex is ready to play a bigger role if called upon. There’s something in the air here… it feels like success but maybe it’s because this team has already won our hearts and anything beyond today is our “plus one”.