MICDS Game from a Player’s Perspective
Jerseys on. Orange NBA socks. Nikes tied up tight. Thirteen players gathered around to hear the pregame talk from the coaches. Everything was going just as it had been 25 times earlier in the season. Only tonight was different because it could have been the last game of the year, and for eight seniors, the last of their careers.
We ran out for our regular 15 minute warm up routine. Music blasting, fans screaming, it was the atmosphere for an exciting game. Players on both teams reported to their benches for the start of the game. At 8 p.m., the game had begun. MICDS jumped out to an early lead, and led 20-10 after one quarter. We battled back, pulling within a few points several times and trailed by four at halftime.
The atmosphere of the locker room was laid back, yet somewhat serious. The coaches did not come in yelling or upset. Instead, just briefly talked about second half adjustments and sent us back to the court to shoot.
The entire second half was back and forth. As soon as we fell behind, MICDS would make a mistake and we took advantage by scoring easy baskets. Finally midway through the fourth quarter, I thought we were going to pull away.  Senior Devonte Bell made a contested three-pointer to give us the lead. From there I thought we were going to hold on. We maintained this lead for a few possessions until a MICDS player made a layup with under a minute left. From there things went downhill. Coach Luhning drew up a play for an ally-oop dunk to tie the game.
As the play developed, a MICDS player stole the ball and raced towards his basket. I chased him down and fouled him hard with 4 seconds left. As he stepped to the free throw line, all I could think about was how this could be the end of the season. Summer league games, fall workouts, 7 a.m. practices all felt like a waste at that point. Seeing MICDS celebrate a championship was bad, however doing it in our gym was worse.
Needless to say the atmosphere in the locker room was nothing we had experienced this season. Everyone was speechless. The only sounds were the sniffles of a disappointed team. Many of us had worked really hard, and not winning a district championship seemed like a failure.
Coach Luhning went through the regular, end-of-season talk. Taking the time to talk about all the seniors was a nice touch, but couldn’t undo the pain all of us felt at that time. However, the returning players will use this as motivation to work harder in the offseason to prepare for next year.