Battle for #1

So, this past weekend was "the big game". We played the first place team for sole possession of the top league spot. Usually, there isn't great fan support when we play in Berlin; but yesterday roughly 100 fans made the 2 hour trek to support us. Between the drums, chants, and horns this was the most exciting atmosphere that I've played in since Amherst/Williams and the NCAA playoffs. 

The game started in exciting fashion as both teams put up 10 or so points in the first minute. In the first 5 minutes, I had 7 points off of a pull up jumper, a layup, and an "and 1" step back jumper- then I got hurt. I am not sure how I landed exactly, but my knee gave out and I had to ask for a substitution. There was no trainor on hand, so I had to do my best self-assessment. I went out into the hallway and figured out the most effective way to mask my gimp and returned back to the gym. My coach let me play for about a minute, but he subbed me out to stay safe. It was the worst sitting there and seeing the opponents' lead swell. They were up as many as 16, but we cut it to 10 by halftime.

I was allowed to start the second half but I could tell I was on a tight leash. Fortunately, I made two quick 3's so my coach was too distracted to be worried about my knee. We really came out strong in the third quarter. I think Nick and I scored around 20 points combined to cut the lead down to 1 heading into the fourth. 

The game's intensity didn't waiver. We actually took the lead on a monstrous leaning tomohawk dunk by Nick. We ballooned the margin to as many as 6, but back-to-back threes quickly knotted the score. With 19 seconds to go, we had the ball for last shot. One dribble. Two dribbles. Then our shooting guard dribbles the ball off his foot and it rolls straight out of bounds. They have ball for last shot with 9 seconds to go but we played good defense and forced overtime. 

Much like the beginning of the game, the beginning of OT was a crazy scoring fest. I think I had 8 or 10 points in the first 5 minutes but so did the other team's guards. A banked elbow jumpshot by some donkey on the other team tied the game with around 3 minutes to go. Both teams struggled to find a rhythm in the end. Though I am trying hard not to be bitter, I don't know why my coach stopped giving me the ball towards the end of OT. Nevertheless, we have the ball with 10 seconds to go, game tied, for the last shot. Obvioulsy we lose the ball, because things never go right at the end of close games, and our point guard tries to recover it with 4 seconds left. 

He realizes that he can't get the ball, and decides to karate chop the guy. Let me make a few things clear. Not only were we on our side of the court, and  had guys sprinting back to defend  with 3.1 seconds left, but we were also in the double bonus. That means every non-offensive foul gets two free throws. The very last thing to do in that situation is foul. 

The story gets a little better. We have one timeout left, and the rule is if youuse one in the 4th quarter or later, you can advance the ball to half court. Instead of doing that, our coach calls it before the guy shoots any freethrows. The player makes both freethrows and we have to take a shot just over half court. It doesn't go in and we lose.  Cool. 

We now need Hermsdorf to lose two out of the 5 games they have left, in order to win the league. It could happen, but beating them would have made things much simpler. I finished with 30 points and 15ish rebounds.