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Just like Hoosiers (Updated)

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osugrad21

osugrad21

Capo Regime
Staff member
Well tonight was a special moment for the kids of my school. As many of you have gathered, I teach in the rural SC area...80+% of my school is on free/reduced lunch and the kids live lives many of us could not comprehend. They are great kids who really have a strike, and sometimes two, already against them before they ever get a chance.

Tonight was one for the kids. The basketball team does not have a superstar. It is a team of kids who have found a coach to believe in...a coach who makes them practice at 6am every day before school and for hours after school, a coach who does not accept excuses or anything less than perfect behavior in school, a coach who molded a team of kids nobody would have ever thought would be basketball players into a team playing for the Lower State Championship, and a coach who plays up to sixteen kids on his roster every game, a coach they love to HATE but RESPECT to no end.

All of the hard love lessons and endless practices paid off tonight.

Against a perennial state powerhouse and a legendary coach from a legendary family, including an NBA coach brother, the kids overcame adversity.

Overtime. Down by 2. 5 seconds to go. The ball is inbounded and rushed upcourt by a 6'4" Junior swingman with a history of temper issues and a home situation you would not wish on anyone...

He pulls up prematurely and against the screams of the crowd with 2 seconds left...he is at least 5 feet outside of the 3 point line.

It was one of those shots you knew was going in...as soon as it left his hand, everyone knew. The buzzer sounded at the same time the shot swished through the net....

Score one for the underdogs. This moment belonged to those who do not get the spotlight very often.
 
Great Story......I kind of know what you mean regarding the home life of the students as my wife works in a Charlotte, NC area high school. I hear heartbreaking stories at least a couple of times a week. My hat is off to the coach and his team.....
 
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Must be nice. My old high school has been terrible at every sport but baseball since my class graduated. We even switched to a much worse league and can't compete. My senior year I was one of eight seniors on a good basketball team and they've never been able to replace losing every starter and all but one varsity player.

This year we just completed our first winless basketball season in school history. I doubt we scored 50 in a game all season. In one game we got blown away by another team that was winless (0-9) at the time.

...coming from a small rural school that has lost a lot of athletic pride, I congratulate your guys for turning it around!
 
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nice story grad. i was hoping for a similar one with our girls team as we made districts for the first time since 98.....and we had some AWFUL teams before and after that season. but the core of this years team are all freshman so they will have a chance in the future.

congrats to your kids.
 
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Well, I'm late to this post but I needed some numbing before discussing it...

Tonight was the Lower State Championship...in Ohio it would be the Semi-Finals...we faced off with the defending State Champions of AAA

Initially, I could not believe how quick they were as a team...not just one or two, but the their top 8 were quick and silky smooth. Immediately, I saw that we were overmatched. We had one player who not only matched their quickness, but actually surpassed it...

The first quarter was a fast-paced game of 90 foot hell as both teams pressed and used amazing athleticism to put on a special show. I realized quickly that the other team's D-1 prospect is the real deal...he is maybe 6'1" but his first step is amazing and his heart is there. End of 1st: Bad guys 20 Good guys 14

The second quarter saw my school in foul trouble and tight situations...the nerves got to the kids...40-29 at the half.

The third quarter was supposedly the end of the line....they opened it up to a 23 point lead and the bandwagon fans started to leave. The opponent fans made their way onto our side to taunt us and a few of us had to intervene to make sure nothing else happened, but our kids handled it well....end of the 3rd: 73-50.

The fourth started slow as both teams seemed desperate...one to score in bunches and the other to put on a show. However, lightning then began to strike....3ptr, steal, 3ptr, steal, NBA RANGE 3ptr...TO. Suddenly 14 pts seemed realistic. I witnessed the most amazing 8 minutes of basketball I have ever seen...it was not about skill nor talent. It was 100% about heart. Within minutes that 23 pt lead was gone...it was a tied game. with 22 seconds left, our slow, white point guard drove the lane, faked the dump off pass and, feeling the imminent hack, hoisted a left handed hook that tickled the twine....his free throw made it a 3 point lead. The defending state champs inbounded and drove the ball sloppily up court to chuck a desperation three...no good. Rebounded and kicked out...no good..tipped, tipped, tipped...into the D-1 prospect's hands, he chucks it up with 7 seconds, our hero from last week jumps STRAIGHT UP with two hands and blocks the shot...the D-1 prospect feigns the foul...a whistle...a 5th foul for last week's hero...3 straight FTs and overtime.

Lost by 4 in OT.

Kids looking for me after the game...trying to comfort them, trying to remain calm myself.

One more reminder why I love this job...
 
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Tough break grad. Congratulations to your kids. It's too bad when the guy with the name gets such a crucial call that he shouldn't have, and at the expense of your hero. It happens at all levels of the game, apparently.

ps. A special collectors edition of Hoosiers will be released on DVD March 1st.
 
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Many of you probably know this but the real coach of the team the movie Hoosiers was made about was my high school gym teacher. What a great man and the part that he had hit a player was just a movie add in...

We had the former coach of MILAN high (the Hoosier team) as the basketball coach and Bill Doba (current head coach at WSU) as the football coach.
NOT BAD!
 
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into the D-1 prospect's hands, he chucks it up with 7 seconds, our hero from last week jumps STRAIGHT UP with two hands and blocks the shot...the D-1 prospect feigns the foul...a whistle...a 5th foul for last week's hero...3 straight FTs and overtime.
Click to expand...
Didn't think that a written summary of a game would ever make me me scream BAD CALL! at my computer, but it did. :pissed:
 
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