I really should probably take a nap instead of writing this post. And I need to do homework. But the reason I can't take a nap is cause that would mess up my sleeping even worse than it already has been the last couple weeks. (Not very restful, stressful mundane dreams, weird hours and flipping around more than usual.)
Anyway, the BCM basketball state tournament was held this weekend in Shawnee at OBU, and it went better than expected for both of our teams, though not quite the results that were hoped for. One of the guys that was supposed to play for us broke his finger, and another had to attend a funeral, so there were six players: James, Mark, Sean, Tyler, Wes and Zach. The girls had nine on their squad: Carra, Caitlyn, Ja Li Si, Jayne, Jocelyn, Jordan, Mallory, Mariah and Tarah.
We left from the BCM about 4:30 Friday afternoon, getting to Shawnee about 6:30, dropping our stuff off at the church we were spending the night at and then to OBU's gym(Not the "real" gym, but the everyday one) at 7...where there were two hours to kill before the girls' first game. And four hours to go before our first game.
So I spent the time figuring out how the brackets worked out, watching three games at one time and admiring the beautiful interior of the building of the Raley Wellness Center. There were three basketball/volleyball courts set up, complete with glass backboards and working scoreboards. A rock-climbing area built along one wall, walking-track set up along a wraparound balcony, many workout machines and a lobby so nice it looked to be swiped from a hotel. (But then, it IS OBU, so that explains it...) Anyway, it was very nice. One quirk that was unusual: There were these massive floor-to-ceiling windows just behind the baskets on one end, and they were installed on the side of the balcony. So with nothing but sky below and people running/walking by above, the goals themselves looked like they were hanging in mid-air with no definite place in space. Strange optical effect that made shooting a bit difficult.
Anyway, Mallory had asked me to keep stats for the their games, so I flipped completely into sportswriter mode at 9 p.m. while watching the NSU-Cameron game. There was a minor scare before the game started that had a bunch of folks slightly worried, as one of Ja Li Si's earrings wouldn't come out. Finally, James' fiancee Chelsea was able to unstick the earring, allowing her to play. ("No jewelry of any type allowed", is what the rules said, why this was important.)
Turnovers plagued NSU's first half, trying to do too much led to Cameron holding a 17-8 lead after the first fifteen minutes. Things started clicking in the second half for NSU, as the Cameron lead was trimmed down to 24-12 with 11:33 left and then 27-21 at the 7:09 mark. Rebounds were coming, ball-swiping was practiced often, and the assist-count began to rise. Unfortunately, so did the fouls. Even more unfortunately, Cameron made three of four free throws, which proved to be the difference as the NSU girls lost by a 30-27 final score. Carra led the scoring column with 10 points, Jocelyn had team-high 5 rebounds and 4 steals, and Mariah had 4 assists.
We played Redlands Community College in our game(tipoff was near 11 p.m., it was weird scheduling and an even stranger bracket setup), they'd already beaten OSU-OKC and ECU. The opening seven minutes were much the same as the girls' first half, but then Sean and James both started hitting on 3-pointers, and the 2-3 zone defense began to frustrate Redlands' two best shooters. Second-chance points and hustle led to a 19-all tie at halftime, thanks to Zach's last-second basket. In the second half NSU took a decent-sized lead, much to spectator amazement, as Redlands was about ten players deep of mostly tall black guys, but time ticked away with the running clock being used, and NSU advanced to the second round with the 51-43 win. (I really should have kept stats for us, too; but forgot about it.)
We spent the night at a church near the OBU campus, sleeping on the floor and rows of chairs. A bunch of guys from NEO kept talking. And Talking. And TALKING. to each other, couldn't fall asleep until about three, then woke up somewhere in at seven because of the chilly temperature, and then everybody fell back asleep only to get woken up by one of the girls poking her head in the doorway and saying loudly, "Aren't you guys ready?! It's 8:20, Bob's gonna pick us up in like, five minutes!" We were packed and ready in five minutes, but it took fifteen to rearrange the chairs into the proper order(the NEO guys had moved everything all around). We ate breakfast at IHOP, which I found wasn't really my thing.
We had Southeastern at 11 a.m. in the second round, and if we lost, we were done. They were the favorites coming into the tournament, lots of tall, strong athletic black guys. The NEO guys, who were destroyed by Southeastern in the first round, and some guys from Murray State College in Tishomingo, were jumping on the NSU bandwagon and cheering for us along with the girls team and several relatives of various people. It was a back-and-forth affair the entire game, we led at halftime 22-18, but they came back in the second half despite strong defensive play, and in the end it came down to free throws, NSU with the upset 37-30.
The girls' game was at 1 p.m. against USAO, halfway through the first half NSU led 7-2. Baskets, rebounds and steals were all distributed pretty evenly, and at halftime the scoreboard read 12-6, NSU. USAO had trouble finding the basket the entire game, it made for lots of rebound opportunities and fast-break scores. NSU won easily by a 26-14 final score. Carra led the scoring with 8 points, Mariah led the rebound and steals categories with 5 and 3, respectively. They each had 2 assists.
In the 2 .p.m. semifinal game, we were set to face OU. Turns out, they had three guys who were the state's top 3-point shooters in high school, and our guys were exhausted. The game itself was a set of sniper missions from behind the three-point line; we missed the target while their shots were accurate and basically we were run over by a herd of Triceratops. The final score was OU 59, NSU 39. It wasn't pretty.
But there was still the 3 p.m. girls' third-place game against UCO to watch before heading out. Both sides were evenly matched, scoring was slow most of the first half, as evidenced by a 4-4 tie with 6:33 until halftime. It picked up after that point, NSU led by five at the break, 16-11. That edge mushroomed to 25-13 with 10:23 to play, but fouls played a large role in UCO's rallying down to a tense 28-27 ballgame with two minutes to play. It came down to the final play...and the buzzer sounded just before Mariah's shot left her hands. We were going to an extra 120 seconds of overtime, with the score tied at 29-all. The momentum UCO built up late in the second half carried over, and they took third place with the 34-29 OT victory. Jocelyn had 13 points and pulled down 9 rebounds, Tarah had 6 rebounds, Mariah four assists and four players had steals.
So the guys made it to the semifinals in a 21-team field, and the girls were fourth out of nine teams. We got back to Tahlequah just before 8 p.m., only to lose another hour of would-be sleep-time by the time change. Probably everyone immediately collapsed as soon as they could, Jayne said she was still sore. Elizabeth was wishing she could've came to watch, and planning a tour of all the things we should have seen. I was late to church this morning, but at least I got there. One week until spring break, my 8-week classes start Wednesday.
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