Saturday the 17
th brought a bit of a disappointing result for CYO Team 8. Coming into our game against Kimberly Team9, we knew we had our work cut out for us. We would be missing a few of our players (Really good players at that) have only 6 players dressed and a few of those dressed had Act’s in the morning. Our team made it to the game literally 5 minutes before tip off. Another interesting factor was the gym at Holy Name. I think I could tape off a better sized court in my basement. The court was a good ten foot shorter than any other court in the league. In addition, it was tile. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that you play basketball on hardwood. The floor was dirty and a mess to play on.
The problem with having 6 players is that my guys play aggressive D & a run & gun O. If we pushed the ball at both ends with only 1 reserve, the guys would be dead 5 minutes in. Our strategy going in was keep it close & win it at the end. The guys kept it to 5 at half & everything was really looking up, with the exception of foul trouble for my leading scorer.
As the second half started, our team’s leading scorer, Marcus Weber, picked up his 4th foul at mid court on a horse crap charge call. With Marc on the bench, the team played their butts off but we fell behind by as much as 13. At this point I had a coaching epiphany. I told Marc to take over the game when I put him in. He apparently took my words to heart.
3, board, 3, board, 3, board… he was killing everyone at both end of the floor. The other team began guarding Marc with 3 guys. Still a couple of spin moves later…. Fade away 3…swish… It was incredible to watch. with about a minute left, our other guard, Uriah, fouled out. This left us with my guys for the final minute, down by 4.
Marc drove the lane, lay-up and good. We were down 2 with 48 seconds left with a 6 guy bench!
The next time down the floor the home court refs decided the game. Marc swatted at all ball, & after the other team had been tackling him down the lane, they called a foul. He fouled out. It was a crap call. The whole game the refs had been talking with parents in the stands between timeouts. They must have taken a $20 somewhere in those convos. With 4 players on the court, our fate was sealed….almost. they got 2 easy lay ups to make it 6 on fast breaks. Then my man Jacob Sundelius leaned in 2 feet in front of me at the arc. 2 guys nailed him. He split the sandwich & drilled the 3! & 1….nope….a non-call. He hits that free throw and the game is at 2 with 20 seconds left. It was pure home court officiating. The other team picked up a quick lay-up to make it 50-45….the final score.
Although we lost, I felt great after the game. had that been our court, we would have won going away. We still would have won, without some key players, had the refs let the guys play ball. The team’s effort was awesome. I couldn’t have been more proud.
What felt even better was 4 or 5 parents from the other team came up to congratulate me on our team, their effort, & their class. I used to think it was BS when people talked about a feel good loss. I was wrong. Our team showed their true colors, just all out heart. Next game would were going to prove this last loss was a complete fluke.
Record: 1-1….Next up…Kimberly Team 11 in our house…(Already played, I’ll have an update soon.)
I also forgot to mention our team is the 1st CYO team with a website check out Team 8’s Site.
Currently Playing…
Saturate
By Breaking Benjamin
“Medicate”
