By Blake Woods
Hodgdon High School
Class of 2016
I feel sick to my stomach. My head is throbbing, my heart is racing, and my hands are trembling. This game means everything to us; this game means everything to me.
The team has worked its butts off to get this far and we aren’t going to out easy. We are confident and well prepared for the most important basketball game of our lives. It is only minutes away from game time now.
As I put on my blue and white Hodgdon jersey, I took a moment to reflect upon our season. It has been a long road to the state championship. We have faced many tough opponents and have earned many hard fought wins. We have come so far from the beginning of the season.
The night before was spent dreaming of the game, what it would feel like to be state champs, the reaction of the crowd when we hoisted the gold ball over our heads. I hadn’t thought about our fans, how disappointed they would be if we lost. I tried to calm my breathing, as I noticed I was starting to hyperventilate. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door and one of the tournament officials popped his head in and said, “Coach, two minutes until you take the court.” Coach Smith nodded and returned to giving us the game plan. I looked around the locker room and analyzed my teammates’ expressions. Everyone was focused and hyped, and then, there was me. Chris Hudson, the team captain must have noticed because he came over and sat down next to me.
He told me to just stay calm and that this was just another normal game. This made me feel a little better. He began to say something else but he was interrupted by a knock on the door again. “Coach, time to come to the end of the tunnel,” said the official. We walked to the end of the tunnel chanting “HODGD-WHAT?! HODGDON!, HODGD-WHAT?! HODGDON!” hoping to intimidate our Valley high opponents. We stormed the court and began to warm up.
We went through our warm ups until the buzzer sounded; then I headed for the bench. They began to announce Hodgdon’s non-starters first. The announcer started with freshman before working his way to the sophomores. Soon, he called my name, “ A sophomore, Number 23, Blake Woods;” he shouted into the microphone. I jumped out of my chair and entered the huddle our team always did before games. When I bent over to listen to what the captains were saying, I almost lost my lunch. I was very glad when we ‘Hawked it up’, Coach’s favorite term for putting our hands in.
All the nerves went away after tip-off, all of my anxiety diminished and I could finally focus on the game. The first quarter was a blur to me. It was fast paced and exciting. Whenever we would score, force a turn over, or grab an offensive rebound, my teammates and I would stand up and celebrate. We cheered so loudly many of our voices became hoarse. This would go on back and forth between the two benches. The cheering was so loud. I didn’t even hear coach tell me to go in for DQ, a fellow teammate.
I immediately took off my warm up jersey and checked into the game. I tried to think about the game plan coach had gone over with us. “Push the ball, limit our turnovers, and make good shots;” I remembered him preaching this in the locker room. Then I took a quick glance at the score. We were up 17 points and felt like we had the game in hand. The fans were starting to get excited; they thought it, too. But, all of the sudden, Valley got hot in the third quarter. This made me a little nervous but we just had to keep scoring and sticking to the game plan.
All of a sudden, the ball was passed into my hands. I surveyed the court, looking for the best place to drive or to pass. The baseline was wide open. I drove in put up a floater and got fouled on the arm. “And one!” I yelled as the ball went through the hoop. This got me even more pumped. After that, I started to play one of my best games. Chris would get the ball to me in the post every chance he could, and I would lay the ball off the glass and swoosh, through the net every time. We were hitting our shots, but so was Valley. This was going to be too close of a game for my liking.
It was toward the end of the fourth quarter with only 54 seconds left. Valley had brought the game within two points when our starting point guard, Deyrell threw the ball out of bounds. The bench went silent. The fatal turnover, I thought, that just cost us the game. Everyone’s hearts plummeted into the deepest part of their bodies. Everyone’s heads were in their hands in disappointment. But then! DQ tipped a poor pass on Valley’s part and headed down the court towards our basket. All I could see was DQ flying through the air, and, in slow motion, the Valley player fouling him on the arm, causing him to miss the layup. This was it; these free throws could seal the fate of the game. “Swish,” the first one went in and our side of the gym erupted. “Swish,” the second one fell as well, and the gym went BEZERK. We were up four with only three and a half seconds left. “Time out!” the Valley coach yelled. They went to draw up a play to try to win, but unless they miraculously got fouled and made a three-pointer, they were doomed.
My head was throbbing, my heart, racing, and my hands were trembling. Valley inbounded the ball and made a mad dash to half court to try to heave in a final bucket. The loud buzzer went off and the weight instantly came off my shoulders. We had won. I stormed the court and leapt into Chris’s arms. “State champs!” we yelled, as we embraced near center court. Soon the rest of the bench followed. We all jumped and celebrated, so much that we didn’t even notice our athletic director handing out state championship ball caps. This made me laugh because he had ordered them before we had even played the game. Coach called us over to the bench; we were about to receive our medals.
When my name was called, I ran up to coach. Surprisingly, he embraced me and said, “great game, Blake.” I accepted the medal and returned to the bench to await my chance to hold the gold ball. This was the moment I have been waiting for all season. The official came over to our team and presented the ball to us. Instantly, all my teammates placed their hands on the ball and walked over to our fans. I hoisted the gold ball over my head and the fans roared with excitement. This is a feeling like no other I thought to myself. I couldn’t have dreamed this feeling even though I tried to the night before. I’m never going to forget this feeling, I thought. I’m never going to forget this golden game.
