Winning Losers (continued)
by Rodney Taylor
After our last loss, we won six straight games. We then played the team that gave us loss No. 2: Baldwin. This game was the semifinals of Baldwin’s own tournament, and the team members thought they were going to beat us again. At halftime, we held a one-point lead against them. Just like the last time. At the end of the third quarter, we were losing by two. Halfway through the fourth quarter, we were still losing by two, when a player from Baldwin hit a three-pointer to give Baldwin a five-point lead. I called a timeout. In this timeout, I told my players that this was the ball game. We had to step up and make plays.
We outscored them by nine in the last three minutes and walked away with the victory. We went on to win that tournament and another after that, too. We went 19-3 that season, 18 more wins than the year before. It felt pretty good.
I was told by my old high school coach that the hardest part of coaching is cutting players during tryouts. He was wrong about that. The hardest part of coaching is letting go of your players. These boys were eighth graders and they would be in high school the next year. I would not be coaching them anymore. After our last game, trophies in hand, I drove home and in the car, I broke down and cried. These were proud tears, but I cried most of these tears because I knew I would never have the pleasure of coaching that fine group again.
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