The Shot and the Game

It was my school Henry Dunbar Warriors in the championship vs. Lafayette Station Chargers. I was a junior, 6’1, 6’2, about 200 lbs, starting small forward for the team. It was the 4th quarter; we were down by two, 97-95 with 10 seconds left in the game and it was our ball. We were inbounding on our side of the court, by the bench. We decided not to waste time and throw up a three at the buzzer. Instead we were going to go for a quick two, foul them, and then go for the game-winner. DJ was passing in the ball, he passed it to me I crossed over, stepped back, squared up, then shot. Swish! Tied up 97-97, with 5 seconds left in the game. We fouled as quickly as we could. The person goes up to the line with four seconds left. He missed the first one, their coach calls timeout. During the huddle our coach goes over the plan. “We’re going to try to inbound the ball to RJ ok, (points at me) then you dribble down the court as fast as you can, and then you shoot, pray and celebration time.” “Win on 3. 1, 2, 3, Win!!!!!!!!” He hits the second one, our coach calls timeout to calm us down and to go over the play again. Were back on the court the ref is handing the ball to DJ, I have two picks set for me. I lose my person and DJ throws the ball right on the spot I get to half-court, there is two seconds left. I just throw up a prayer, I watch as the clock ticks down to 0 and the buzzer goes off, but the ball is still soaring through the air. Less than a second after the buzzer goes off the ball drops through the net. Swish!!!!!!!!! We go crazy, people are crying, jumping, tackling people, yelling, it was just an amazing experience. But not the best experience. The coach finally calms us down so we can shake the other team’s hands and receive awards and the Trophy. I ended up getting MVP and my team got the Championship Trophy. I was talking with some friends and teammates, when I saw my parents out of the corner of my eye. I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised to see my mom but I was surprised to see my dad. All my life he wanted me to do baseball like him, but baseball just wasn’t my sport basketball was, and just never could understand that. Also he never came to any of my games except for the first game of the season and maybe the last game, but here he was at the Championship game. Being the mama’s boy that I am I dashed over there as quick as I could and hugged my mom, picked her up and swung her in the air. Next was my dad I shook his hand, he said “Come here son.” And he gave me this big hug, and he whispered in my ear, “Wow. That was so incredibly amazing. Good job, son. I’m so proud of you and your love for basketball.”
You could just say that that day was the best day of my life!