The game that we are playing in happens to be the most important game of the year. It is the last tournament and the semi-finals against our rivals, Sheboygan Falls. Every game we play, they all are evenly matched but they have won the last three and we wanted to win this one now!
During the game we were working our butts off. We were playing with so much intensity it was crazy. I practically had played the whole game so I was very beat along with 4 other teammates. During the game we were going back and forth and back and forth. Literally! There must have been 30 lead changes! Finally we had come to the fourth quarter. I had looked up at all the parents in the crowd and I could see all of them giving our team thumbs up. They had wanted this game as well as us. We, as a team, knew we had to get the job done some way, some how. In the fourth quarter, the game was very intense. There were elbows being thrown, hard driving, rebounding was insane, and the defense on both teams had stepped it up. About 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter we saw our lead slipping away. We had realized that they now were up by 7. The biggest lead of the night. If it wasn’t for Cameron Greene and Tyler Shallow each hitting a three to get back into the game, we probably wouldn’t have got within 1 point. So once again both teams went back and forth. Then, finally with about ten seconds to go, we fouled Sheboygan Falls because they are up by 2 and we want the ball back. With about 5 seconds left on the clock, it was a bonus opportunity that means if they missed we could rebound the ball on the first shot. He shot the ball, it bounced off the rim right into our star player Brett Linzmeier’s hands. He tried to throw it to Cameron but the ball happened to land in my hands right out of the out stretched hands by a Sheboygan Falls defender. I see the clock. It has 2 seconds left. I knew soon I had to let the ball go. I was inside the three point line. I shot the ball. It had gone in. I had just tied the game up with 0 seconds on the clock! The referees got together and were discussing something. They said that there was a foul on the shot and that I had to go to the free throw line with no one on court because the clock had struck zero. My coach talked to me and told me not to be nervous and just shoot the ball. What really brought my self-esteem up was that in my head I was saying I already did so much in that five seconds that even if I miss we still have a shot in overtime. The main object for me though was putting that ball in the hoop. I stepped up to the line. I hear voices saying, “Come on Brock, you can do it!” I also hear voices screaming in my ear “ahhhhh!”
Very nervous for me, the referee had given me the ball. I do my normal routine on the line and shoot the ball. The ball hits the rim bounces up about 3 times and the ball falls in. The gym goes crazy. I am filled with so much emotion. It is crazy. I had just made the winning shot. We all shake hands and the other team is crying. My team lifts me on their shoulders and I was ecstatic. All and all it was a great experience.