Two and a half seconds were on the clock. We had the ball but were down 33-31. Our coaches wanted us to go for the win. They quickly drew out a sideline out of bounds play. I was the inbounder and Haley Mumau was the shooter. This play had to go exactly right or we would lose.
A few years earlier (two to be exact) we were up against Seneca in the championship game of a middle school tournament. We just barely pulled out the win against Fairview, who was an incredibly hard team. Now, when we were seventh graders, no one knew about us. We were just forgotten. People thought we were just going to be the next average girls basketball team. Little did they know we had come to fight. We were the underdogs of the Fairview game, but our win and that gym in particular still sit right in our best memories. However, we ended up losing to Seneca, but we were still happy that we made it that far.
Our first game against Seneca in eighth grade was not well played. We got crushed. When we played them at their place, it was not a fair game as I was given a foul when I was not even in the same area. Grace Allen was also left to lay on the ground in pain with a sprained ankle for seven seconds. Now, seven seconds doesn’t sound like much, but in basketball terms, it makes a huge difference. Alison Yetzer got slammed into a wall, earning her a concussion. But when we played them in the tournament, we were up by quite a few points. However, they got closer to us and even ended up winning by one point. This rattled us as the game was unfair. In basketball, when someone gets five fouls, they are to be taken out of the game. Seneca only had six girls, and one fouled out, leaving them with five. Later on, a girl got injured so they only had four. The girl who fouled out came back in by the reason that it was only a middle school game. This was not only unfair, but against the rules, and no one but our team and fans seemed to care.
Now we are high schoolers who have gotten taller, stronger, and are able to jump higher. We were ready to win. The memories rushed back as we were in the same gym where we beat Fairview as seventh graders. With butterflies in our stomachs, Alison Yetzer, Rylee Nickerson, Haley Mumau, Lily Light, and I stepped out on the court. We got ready for the jump ball, but unfortunately, Seneca got the ball. Within the first few seconds, Seneca scored their first two points. We tried to set up a play, but Seneca stole the ball. Ali scored our first points with a corner shot. Already in the first quarter I got hurt. I went up for a rebound after a foul shot and Seneca’s strongest girl went up with me, causing me to fall right on my tailbone. I got up, but I was slowly going down the court. It hurt so bad. However, I did not go out and it was not the only time I got hurt that day. Just about half a minute after I originally got hurt, I went up for another rebound and the same girl tried to rip the ball out of my hands. I was not going to let that happen. I hung on with all my strength and her effort made her fall right to the ground, with me landing right on her. That caused a jump ball. Before I knew it the first quarter was over, and we were down 13-3.
The second and third quarters were all a blur. They continued to get ahead and things did not look good. The game started to get chippier when we would start to close the gap. By the end of the third quarter, we were down by ten.
It was now the fourth quarter, and we really turned up the intensity. As a few minutes passed by, nobody scored. That was until Haley shot a three-pointer and made it. It was now 27-20. Haley was fouled and made both of her foul shots. We were down by five. Unfortunately, Seneca scored a layup and we were once again down by seven. Time goes on and Haley makes another three. We were down by four when I drove towards the hoop and I closed my eyes because I knew I was going to get hit hard. I hit a group of people and just threw the ball up before I hit the ground. I hear cheering and my teammates pulling me up. I had made the bucket and I got to shoot a foul shot. I made it and was right back in the game.
We were again down 31-28 when Ali made a corner three to tie it up. With fifteen seconds left Seneca scored again and we had to quickly get down the court. We had two and a half seconds when our coaches called timeout. Haley had to make the three.
When we got out of our huddle and got set up, the ref handed me the ball. Rylee screamed for the ball as a decoy. Reagan Porter and Ali wall screened the girl that was guarding Haley. I threw the ball to Haley and she shot it. Time slowed down as it swirled around the rim. The buzzer went off as it dropped through. The fans went wild and so did we. After years of hard work we had finally won. Adrenaline flowed throughout our bodies as we celebrated. We had beat Seneca after almost three years of trying. That was the day when that gym had become even more historical to us. For those wondering, the score was 34-33.
