This year, as I did last year, I helped my brother-in-law coach a 1st & 2nd grade biddy basketball team at Eastern. Little did I know that I would end up being a head-coach for a 3rd & 4th grade team. I admittedly do no know that much about basketball, but with my brother-in-law (a real basketball man) at my side, I thought I'd give it a go. I am glad I did.
I had a group of really good boys who learned so much throughout the season. We started off good with three wins, but hit a rough patch and lost 3 in a row. The combined difference between the score of two of those games was just 3 points. We finished strong to end our season and headed into the tournament.
As the tournament began, we were playing like I knew we were capable of playing. Every boy contributed as we made it to the championship game in the tournament. In the semi-final, we were down 7 with just a few minutes to go. We tied the game with a ball that rolled around the rim (to build suspense, I guess) and finally went in with about 28 seconds to go. We pulled away in OT and advanced to the championship, where we lost to the undefeated champions.
It was a satisfying experience and I look forward to coaching again next year.
