Our First Win

We won our first basketball game last Tuesday evening. I cannot even describe how great a feeling it was. It is something that I will never forget.

I was very nervous as I was walking into the locker room before our game. The varsity team's game was very physical which led to two of our players getting injured. My players are the most important thing to me and to see anyone of them in pain is very difficult as any coach will tell you.

Two nights prior, we had taken a very good team down to the wire before eventually losing in overtime by a single point so I knew that my team had it in them. We had had a good practice the day before so my confidence was beaming but I was in for a memorable night.

We came out a little flat in the first half. We had trouble running our offense plus I think we were a little timid as well. I cannot say I blame them for that after having watched the varsity team get beaten up for an hour.

However, our defense and rebounding was strong. We managed to hold the other team to only a single basket while just scoring one ourselves. As we headed into the locker room, I knew that we could play better.

I knew that they were capable of playing much better than they had shown in the first half. We came out of the locker room and headed straight to the bench. If we could come out with intensity on defense, I thought that we might be able to pull this game off but when you have never played basketball before like many of my players just stepping out onto the court is a victory in itself.

Before we began the second half, I asked each and every one of them to look at me. These girls have given so much to me these past few months that I just wanted them to win this game so badly. "This is your time," I said.

I do not think that I could have coached or they played any harder than we did in that second half. We came out firing and played the type of basketball that I knew these girls were capable of playing. Our defense was terrific and our bench really stepped up to the challenge.

One of the more inexperienced players even hit a 15 foot jumper toward the end of the third quarter that sent our bench into a frenzy. Very few times in life are we able to see something great like that happen. Just seeing one of my players hit a shot like she did was amazing. At that point, it did not matter to me who won or lost. We had finally become a team.

In the fourth quarter, our defense was the key. We had a big lead and all we had to do was stop the other team from scoring. The clock seemed to take forever to get under a minute as each second slowly ticked away.

With only a short time left to play, the opposing team had the ball out of bounds and we were ahead. I shouted, "Don't foul! Play smart!" I really did not need to in retrospect. After committing three personal fouls in the first half, one of my players did not even come close to picking up her fourth in the second half. I was proud.

As the final seconds ticked away, I looked up at the clock as the buzzer sounded with us leading. I wish I could have a picture of our bench when that happened because there were smiles all around. We had won.

Mentally and physically, I was completely exhausted. I had wanted us to win so badly that I wore myself out. I entered the locker room to hear shouts of celebration. I was so happy that I did not feel the need to X and O anymore tonight. Let the kids enjoy the win tonight and get back to work the next day.

Before I left, I called the team together. We had come so far in the 30 practices we had had this season. When we first started in November, many on the team had never even played organized basketball before let alone run an offense or played help side defense. Myself, I had only coached four basketball games prior to the one I coached that evening. We both had come so far.

The only thing I could really say was "Thank you." We had won our first game and I could not think of anything more appropriate than that. They earned it and gave me a lasting memory.