Almanac Basketball: The best game ever

The day had come. The nerves were running through my whole body and my hands were shaking. The day had come. I was filled with so much excitement that I was rushing out of the door as fast as I could. This was my first grand final I had been in before and I was so pumped up. We were in the MEBA (Melbourne Eastern Basketball Association) and our grade was B2. We were playing Nunawading Kangas. We had had a really good season because we had only lost one game, so we knew that we were the hot favourite to win. We had a team of Josh Lake, Kane Wallace, Lachie Sparks, Lucas Pavlis, Nick Anderton, Jake Leonard and I. We were playing at Ringwood basketball centre (also known as “the Rings”). We were on Court Three, which wasn’t bad but wasn’t the best.

 

As I walked into the building, I felt the energy in the arena. I was still filled with excitement when I walked into the building. Me and my mum, who was the coach at the time, were the first people to arrive on our team. As more and more people came in from both teams, I felt the tension between both teams because we both wanted to win so bad. As the game before us was finishing up, our team started to do some stretches and warm ups. The game before us had just finished, so we started to do some layups and horse shoe to warm up before our game. Just before the game started, the referees called us over to line up. They had just called out the team we were playing names out and then they called our names out. Everyone had been called out and I was the last one to be called out. The lady said, “and last but not least no.8 Ethan Stone.” I walked out to join the team and we were all pumped. Our starting line-up was me, Lucas, Josh, Lachie and Nick. As we were ready for jump ball the umpires wished us luck and said “dark and light”.

 

The game had started. Nick won the tip-off and we had possession. We had a really good start with a 12 – 2 run and we were up by 10 points in the first five minutes. At the end of the half, the scores were 32 – 19. We were up by thirteen and were doing really well. Everyone had scored, so everyone was doing their part to get the win. We started the second half and we dominated this half – they only scored 8 points on us. Josh Lake went berserk in this half with 10 out of the 17 points including a three pointer. There was 10 seconds on the clock and we were up by 22, so we all started to celebrate on the bench. 3, 2, 1, eeeeeeeeee. We were the champions. We were the best team in our grade. I was so exhilarated that we won. We could not stop celebrating because it was our first grand final win. The end scores were 27 – 49. We congratulated the opposing team and continued to celebrate. We were lining up to receive our medals but the adrenaline was still running through my body. I was still exhilarated about the win. As the other team received their medals we were called up to receive our medals. Out of nowhere I heard my name called out and went straight to the referee to collect my medal. I didn’t take that medal off for a whole week. When I received my medal I just kissed it so much and celebrate our victory with my teammates and my friends.

 

Our team caught up that night for a dinner for our victory and we are still amazed that we won the grand final in B2. When I look back on this day and what happened I would never change a thing. My teammates are not just teammates; they are my friends. As that day came to an end I knew that my life was complete.

Comments

  1. Jill Fitzsimons says

    A terrific story about the thrill of victory. My husband is still walking around in his Doggies’ premiership t-shirt. There’s nothing like a grand final win to change your whole outlook on life!

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