23-5 with a CHAMPIONSHIP!

Our quarterfinal match-up this weekend was with the team that beat us last weekend at our conference tournament. We were missing our best all-round player then and lost, this time around it was a completely different story.

With our team at full strength we decided to use a zone to cut down on their best player slashing to the hoop at will and it was an effective change. The 1Q was fast paced and we lead 15-12 going into the 2Q. That was when our shooting guard (and our defense) got going. We won the quarter 22-10 and lead 37-22 at the break. The 3Q we were sluggish, but still lead 42-31 heading into the 4Q. The last six minutes we kept the game out of reach and rolled into the semi-finals with a comfortable 53-40 victory. Our two best players had scored 41 between then (23 from our shooting guard and 18 from our do-all guy).

Our semi-final opponent was from our conference and, during the regular season, was the only team in our conference to lose to us by a single digit margin. In that game the officiating was a little off as was our effort and we squeaked out a 3 point victory. This game ended up being eerily similar.

The first sign that this game was not going to go according to our plans was when our main guy picked up his second foul 1:12 into the game. He would pick up his 3rd (on a very shady call) before the end of the quarter. We would play the entire second quarter without his services and yet we lead 13-8 after the 1Q and 20-14 at halftime. In the 3Q our shooting guard picked up the scoring slack and we did enough right defensively to extend our lead to 27-18 heading into the 4Q. The last six minutes were frustrating and sloppy. Neither of our best scorers made even one basket. We lost the quarter 16-8, but ultimately found ourselves up 4 with 3 seconds left and watched safely as they threw in a three pointer at the buzzer to make the final score 35-34. We were on the championship to face the same team that beat us in the championship of a local holiday tournament earlier this year.

Our earlier game with our championship opponent was a case study in dysfunctional middle school basketball. Our main guy scored 9 1Q points and then failed to score the rest of the game. The fouls and FT's were lopsided favoring our opponent. Our 3/4 court press was sloppy and got abused. Out bigs refused to man up and exploit our huge size advantage. Even with all that went wrong, that game was tied with a minute to go before we lost it. We were confident that if our guys would finally "get it" and play our team's "game" we should and would beat these guys. Our guys did just that and more.

From the opening tip it was clear that our guys were on a mission and that our opponent was not going to match our intensity on this night. They had no player even 5'10" tall. We have a 6'2" center and our main threat is 5'10". But it was not our size that got us going early. Instead, it was our point guard- who averages 2ish points a game but nailed his first 3 shots to get us rolling. During this tournament we modified one of our 3/4 court presses and it was majorly messing with the other team. The only thing they had going was a set shooter who nailed a few shots and at the end of the 1Q we were up 13-11. Defensively we were playing a 2-1-2 zone the whole way, knowing they could not match us physically inside. Our guards on the perimeter and our guys and the wing were harassing their shooters enough to hold them to 9 second quarter points. Meanwhile, on the offensive side we ran every possession through our do-all guy, now playing post. For the first time this season he realized he knew post moves and the smaller defenders were no match for him as he scored 14 of our 15 second quarter points leading us to a 29-20 halftime lead. It might have been unknown to others, but to us it was all but over right then.

In the third quarter our zone defense and our "hot hand" on offense went right back to work and we took the 3Q 15-7 to extend our lead to 44-27 with one quarter to play. The only tense moments came when our opponent threw a sort-of-press on us and got a couple baskets to cut the lead to 10 midway through the 3Q and then when our main guy picked up two quick silly fouls to then have 4 personals.

Even with him out to start the 4Q, our zone defense was too impenetrable for our opponents and our center- who finally was becoming the player we thought he was months ago- asserted his 6'2" self and refused to let them come down low. By the time we got our star back in, the game was out of reach for all intents and purposes. Their coach realized it and we both got our benches in for 90ish seconds. We were up 19 when they threw in a buzzer beating three pointer to bring the final total to 57-41.

Earlier in the day when we were meeting as a coaching staff, we decided that it had to be basketball fate that we would win for the following reasons:
1. We were playing one of my assistant's alma mater at his high school alma mater's gym.
2. 5 years ago (almost to the date), I coached my first championship game while my wife was pregnant with our first child. She is again pregnant with an April due date.

Fictitious fate aside, our boys would not be denied. Everyone of them finally bought into what we have been preaching and teaching to them since October and they became the unstoppable force we thought we were convinced they could become.

As far as Wisconsin Lutheran Synod middle school basketball goes in the entire greater Milwaukee metropolitan area, this tournament is the end-all, be-all prime time show and WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!