Vs.

            Sidenotes: 1. I'm sitting at about 530 words. What do you guys think I could add? 2.Just f.y.i., the majority of this essay written before this week (when all I could think about was Friday's game). 3. I didn't want to come out and "heavy-handedly" say which prompt I was responding to. I wanted it to be more evident in my writing. What can I do to improve that or should I just do away with it completely? (This is the "Moment that you could go back to prompt")

           Our team had suffered all kinds of adversity earlier in the season: Key player injuries, close losses, and even a short period without a head coach. During the first half of our game against Judah Christian High School though, none of our previous misfortunes mattered. Our plan was to slow the pace of the game, take smart shots, and play together on defense and we’d done just that. When the halftime buzzer sounded, the score was 16-16 and we were 16 minutes away from beating our school rival.

When we came back on the court for the third quarter, our play was just “satisfactory”. The energy we built during the first two quarters was lost. Varun Chopra, a senior, was the only reason the game was as close as it was. His abundance of deep three-pointers devastated the other team. When Varun was rolling, our team was rolling. When Varun misfired, every aspect of our team misfired. Midway through the third quarter, Judah switched up their game plan. They started playing a “Box-and-one” defense. In a box-and-one, four players form a “box” to keep the offense from getting close to the basket. The fifth defender follows one player on the opposite team everywhere on the court, never leaving his side until the team goes back to offense. Essentially, basketball teams use a box-and-one when only one player, Varun in this case, is a threat to score.

Looking back, this was a brilliant decision by Judah’s coach. Varun was filling the scoreboard in the first half because he was able to get open looks. Nobody on our team was willing to shoot even half of the shots he took. That coach knew that if Varun could be stopped, Uni boys basketball was doomed. Judah went on an 8 point run to close out the quarter. Our energy was now theirs, and our hopes at winning the game seemed like they were slipping away.

The fourth quarter for us was sloppy and out of control. In fact, I don’t even remember many details of the last eight minutes. This is partially because the game was over a year ago, and primarily because I’ve blocked it out of my mind. We ended up losing the game by 15. The turning point, I feel, was midway through the third quarter when Judah started to take over. I was the starting point guard, a position in basketball known for the combination of skill, leadership, and composure. Each of which were completely gone at that time. I can’t begin to count how many turnovers I had from bad passes and mishandling the ball. Not only that, but I didn’t take a single shot the entire night, showing my lack of aggression and fear of messing up.

I’m a better player now for sure, but I’m also smarter. Everything happens for a reason and every mistake is a learning experience (so let’s just say, I’m pretty experienced now). I think this is why today’s game is so important to me; It’s my opportunity to go back in time. Surely both teams have changed and the circumstances of the game is completely different. Still, tonight is a second chance for me.