State Bound Badgers...

I was closely following Merkel's game the night before via a coworker's Twitter feed, wondering if I'd be coming to cover them in the regional championship game. The plans was if Merkel won their game I'd spend the night in Lubbock after the Wylie game and head to Midland to shoot the game the next morning. The game the night before was close and Merkel won it by the skin of their teeth. So, given how good Wall has been in the past I was expecting another close game. Plus, I was excited to be shooting the game in the Chaparral Center. It's a great place for a basketball game. A nice arena, with plenty of light and for the 2A regionals there is always a good crowd for the games as well.

When I got to the arena the reporter that was there told me Merkel had gotten to the arena about three hours early and had a practice before the game. Well, from the start of the game it was clear that the early practice was a good idea since Merkel jumped out to a quick lead. Their guards were handling the ball well and shooting well. Both of those combined with a really good defense it was clear that Merkel was serious about punching their ticket to Austin. Between the great playing and the great defense that Merkel plays every game it was clear who was going to win this game. It made for both some nice action shots as well as a nice celebration for the #2 ranked team in the state, who would be making their first trek to the state tournament.

Two Games, Two Towns, Again, Game 2...

Well, after finishing and posting the Jim Ned slideshow literally minutes before the start of the Wylie game, it was time for the start of game 2. Wylie was playing Kennedale in a rematch of last year's region I-3A championship game. Wylie was ranked #1 in the state and Kennedale #2. I'd already seen Kennedale beat Wylie's district mate, Brownood a week earlier, and the time that I was there Kennedale looked a lot faster than I had remembered them the year before. I wasn't real sure Wylie was going to be making another trip to Austin, one thing I was pretty sure of, though, was whoever won this game was most-likely going to win its next two games the following week in Austin. This game might have been called the regional championship game, but these were the best two teams in the state. Last year this was the state championship game, and it's going to be the same thing this year.

After watching Peyton Little play the worst game of the year the night before, I just had a gut feeling she was going to go nuts in this game. And honestly, the only way Wylie was going to win this game is if she had a big night. She did exactly that, a lot like what she did in the state championship game last year, Little put the team on her back and
I don't want to take anything away from the rest of the team, Wylie has some very good high school basketball players, but Little is hands-down the best girls basketball player I've ever seen play the game. For someone who is six-feet tall she handles the ball as good as anyone I've ever seen, and finishes plays and draws contact as well. She's a very good shooter who can make a shot from anywhere on the court, she may not be the best shooter I've ever seen, but when the game is on the line, she's money. And that's exactly what she did against Kennedale.

For the most part of the year, I had been conscious about how many photos of Little we ran. Yes, she is the best player on the team, but there are others on the team. She got plenty of play in our slideshows, but for print I made sure that we ran photos of all the girls on the team. Tonight though, I kind of knew if they were winning the game Little would play big.

In the first quarter Kennedale looked way too athletic for Wylie, they totally controlled the boards, getting 2-3 shots every time they went down the floor, Wylie could barely get a rebound on either end of the floor. Fouls were playing heavy into the game early, one of Wylie's better defensive players picked up a couple of quick fouls early and spent most of the first half on the bench, however, Kennedale's best shooter also got into foul trouble pretty quick and also watched a lot of the game from the sidelines. Normally, I bitch a lot about refs who spent a lot of time with their whistles, but I thought this game was really called well, both teams were just playing really physical and there were a lot of calls that could have been made on both sides that weren't.

Kennedale controlled most of the first half, but Wylie ended up going in at halftime with the scored tied at 25-25. With Little leading the way in scoring. In the third quarter though, was when things changed for Wylie. It was like they came out of the locker rooms on a mission. Led by their start, it was almost like watching Peyton put the team on her back and taking over the game. It wasn't just the scoring, though she finished the game with 41 of Wylie's 63 points. But, she was also taking the ball down the court, breaking Kennedale's press and making some great passes to teammates for open shots since she was taking double-teams most of the night. In addition to her great scoring performance she added eight rebounds and four assists, it was just a great performance to watch.

One of the biggest reasons I love about covering girls sports is the raw emotion of the players. And there was no shortage of emotion in this game. As close as this game was and as physical as it was, it was obvious by the fourth quarter the only thing keeping these girls going was pure adrenaline. And it was flowing through not only just the players on the court, but the bench too, the game was a lot if fun to shoot. I do have to say, while I was there to cover Wylie, Kenndale has no reason to hang their heads, they have a great young team and some really great players. I'm going to go ahead and say, with the graduation of Peyton Little, Kennedale should the the favorite to win the Class 3A state title next year. This was a great game between two really great teams, it's too bad this game couldn't be the state championship game, I just can't see how there could be a better team in Class 3A than these two teams. I guess I'll find out soon.

Two Games, Two Towns, Again, Game 1...

As I was pulling into Lubbock, our sports editor sent me a text message asking if Jim Ned won their regional championship game if I'd be willing to drive down to Midland to shoot the regional championship game since it was at 1pm and Wylie's championship game would be at 8pm. So, I was on the road to Midland at 10am headed to game one of the day.

Jim Ned came out looking pretty good early, playing good defense and working their press really well. I think Wall slowing down the pace of the game helped Jim Ned out a lot. Wall seems to have lived and died by the three-point shot a lot this year and wasn't shooting real well this game. So, Wall's limiting of possessions was starting to hurt them.

One thing I do love about the regional tournaments are they are played in bigger nicer arenas that have better light and basket on the ground and not hanging from the ceiling. The great part about that is that it allows me to set up a floor remote to shoot the game. Not only is it easy to set up, but setting it right next to the basket protects the camera and has the potential to make a pretty cool shot.

It wasn't a very high scoring game, but there was plenty of great action that made for a few decent images. Adding the remote made for some nice practice for the state tournament next week in Austin, but I didn't get anything fantastic. One thing about remotes is they can make some really cool shots, but I never rely on them, since they seem to be really hit or miss. And, the two-hour trip back to Lubbock and a great reporter who was willing to drive, gave me plenty of plenty of time to put together and post the slideshow for the web.

Two Games, Two Towns, One Day...

Now it's getting down to crunch time for basketball season. Which means I'm bouncing all over the place, much like I do in December, but not quite as long a road trips. On Friday, we had the Region II-1A girls basketball tournament here in town and Wylie was playing in the Region I-3A tournament in Lubbock that night.

In Abilene, Hamlin was playing Muenster in the regional semifinals. They had made it this far last year and lost in the same game last year. So they were hoping the results would be different this time. The first quarter was pretty tight, but then in the second quarter Hamlin went cold and was having a hard time with Muenster's tight press. Hamlin ended up losing the game in the same round they lost in last year. With a tight schedule I was only able to shoot the first half of the game, but luckily I was able to get a few decent shot before heading out for the 150 mile drive to Lubbock for my next game.

In Lubbock, Wylie was in a familiar spot, playing Shallowater, the same team they played in this round last year. It was kind of a weird game, Wylie's star player, Peyton Little, struggled in the game only hitting five field goals. The rest of the team though picked up their games and played really well, with four players finishing the game in double figures. Despite Little's struggles Wylie still ended up winning the game easily. Ironically, the "bad" game she had, she still ended up with 20 points going 9-10 at the free throw line. Setting them up for a rematch of last year's regional championship game with Kennedale.