Victory is Sweet!

Unlike Evan’s basketball team, Keagan’s team hasn’t won one district game. The poor kid loves basketball and can’t even find a team that can win. It never fails, though. At the beginning of each game, even on crutches when he couldn’t play and had every reason to be mad at the world, Keagan rallies the boys. He gives the pep talk and says the pre-game prayer.

We were not hopeful with a win tonight. In fact, at the end of the first quarter we only had one bucket and I told a fellow parent, I would be happy with a score in the double digits. At half we were down by thirteen and, again, I was just hoping for us to be able to leave our home court with an ounce of pride. I was praying we wouldn’t lose by more than twenty.

But then a Christmas miracle happened. We came from behind in the third quarter and tied the game. With two minutes left in the game, we actually had a five point lead. When the buzzer went off, we were tied. This took us into three minutes of OT. Surprisingly, we left with the win! 41-38! 

My #14 did not play in any of the OT, but he took his role of encourager seriously. He was the first off the bench at time outs and the first to cheer when someone else scored. He also did his fair share of sideline coaching. Sometimes, your team wins and your role on the team is to be on the bench. Tonight was a great example of how you can contribute to a team’s win by sitting on the bench.

We now have two full weeks off and we will lose the momentum that would have followed us after tonight’s win. I’m hoping Keagan will be the sixth man needed in January to see to another win!