Last night was the first game of our official season. I honestly can't remember the last time I was so excited AND nervous for a season to start. As most of you know, preseason was not easy for me at all...each day I felt like I was trudging uphill in the mud...but with the saying, "nothing will work unless you do" in mind, I fought with myself each day to push through preseason and see what the regular season might hold in store.
It's only the end of week one...of a 30+ game season, but I'm just going to say it, I'm proud of myself. I went into the first game telling myself to just believe. Believe in what I can do and believe in the team. To get to the point, in a hard fought battle, we ended up winning the game 71-68 against Calais.
As a team, we came out really strong. Before I even realized what was happening, we were up 24-12 and were plowing along. We really played well together and executed our offense, with each teammate stepping up when we needed to make something happen. At half-time we were up by 13, and I never had the desire to run away with a score so badly in my life. The third quarter brought a slight comeback from Calais, but we battled back and even extended the lead to 15 heading into the 4th. The last quarter brought with it a full momentum swing, and our team struggled as Calais pulled within 6 points of us. With about 3 minutes left in the game I picked up my fifth foul, took a seat on the bench, and prayed that we would pull out a win.
Exchanging baskets and fouls, those final three minutes seemed like the longest of my life. Calais pulled within two points a number of times, but our defense held up, never giving up the lead. Our point guard hit some clutch free throws down the stretch and with ten seconds left and us up by three, we grabbed a board off a free throw and ended the game.
If you want to read the fun google translate version of the game, you can click here.
After the game we joined the partners of the club for a little champagne and a congratulatory speech from our president, followed by a dinner in town with a number of our fans. It was a really nice start to what I hope will be a very memorable season!
It's only the end of week one...of a 30+ game season, but I'm just going to say it, I'm proud of myself. I went into the first game telling myself to just believe. Believe in what I can do and believe in the team. To get to the point, in a hard fought battle, we ended up winning the game 71-68 against Calais.
As a team, we came out really strong. Before I even realized what was happening, we were up 24-12 and were plowing along. We really played well together and executed our offense, with each teammate stepping up when we needed to make something happen. At half-time we were up by 13, and I never had the desire to run away with a score so badly in my life. The third quarter brought a slight comeback from Calais, but we battled back and even extended the lead to 15 heading into the 4th. The last quarter brought with it a full momentum swing, and our team struggled as Calais pulled within 6 points of us. With about 3 minutes left in the game I picked up my fifth foul, took a seat on the bench, and prayed that we would pull out a win.
Exchanging baskets and fouls, those final three minutes seemed like the longest of my life. Calais pulled within two points a number of times, but our defense held up, never giving up the lead. Our point guard hit some clutch free throws down the stretch and with ten seconds left and us up by three, we grabbed a board off a free throw and ended the game.
If you want to read the fun google translate version of the game, you can click here.
After the game we joined the partners of the club for a little champagne and a congratulatory speech from our president, followed by a dinner in town with a number of our fans. It was a really nice start to what I hope will be a very memorable season!
I knew the France Calais couldn't take you. I've been saying it ALL ALONG.
ReplyDeleteI like that saying nana...Nothing will work unless you do! Very inspirational. The beginning of the 3rd paragraph of this blog rhymes.
I'm so proud of you!