State Tournament 2012

This was written back in February.... I'm glad I wrote stuff down when I did!

I'm going to start blogging about this now... I doubt I will post it for a little while... but I need to remember the good times while they are still fresh in my memory.

Monday... there was no school. I went out to lunch with Tracy, Mitch, Tandy, and Janna at Red Robin. Came home and got ready completing my "morning of" routine of getting ready. We played Cyprus. They were the #1 team in the state. We started out terrible and were down 10 in the 1st quarter. We came back in the 2nd to take a 3 point lead into half time. The energy was good. We played well throughout and pulled off the upset!

Wednesday... we played the late game. We were able to go through shoot around and then after collaboration and I finished a paper for my master's class we headed to the game. We played Sky View. We have played them the past 3 years. Not my favorite team to play. We knew they were good, but definitely beatable! It was a close game, back and forth the entire way. We got a few KEY defensive stops. Hit some critical free throws, and we were OFF to the semi-finals for the FIFTH year in a row!

Friday... we played Mountain Crest. In the preseason they beat us by 35. I did not have a good feeling. I was sick pretty much the entire tournament of nervousness. The game didn't start out too well. We kept it within distance of a comeback but they were clearly one step ahead of us. In the 3rd quarter we were down by 15 points. Then the comeback started. We switched defenses and before we knew it we had tied it up. We had the ball with 1:31 seconds left in the game, we called a timeout and stalled. We were playing for the last shot! Savannah had the ball, their girl fouled her with 27 seconds left in the game. She made both of her free throws so we were up two. They got 3 shots off and on the 3rd shot one of our girls fouled their best player. She was at the free throw line with 5.7 seconds left! She MISSES her first of two freethrows. She made the second. We inbound the ball to our point guard. She is fouled. She misses her first. Makes her second. We are up two... they inbound the ball shoot a half court shot and miss. WE WIN!!! The celebration ensued! So exciting!

 

Saturday... we played Timpanogos for the championship game. No one expected us to be there. It was a very rewarding feeling. The first quarter was tight. Their point guard hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer of the 2nd and 3rd quarters! That really was the dagger. We were playing catch up the entire time and cut it to 3 points at one time but got no closer than that. I wanted the girls so badly to win that game. At that point, I would have given up the previous two state championships for them to win that game. No one expected them to be there. It was supposed to be a re-building year. If you would have asked ANYONE if they would be playing in the state championship game this year, someone would have laughed in your face. The fact that they had made it, made me want it for them that much more! I think that's why I took the loss harder than most losses. Besides the fact that it was a state championship, it was that they were so close and just couldn't quite get it. We enjoyed dinner at Ruby River after the game. The girls were not happy, but they tried to make the most of the situation. I went home and cried. I took a nap, I was emotionally drained.

About 9:00 I received a text from one of the girls that said, "Jill! You still owe us ice cream!" Ironically, when we played Timpanogos during the regular season and beat them by 12, I told them I would buy them ice cream if they scored 70 points. They did. Obviously, I had to pay up that night. What better way to drown your sorrows than ice cream? They were all hanging out at Hannah's. Holli and I took them 5 different kinds of ice cream and let them eat their pain away. It was at this moment that helped me kind of take the loss a little less hard. The girls were still upset, but they were laughing and enjoying hanging out together. One of the greatest things about them was they were friends. I was grateful I was able to see that. It helped me feel a little bit better. Had I not received that text, I think I would still be miserable and depressed.

Now... I know that this next part might seem a little ridiculous to you all. But, it is what it is?! I'm superstitious!

List of superstitions:

• The night before... shower, blow dry hair, brush teeth, read 2 scriptures/general conference quotes from an app on my phone, prayers, and go to sleep.
• The morning of... wake up, brush teeth, do make-up, straighten hair, use the same 3 bobby pins, put on the same earrings and necklace, then get dressed, all while listening to the same playlist.
• Running shoot-around, sweeps, 3-2-1 shooting drill, free throws, 60 shots, free throws, 5 on 0. Every gathers and we read game plan. Nancy would send me the game plan previous to every game. Shoot around until we leave. 

Things that had to be the same:

• Seats on bus
• CD playing to and from EVERY game
• Conversations when we passed certain points on the freeway (Harley Davidson, JCW/hamburgers, Prison/Prison Break)
• Playing Scramble with Friends
• Counting of people as they entered the game
• Stamp on my wrist in the same place on the left hand
• Sitting with back against wall
• Handful of Holli's pistachios
• Gum right after the pistachios
• Pencil to keep stats
• Filling out the stat sheets the same way
• One empty seat between the last girl on the bench and us
• Standing by the same people for introductions
• Half time candy from Mindy

It was an incredible run! The girls overcame so much throughout the year! No one expected us to be there, which made it even that much sweeter!