The other side of the miraculous ending

Wow. You know how cheesy basketball movies have the miracle ending, with the good guys launching a shot at the buzzer, going from being behind by one point to winning by one? I was on the other side of that tonight, and it sucks more than I could have imagined.

2 of my kids are in the 2nd grade of a 1-12 school. The high school team was in the semifinals, and I took my boys to the game. We got behind early, and trailed by 12 at one point, 10 at half. The 3rd quarter, we got to within 4 points. We got to within one point, then dropped 7 behind with 5 minutes. Then we caught fire and tied it up with 4 mins left.

Then we got ahead, 4 points with less than one minute left. All we need to do is hold on. They got a 3-pt shot, so they're behind by one. They tie it up on a free throw. We get the ball and get fouled, with 6 seconds left.

We miss the first throw, make the second one. Up by a point. Our team had been doing well defensively all night, so holding them to no score with 6 seconds seemed very likely. But somehow, they drove down in 6 seconds, and with 3 guys on him, their guy launches the winning shot at the buzzer. Unbelievable. Heartbreaking.

It amazes me that you can remember all of those details!

But, yeah, wow, that's hard and cool at the same time!

Heartbreaking, but still, kudos to the team for such a valiant effort.