We Win!

Those who see me over the next few days will have to forgive me if I shout "WOOOOOO!" at random intervals, because WE WON, BABY! Cue We are the Champions!

It was a long week, but we did it! We went into the playoffs with a 7-1 record (that loss being the night the Hokies played in the NCAA tourny at the exact same time we were scheduled to play our game, so we played with 2nd and 3rd stringers and still only lost by one). We made it to the finals last year and lost to William and Mary. This year, we were better, and we went all the way.

Tuesday was our first game. Our head coach was in Connecticut on business (where's your priorities, man?), which left the fool who volunteered to be assistant coach at the beginning of the season (me) in charge for our game against Texas. When I got to the school, I had no pants in my backpack to play in. Thankfully, I had some emergency pants in my car. The game itself was rough, with lots of yelling and even a near-fight that probably would have gotten a player on the other team ejected any other night of the week (volunteer refs in the first round, paid refs the rest of the playoffs). It was only the second game I've coached, and I had to lecture my team about attitude at the half, but we managed to win and move on to round 2.

I slept 2 hours Tuesday night, and dinner simply did not happen any day this week, so I was already tired for our Wednesday game against Michigan. I was keeping time for the game before ours when some of my teammates arrived. Our point guard offered me some crackers, but I didn't really register what she said. Some part of me knew that I needed food, because I just took the box from her without looking or even knowing what I was doing. I had already shoved some of the crackers in my mouth when I heard her laugh, then I realized I was holding a box of crackers that she had handed me. I coached the first half of our game, then Harry arrived fresh from the airport, so I was back to just being a player. We had a much cleaner game and a good, satisfying win, which brought us to the quarterfinals.

We played Penn State on Thursday. I didn't play much (first five minutes of each half, with maybe a few more minutes in there somewhere), so I mainly got to enjoy the game from the sidelines. One of their players got ejected after two technical fouls. We played our game, nice and smooth, and won by 20.

The semifinals and the finals were both Friday, back-to-back. Our first game against Emory was tough. They wanted to be the Cinderella team, having come into the playoffs with 4-4 record. We wanted another shot at the finals. Toward the end, it was basically a free-throw contest. We won by 2.

At the final, it was a rematch with William & Mary. And let me tell you, I can't shoot. I can barely dribble. But I can defend, and I can endure. The longer I play, the better I play (or maybe I just start to look better compared to those who are tired). And the final game was essentially an endurance test. Which team could handle back-to-back games? Us. By far. With just three girls in rotation (at least two must be on the court at all times), I got more playing time (last year, I didn't even get to play in the final). I got a few rebounds, one of which got me fouled by three opponents with 18 seconds left in the first half. I missed my free throw (dang it!!!!), but made up for it with a blocked shot against someone three times my size just a few seconds later. That's my play of the season (even beating the last second shot against Georgia that gave us a nice even 40 point win). Because everyone else on my team is so awesome, I don't get many memorable plays. It was nice that I got to have one in the final game of the season.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some sleep.