Warriors lose a thriller

So I was asked to be coach of our GCS jv team this year, and I agreed. I don't feel like I'm a particularly good coach, but there wasn't anyone else who could really do it. I haven't posted anything about that.... until now. Because last night, their last game of the season, my guys played a whale of a game.

They had a tough year, only winning one game. But there are some aspects of their play that I think were better than any GCS team I remember, and I know they could beat any team in their league. Last night they proved it.

I'll just tell you up front that we lost in overtime by 3, I don't remember the final score. But before I relate any details you've got to understand that this team's tallest guy is more than a head taller than Aaron, our tallest guy, and they have at least two other guys taller than him. AND this team has lost only one game all year.

Well every one of my guys played their best game of the year. I can't relate the whole match, but let me tell you, it was a classic. There were so many great plays I could never remember them all (I can't tell you how badly I wish it were on tape.)

We were down by 12 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. And in the fourth quarter we scored 12 and they scored 0. Hehehe. Oh man. It was sweet. I don't care who you are reading this - I wish you could have seen it. With only a minute to go we were down by 6 with the ball, and Roy, who had by far his best game of the year, drives all the way down the court, into the lane, lays it in and gets fouled. He hits his free throw and we're within 3 with less than 30 secs to go. We foul once, and then, miracle of miracles, we get a steal (probably one of Tyler's six or seven) on the inbounds pass! One timeout left, and I call it. I tell Roy to drive the lane and dish to either Aaron or Ty for 3. Now Aaron is one of the better shooters on the team, and all of us know he can hit the 3. But he's usually hesitant - we've been trying to get him to shoot more all year. Well Roy drives, dishes to Aaron, and Aaron God bless his shooting soul launches a three with a man in his face and swishes it as time runs out.

Every time I think about his face after he hit that shot my own breaks into a huge smile and I start laughing from sheer pleasure. It was a moment. Oh man. I just wish you could have seen his face.....

Well we and our fans went absolutely nuts as you might imagine. It was definitely a great moment in GCS bball history. But we still had OT. They scored two quick buckets to go ahead early. Ty (in case you don't know Ty he's only a little taller than Harris - remember their guys are over six feet) hit a huge 3 down the stretch to keep us in it. With time left on the clock and down by one we got the shot we wanted - Roy drove, dished to Logan, Logan back to Roy and Roy put it up... and it rimmed out. They scored and we had the ball with 2 seconds left but couldn't get a shot off. So it ended.

As Bro Zack said, there's such a thing as a moral victory. This was one. I'm just telling you it was one heck of a game. Those guys put it all together, played solid, consistent, sometimes brilliant basketball, and proved last night they can play with anyone in this league.

Roy made good decisions as point guard, sliced into the lane like a little blade and finished his shots - he ended up with 16. Tyler was his usual stellar self on defense with 5 steals in the first half alone and a couple of humongo blocks - he's pretty fly for a white guy and has the stickiest basketball fingers I've ever seen. If a loose ball or rebound goes anywhere near him I sigh with relief before it even gets there. Logan was absolutely a monster. He played so hard on both ends of the court it's a wonder he was even still standing at the end. Scored some key buckets and played true to his "round mound of rebound" nickname. (At least that's what I call him.) Aaron had a great game all around, but of course who really cares about the rest of the game - he hit that three. :-) Ty played smart, smart basketbal - tough when you're that short - and hit the huge three in overtime. We wouldn't have had a chance without that shot. Harris played some really good minutes, took care of the basketball, made good passes, made one great fake to the basket move and I'm just gonna say probably got fouled on the shot.

As we said in our final cheer after the game: "Team Warriors we gave em what for and a bottle of rum!!"