This story is about my 8th grade basketball team and the journey we went on to win our 4th straight state championship in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.  We overcame a lot of adversity and people cheering against us but in the end, it was all worth it as we got the job done.

The final horn blew and it became official.  Our team, the 8th grade team had done something no team in the history of Wisconsin had done.  We overcame doubt, adversity and our egos to accomplish a common goal we had set our eyes on 7 months earlier in October.  We, the kids from a small town 20 minutes west of Milwaukee, had just won our 4th straight.

On a slushy and snowy day in April, we arrived in Stevens Point, Wisconsin after a 3.5 hour car ride with one goal in all of our minds- to win our 4th state championship.  If completed, we would be the first team in the history of the state to do so.  That would mean a lot considering how big basketball has become in our state over the past few years and all the great players who are making names for themselves right now on the basketball scene.   That night, I tossed and turned in my bed in preparation for the biggest and most anticipated tournament across the state the next day. We were the team to beat and everyone up in Stevens Point that weekend wanted to see us play and determine for themselves just how good “petty” Pirates were.

On Saturday April 14, we started our quest towards history.  That morning, I remember having horrible growing pains in my knees that felt like I was literally being stabbed. I was praying that it wouldn’t have any effect on how I played that weekend.  Luckily, we got the #1 seed and started off with what were supposed to be easy games, but our coaches always said that whenever a team plays us no matter when or where it was, that game was their super bowl for that year.  That proved to hold true during this weekend.

Our first 3 games on that Saturday were for the most part like playing against 7th graders.  We played Seymour who gave us a challenge as they lead at halftime, but we focused up and ended the game up by 25.  The next two games were against Mount Horeb and Hortonville who barely made us break a sweat. Nevertheless, it was a good warmup for the team as we went into the most important day of our season, a day that we like to call “Championship Sunday”.

The next day, I woke up feeling charged and ready to go.  I had my pregame ritual meal of eggs and sausage and went to the gym early to get shots up before our Sweet 16 game against Stoughton, who ironically was staying at our hotel.  Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t matter if we’re best friends or worst enemies, we are still going to come at you like you won’t believe. We did just that, beating them 55-39 which set set us up for our Elite 8 matchup against La Crosse Central, who gave us fits in the previous years state tournament.

Unfortunately, before the game, I started having horrible cramps.   I could barely move my knees and as a result I was getting pretty nervous because if my body can’t function right in a super important game, we might end up losing and that’s probably the worst way to go out.  Luckily, my mom is a physical therapist, and for 2 hours straight, she stretched and rolled me out right up until gametime. In warmups, I felt like a grandpa trying to run for the first time in 20 years,  but I worked it out no problem after 10  minutes or so and by game time, I was more than ready and my game backed it up.  In the first 5 minutes of the game, I had 5 threes and by the end of the half, I had 26 points and the ball felt like it had a heartbeat and was an attachment of me.  It was doing whatever I wanted it to do, and we were winning by 30, so I  sat the rest of the game and tried to save some of that shooting for the game of the year against New Berlin West which started in T-minus, 2 hours.

Unlike the last game, my legs were feeling perfectly fine and I was on cloud nine.  I was about as ready as I could be for the upcoming game.   I had three friends on the opposing team so I gave them a quick handshake as I went out to the court for tip off, and that was the last friend my team and I made on the court that game.  After the meet and greet was over, I looked around and my jaw dropped to the floor.  There were at least 700-800 people in the bleachers, people climbing on their dad’s backs and people standing on chairs two courts away to watch the game.  That was probably one of the most exciting feelings I’ve ever had, and I made sure to try and put on a show for them . Early on, my team and I were making shots, but they were as well.  It was a back and forth affair, when out of nowhere, their point guard decided to bring the ball out near half court and dribble for 2.5 minutes just before half time. After a while of that, the crowd started clapping and egging him on to drive.  When he did, I was in the help side and poked the ball away which lead to a fast break and a behind the back pass that sent the crowd into a frenzy. They blindly threw in the inbounds pass and I stole it and hit a fadeaway three at the buzzer which sent some fans running onto the court and gave us ton of momentum  going into halftime.

At the start of the second half, we were winning 25-21 and went back and forth the entire 3rd quarter.  In the fourth quarter, they stupidly decided to go into a zone, and the first 5 possessions of them doing that, I had 3 3’s and put us up 10.  To make matters worse for them, their best player fouled out with 3 minutes left in the game and a lot of people thought it was over right there.  I hadn’t come out all game, and I told my coach I was fine to stay in as he was considering clearing his bench as he thought the game was over as well.  We were wrong as could be. Promptly, they went on an 8-0 run, and just like that, we found ourselves up 48-46 with one and a half minutes remaining which was when they began to foul us.  By their luck, they fouled our two worst free throw shooters and we went 0-6 in the final minute on free throws. Looking back on it, I was stupid for not going and getting the ball to shoot the free throws, but I didn’t and it cost our team.  Despite that, our defense stayed strong and with 20 seconds left, they had the ball down one. By this time, my nerves were in full swing as the game wasn’t in our control anymore. It was up to our defense to win us the game. Their point guard dribbled the clock down to about 3 seconds and then made his move which was a simple crossover.  Our defender played it perfectly and tipped it. From that moment, all I remember was jumping up, grabbing the ball and throwing it up in the air as the buzzer sounded. By now,, my heart was bouncing, my mind couldn’t stop thinking and I didn’t know who to high five or hug.  I only could see the sea of black and red Pirate colors and it was overwhelming.  It was absolute madness.

In the championship, we started off slow, but that was mainly because of our adrenaline and energy being sucked out of us the game before.  Once we settled in, it was a classic Pirates 15-0 run and the rest was history. We ended up winning the game by 20 and the 4 other starters and I got a heartfelt ovation from our crowd when we left the court for the final time that year when even the bleachers seemed to be clapping for us.  It was truly a movie.  

…….

That next week in school was a blur of excitement, congratulations from  peers and teachers, and lots of stories. The team goal was met and that was most important to me.  Personally though, I had my eyes set on that Friday. That was when the All-State team got released and I felt I had a good chance at making it.  Mostly, I wanted to see if my hard work and emotional ups and downs throughout the season would end up being worth it in the end. Sure enough, on Friday at exactly 3:38 (I had my computer on the screen all day) I saw my name along with 9 others from the state who got the honor of being on the team.  That was my 4th consecutive year being on that team, and for me, it really wrapped up my youth career perfectly. It was the final personal award I would win in youth basketball, and I felt it was a perfect transition into high school!