One final post about basketball

And it’ll be a quick one, don’t worry.

I mentioned earlier in the week that today’s Princeton/Lewis match, won by Lewis in 4 sets, was of interest to me and that I was looking forward to writing it up. It’s true, I was. But as it happened, tonight my university’s men’s and women’s basketball teams both played for regional championships. Honestly, if it had been only one of them playing tonight, I may have skipped it.

I love the hell out of volleyball, but if there’s any pastime I love more than volleyball it’s sport itself. And in particular live sport. And in particularly particular, live sport with significance, personal meaning, and a few thousand “close friends” to share it with.

Yeah, Princeton/Lewis interested me. What happened tonight at Carver Gymnasium was, without hyperbole, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wasn’t spending tonight in front of a computer watching a webcast, that’s for damned sure.

I can’t say much about the games themselves. Like I said before, I really don’t know much of anything (beyond the absolute basics) about basketball. All I know is our girls turned the ball over a ton and gave up a lot of offensive rebounds for the Simon Fraser team, and their post player was just killing us on the glass and in transition. She had 17 points at halftime, and we were somehow ahead by 2. They should have been up by 10, all the turnovers and offensive rebounds they had. That post player had just 2 points in the second half, so whatever halftime adjustments our coaches made worked like a charm, and our ladies won the game by 17. It was fun cheering on the net-cutting-down afterward.

The ‘Clan’ did bring another big cheering section down from across the border (and yeah, felt a little weird to be cheering against the Canadian team, but WWU’s my school, no doubt). I really love the school spirit they showed all throughout the tournament, and I’m gonna write them a brief note of congratulation (commiseration?) assuming I can find some contact information for a coach or something. Tonight was the fourth game of the season between the two sides (regular season home-and-home, plus the conference tournament) and I dearly hope the rivalry continues.

Then the men came out on the court, and played another tight game. Seattle Pacific led by a point at halftime. It stayed tight in the second half. We led 60-58 with just a few seconds left, but then turned the ball over. I was sick to my stomach. They drove to the other end of the court, but before they could get a shot off, they turned the ball over! We got the steal, and then they fouled us, to put one of our guys at the line for a 1 and 1.

I snuck forward from my position in the top level to one of the few empty spots in the student section, because I knew what was coming and I wanted to be a part of it.

He sank both free throws, effectively icing it. 62-58 was the final, as the Falcons didn’t score again.

Yes, we stormed the court.

First time I’ve ever done it.

There was an odd moment a little while later, during the net-cutting-down by the men. The head coach was nowhere to be found when it came time to cut the final link in the net. Customarily, it’s the head coach who does this. After a good solid 10-15 minutes, he was finally found, only to have his daughter actually do the honors. She seemed excited to do it, so good for her.

It was truly a magical night and I’m so happy I was there for it. Now, Viking volleyball’s task is to do ’em one better! 😀