I Believe in Success
Basketball. Making connections with others on the court. Showing my skills on the court. Working hard and winning the game for my team, and most importantly, giving it my all to succeed. I believe if you put your all into it, you will succeed.
There’s nothing like feeling the hot sweat running down my face or aching in my body every time I run harder. Or all the bruises I receive from diving onto the ground getting a loose ball and bodying up down at the block for a post feed. I don’t care no matter what I do to myself out there on the court, as long as I am putting my all into it.
Regional games. My whole team was very excited, preparing for the first game of the playoff season. We all knew if we work hard as a team,
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All I see is the scoreboard and thinking how we need to catch up. My teammates cheering from the bench, supporting us throughout the game. And at the end of the game, how proud our coaches are and our student section screaming like crazy. All we can say is that we made it, making history for our school.
State Finals. Heading onto the bus, overly excited for this big weekend. We all know that we are going to be facing some pretty difficult teams, but also keeping in mind that we made it here and made history for our school. Stepping onto Illinois State University’s court, was priceless. The glare from the lights hitting the court making it seem extra shiny and the widespread view of over 10,000 seats. As the crowd cheers when we step onto the court, a rush of excitement hits me thinking we can do this for our team. Running up to shake the coaches and referees’ hands, as my name is called from the announcer, I’m thinking, this is it. It’s time to put everything into these two games because I might not ever be in this position again.
Unfortunately, we didn’t put everything we had into these two state finals game and ended up in fourth place. Looking at our results, we succeed the most when we put an effort into our games. The blood, sweat, and tears was worthwhile. We ended up in the final four in the
Walking out onto the opponent’s brightly lit turf field setting up for the kickoff of the second half just gave me the feeling that everybody knows, my hair starts to stand up, butterflies began to flutter in my stomach, and everything seems to slow down. Looking into the stands and seeing that our hometown fans had traveled four hours in order to outdo the home crowd gave me a sense of comfort. Looking into East Jefferson’s stands and seeing that our fans, despite having to travel all the way down south, outnumbered their fans by at least 70 people. I found myself thinking that this meant just as much to our town as it did to our school and team. This feeling would be just the motivation we needed in order to finish this game
In 2016, more than ever, the team was committed to and had one goal of winning. One of our biggest rivals was St. John’s College High School (SJCHS). My doubles partner and I played the last match of the WCAC championships against SJCHS. During the season, SJCHS was one of the hardest competitors we faced but walking onto the court on the final day of championships, my partner and I knew we would fight and win. After 45 minutes, I hit an ace and we won the match that put us in the lead to win the championships. October 30, 2016 was the single most exciting and overwhelming day for the team all season. Everyone’s hard work paid off.
Our team went undefeated for our first 16 games, and then our 17th game we had our first tie. We were used to killed the team we tied to, but that proves if you don’t come ready not everything is going to go your way. Some of the kids kind of took it the wrong way. We won 14 more games after that and kept playing strong. Then we had our final playoff game to see who was going to state or not.
It was 7:00 in the morning when we arrived at the Johnston City High School. Once everyone arrived at the high school, we got on the bus and headed off to Benton. As we stepped foot on the bus, we all sat there quietly, nervous about the results of this game. This was the game that determined whether or not we went on to state. Coach Simon and Coach Shane gave us one of their what we like to call "before the game warm-up talks". We were all nervous of course, but we were all determined to win this game. We had been looking forwards to winning regionals and going to state the whole season and that day was the day that we gave us the opportunity to go to state. After the thirty minute bus ride, we finally got to Benton and once we got there,
We never had a chance against them. While our team isn't bad, but those were the region state champs, and most people who
We were not expected to be in this position after starting the season with two wins and six losses. With the bases loaded, I stepped into the batter’s box for my second at bat in the 2017 PA District 2 AAAA High School Championship game. Our opponent was stacked with three prospective Division 1 pitchers. I was nervous to say the least, but then my “moment” arrived. I saw my pitch, and launched a bases clearing triple that added to a lead that would eventually produce a victory for my team. We moved on through the playoffs, and eventually landed at Medlar field in State College, where we delivered our first baseball State Championship in school history.
Throughout the hallways of the Xcel, all I could hear was people cheering for us. Not only were the students of East High happy to have won, but over 75 percent of the people attending the game were as well. As we finally made it out of the Xcel, I knew this was a moment I would remember for the rest of my
The Delaware State University staff announced the beginning of the award ceremony. The room fell silent as they unveiled the trophies, our entire team hoped for the best. Mouths were gaped wide open at the sight of them. Everyone in the room could feel the tension rising. Name after name, trophy after trophy was handed out to the awarded teams and after each one, our hope diminished, slowly, agonizingly, like something we thought was so close yet every moment that passed it felt farther and farther away. The number of trophies were slimming as we got closer and closer to the end we were grabbing at whatever hope we could.
Going into this tournament we did not have very high expectations considering the other two teams we had to play were ranked in the top 20 when were ranked in the 90s. Our first game would be considered the toughest because we had to play the tenth ranked team in the nation. But shockingly we ended winning the game. Our next game we unfortunately lost and were knocked out of contention for nationals. Even though we weren’t able to make it to nationals it was still a very fun and successful season.
With the Christmas tournament aside, we entered the post-season without a loss. We had a plan for each playoff game from districts to regional. We never deviated from the plan, keeping our eye on the target –
We have our first game against one of our rivals. We all played a great game, linemen knocking the defense around, running backs running right through their defense, and our defense shutting them down and kept them to one score. All coaches and players were pumped up and excited after starting the year strong.
You don't hear everyday a high school team winning state championships that often, but at Archbishop Wood it's sort of common. I proudly can say I am one of the few that has not one, but two state championship rings under my belt. As a sophomore AND a junior in high school, my basketball team accomplished being State Champions two years in a row. The first year we won was one of the best experiences of being apart of a team. After losing in the state championship the year before, we knew we had to somehow get back the next year and make sure we'd come out with the trophy. As the new season began in November of 2016, we played in the Nike tournament of champions in Arizona. The trip was one of the most memorable trips ever with the best group of girls. We had a blast,
The team was ready, we had been working extremely hard for the past seven months for this. We were all in great shape and very rested. A few of the returning players were meeting me at my house to carpool to the final game of the state championship tournament. Everyone knew that the hard work had paid off when we won the semi-final game the preceding day.
As fans, we keep coming back for more, though, hoping this time it will be different. We have stuck with our team; we have seen their ups and downs. Through it all, though, we keep painting our faces and waiting for the start of the game. Once the game starts, we cheer and yell, but most of all, we are nervous. After all, this is a high stakes game. It is the last chance our team has at redemption from a terrible losses. The game is going great. We are pumped up by the great plays and perfect execution, and we hope and pray nothing goes wrong before the buzzer sounds. Counting down the time from ten seconds, we know our team has done it. This is why we love the game. The celebration with those around us is like nothing else. We know this rivalry, championship, or even just a regular game is something big. We cannot help but think we knew it all along. As we wash off the face paint, change out of our sport’s apparel, and wait for the next gameday, we know it is never going to be the same. This feeling of great accomplishment is like none other. That is why we are fans of the
Their dribbling down the court they shoot they score the winning points, that’s what makes my team happy. Basketball isn’t just dribbling a ball it’s rules, teamwork, and lots of fun.