Month: January 2024 (Page 2 of 3)

A super busy week with a very exciting ending as L and her teammates played in the Indianapolis City tournament.

Tournament rules allowed for three swing players who were eligible for both JV and varsity games. These players had to be named before the tournament and could not change from game-to-game. L was one of Cathedral’s, which was cool, but it also limited her minutes for the week.

In Tuesday’s quarterfinals, the JV squad won 57–3, giving up just three free throws.[1] L had 8 points on 4–7 shooting with one assist in 11 minutes. Later, in the varsity game, she chipped-in two points, two rebounds, and two steals during 13, running clock, second half minutes in a 61–19 win.

Thursday was another easy win for JV, this time 57–21. L played about 12 minutes taking, and making, just one shot while grabbing two more steals.

I think the plan was to play her and the other swing players heavy minutes in the varsity game to rest the starters for Friday’s final. But Covenant Christian had other ideas. They packed a zone around our inside players, our perimeter girls could not buy a 3, and the team went a collective 4–19 from the free throw line. Meanwhile CC was running patient offense and hit some big shots. They held the lead until midway through the fourth quarter when we finally went on a nice run to take control. The game very much had a higher seed trailing a lower seed in March vibe, with that extra level of dumb nervousness. CC banked in a three at the final horn to cut the final margin to seven. L did not get off the bench in the 39–32 win.

That all led up to Friday’s finals, both against Bishop Chatard. Remember, the Irish beat the Trojans by two in JV and six in varsity just two weeks ago.

The JV game started slow. We were down 9–8 at the end of the first quarter after Chatard hit a 3 as time expired. The second quarter was a slog, and we led 12–11 at the break.

The key to the first half was L getting two fouls in the first four minutes of the game and sitting for about eight minutes of game time before re-entering. Then she got her third foul just before halftime and had to sit again.

She was back on the court to start the third quarter. We scored to go up three and BC answered with a 3 to tie at 14-all. On the next possession L put her head down, blew through the entire BC defense, and hit a tough layup to give us a lead we never relinquished.

One possession later the girl she was guarding drove deep into the lane and got L up in the air. I was already cussing, thinking she was about to pick up foul number four and return to the bench. But the BC girl went up soft, L cleanly blocked her shot, and the ball caromed off the shooter out of bounds. L yelled, pumped her fist, and pointed the CHS direction before the ref. Moments later she hit another tough shot after driving through the defense. BC called a timeout and she screamed all the way to the bench.

Homegirl was fired up.

With time running out in the quarter L kicked to a teammate behind the arc, and she swished a 3 as the horn sounded. Thirteen point lead going into the final period.

Two weeks ago the Irish led by nine going into the final period, then L sat to save minutes for varsity and we had to hit some big free throws to win.

No problem closing things out Friday. L played the entire quarter. CHS ran patient offense, looking to burn clock. BC made a couple mini-runs but never got closer than nine.

Final score, 35–22 CHS.

Indianapolis JV City champs!

After shaking hands with BC, the CHS girls ran to the middle of the court and piled on each other before receiving the championship trophy. Sadly the nets were saved for the winners of the varsity game.

L didn’t have great stats: four points on those two layups – the only shots she took – two rebounds, that one assist, the big block, and two turnovers. But she controlled the game when she was on the court. Both of those layups were “Fuck you, get out of my way” plays against sophomores.[2] She was terrific on defense, containing whichever of BC’s guards she matched up with. They ditched their pressure in the second half because she kept solving it. And even with her not looking to score, our offense was much smoother when she was running it. There was always an outlet to get the ball to when things got dicey. She played confidently and poised.

Another huge factor was three girls who usually play kind of casual were all locked in during the second half. They grabbed seemingly every offensive rebound. They made tough shots inside. They played calmer than they normally do. L’s BC friend K blocked five shots in the first half. Our girls adjusted and avoided the blocks while racking up four fouls on K as they out-fought her in the paint. L was the steadying force, but those three girls were the engine that powered the win.

Later, on our way home, L told us she almost didn’t play. She nearly threw up, felt faint, and had a nosebleed between school and the game. We knew she had an illness was coming on,[3] but had no idea it was that bad. Without my prompting she said, “This was my Michael Jordan Flu Game.” I pointed out she scored 34 points fewer than MJ, but other than that, she did have a huge impact on the outcome and it was good she decided to tough it out and play.

The varsity game seemed headed towards a similar final margin before some late drama kicked in. BC started the game awesome, leading by double figures much of the first half. Our girls struggled with the BC zone and when we got open shots just couldn’t hit them. There was a sequence where the Trojans hit a shot, we had a 3 circle the rim and spin out, they hit another shot, we had a short jumper spin out, they hit two free throws, and we air-balled a 3. We only had nine points at halftime. At one point we trailed by 15.

CHS made a run after the break and got the lead down to six before it ballooned back up to 13. We chipped away again and trailed by eight going into the fourth. Then a 10–0 run gave us the lead and the final three minutes were back-and-forth.

Regulation ended with the teams tied sending the game to overtime, which was epic.

The entire extra period was back-and-forth. Trailing by one, BC missed a makable layup with under ten seconds left. We grabbed the rebound and got fouled, but had to inbound. We were on the verge of getting a five second call when BC was whistled for grabbing our best player. This was their fifth foul so we finally went to the line. The first shot hit front and back iron before rimming out. The second crawled in. Up two with 4.9 seconds left.

After a timeout, BC got the ball in, raced up the middle of the court, and found a girl wide open on the left wing who swished a 3 at the buzzer for the win. The Chatard people went nuts, the CHS players were in tears, us Irish fans stood in stunned silence. So, so close. That was a clutch ass shot.

The last 15 or so game minutes were fantastic. CHS made an amazing comeback, but the missed free throw and leaving the shooter were massive mistakes. BC had the game comfortably in hand and did well to recover after giving it all back. If you were a neutral it would have been an awesome way to spend a miserably cold, rainy evening.

Afterward L was pissed despite not playing in the varsity game. I think she knew this was her best shot to win a varsity city title given who we lose this year and who BC has coming back. She was also annoyed that since varsity lost, JV didn’t get to truly celebrate their win. BC’s entire roster got to cut down nets while the CHS JV got a trophy.

There are just two weeks left in the regular season. CHS has two games this week and two next. We, and the entire state, find out who we play in sectionals this coming Sunday.

The Irish were back on the court for two games last week. It ended up being a pretty frustrating stretch for L.

Thursday the teams took a bus to Louisville to face Assumption. About all we knew about them was that they are a national volleyball power. They’ve won at least six national championships, if you can believe the banners in their gym.[1] They even honored their volleyball team for their latest state title at halftime of the varsity game.

Our JV girls played like they had been on a bus for two hours. AHS jumped out to a 10–1 lead to open the game. The Irish cut it to five at halftime, but L sat out the third quarter and we trailed by nine going into the final period. She had four points and an assist in the fourth to help key a rally that got us as close as two, but couldn’t get over the hump and lost by three.

For the game she scored seven points on 3–8 shooting (0–3 from 3), 1–2 from the line. Her shooting form continues to be a mess. We’ve talked about it a few times but I think it is something that will both require outside help and attention in the off-season. I told her to keep shooting when she’s open, because she’s not taking bad shots and no one else really looks to shoot (Foreshadowing!).

It was a little strange that in Kentucky JV games play six minute quarters compared to seven in Indiana. That game flew by.

The varsity game was really good. Again we trailed early, by as many as nine. We kept rallying then giving up runs. Each time we pulled within a point, Assumption would answer with a run of 7–0 or more. We finally took the lead late in the third quarter, stretched it out to eight, then held them off late for a controversial four-point win. I say controversial because the refs counted an AHS basket that clearly came after the final buzzer. Not sure what the Vegas line was but hope that made-up basket didn’t cost anyone some money.

L did not play in the varsity game as we were finally back to full strength. She was a little annoyed by that, thinking she could have played the third quarter of the JV game and then maybe we win. Oh well. I thought to myself if she hadn’t air-balled a 3 with under a minute left we might have won, too.

Saturday we were back home to play Noblesville, a very good Hamilton County program. One of L’s travel teammates, E, plays for them, and two more of their buddies came to watch. Before the game E’s dad told us they had the worst JV program in the state. Naturally they played really well and beat us by six? Seven? I lost my little stat sheet so I’m not sure what the final was.

L had a crazy game. She definitely listened to me about continuing to shoot. She took a career-high sixteen shots. SIXTEEN! She couldn’t buy a make, though, and only hit three of them to finish with six points. She was making good decisions and getting to the hoop but could not finish. We watched her get progressively more pissed as she continued to miss. Her coach talked to her during a couple dead balls trying to get her some confidence. When she finally hit a shot after 11 straight misses, she threw up her hands as if thankful for a miracle. She played all but 15 seconds of the game and notched a rebound, two assists, and managed not to turn the ball over until the final possession of the day.

I didn’t get to talk to her after the game as she dressed for varsity and had to change and get in the layup line. On our ride home I told her I knew she was pissed, but I thought she played great. She was aggressive without being a selfish. She played within the offense and was smart. She took care of the ball. Sixteen shots was a lot but I didn’t think her coaches would be upset about any of them. She just had a bad/unlucky day and couldn’t get anything to drop. You have to focus on process not results on days like this. She should feel good that she got a ton of good looks. Take that confidence to the next game and knock a few more down.

Varsity was never close. NHS has a guard who is going to Iowa State last year. She’s probably the least immediately impressive D1 player we’ve seen this year, mostly because she’s a 5’8” guard. But she’s a really good athlete and is always going 100%. She didn’t do much until the fourth quarter, when she scored seven-straight points to finish with 15. They are just a good team that plays really well together. Each player’s movement was coordinated with a teammate’s so they got lots of free cuts to the basket or open shooters off of screens. The Irish lost by 29.

One of the travel teammates who came was our buddy from Chatard with the name very similar to L’s. We noticed that L’s name had been added to the varsity side of the roster, which we were all excited about.

Then we noticed her last name was spelled wrong; it was spelled like her Chatard buddy’s name. I shook my head in mock disgust as I showed it to K’s mom, “I guess you guys are on the hook for our tuition now.” She thought that was pretty funny. The typo, not my suggestion they take responsibility for L’s financials.

Seriously. It’s one thing to pronounce our last name wrong. I don’t get it, but it’s been happening my whole life and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s another for L’s own school, where we spend a lot of money, to spell it wrong by changing it to the name of a girl at a rival school.

Not an ounce of respect.

This week is the Indianapolis City Tournament. The varsity teams are seeded based on the Sagarin ratings, then the JV tournament is set to match the varsity bracket. That works out well for us as we get the #1 seed and there are really only three good teams in the City right now.[2]

Tonight varsity plays a 3A school that is 13–4 but rated 335 in the computer rankings. Then the semifinal would be against either a team ranked in the 250s or one in the 370s. Wild guess that all their JV teams are trash. We watched a couple games in the JV tournament last year and aside from the top three schools, none of the others would have beat L’s St. P’s team.

Hopefully I didn’t just jinx us.

Quarterfinals are tonight, semis Thursday, finals Friday, all at Cathedral.