999 Problems, But A KIT Championship Is ONE

Well...I am sure most of you have heard of Jay-Z's song 99 problems. The first lines go like this: "If your having girl problems I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but a chick ain't one." Friday night I was listening to it before we played our first game in the Kingswood-Oxford Invitational Tournament.

Looking at the rosters of the teams I recognized good caliber players that we have seen in the past. We took it one game at a time and came out with a 70-39 win over KO, the host team, Friday night. It was a great feeling. Saturday was filled with activities of team bonding. Coach Borelli set up an itinerary for us for the day since our game wasn't until 8:30 Saturday night. We had a nice team breakfast, we spent a good 4 hours in the mall, and we went over strategies for the game. It was a long day of fun, but we had to realize that we came here to win a tournament championship. Yes, team bonding and all that stuff is important as well, but we had games to play. So, 8:30 comes and by 10:20, we were done beating Watkinson in the semifinal game. The have one versatile post player that can run the point as well. We were able to contain her, while pushing the tempo, and beating them down the floor every time.The Lady Hornets aren't a team to be messed with.

Sunday morning comes and at 11:51, I get a call from Coach. She told me that I had 999 points and I was going to score 1,000 that night. Tears rolled down my face, in such joy, but in the back of my head that didn't seem to be important because even though that is an individual milestone for me, my team comes first; we gotta win this tournament.

We knew what we were facing came championship time. We had watched Governor's Academy play Saturday, and saw that they were the biggest team in the tournament. Yes, size is something we lack. Their guard play was okay, but those two 6'2 kids were the ones we were keying on. Box Out. Box Out. Box Out. That was the key.

I lost the tap to one of the big girls and from there, we came out flat. Our defense was scrambled, and our offense was stagnant. I was getting frustrated on offense because I couldn't get any calls going to the basket. Finally, I got one. Went to the line first shot rims out, second shot GOES IN. I am a 1000th point scorer! It didn't really even register because I knew I had to get back on D and guard their best player. We simply could not contain her. She had 17 in the first half, and she was the only thing hurting us. At half time, we were ready for the talk. Coach was calm, but said "You want to come out of this basketball game satisfied. I don't care if we lose by 30, just as long as we don't quit." I'm thinking in my head, "I don't want to lose by 30!" I wanted to come back from the 20 point deficit and win. We gave it a final push in the last three min of the second half, cutting the lead down to 12 with 1:31 to go. I thought we could do it. Kelsey McCray, one of our three point shooters, knocked down some big ones tonight. So, it was time for her to get hot again.

We went into our full court press. I was on the ball. They almost got a 5 second count, but I guess the girl got it in at the last moment. The ball is passed in bounds to their shooter. She bobbles it, and my instincts roared. I dived onto the ball, and we got possession! We inbound it, I drive and kick it out to Kelsey she knocks down the three. Cuts the lead to nine. Governors outlets it quickly down the sideline and scores. We tried to get off a couple more shots, but none went it. On top of that i fouled out in the last minute.

We lost the KIT Championship by 14, but in no way am I disappointed. We played hard and we cut the lead and made them nervous. It was a successful weekend. We bonded, we played, we fought. What more can you ask for.

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