Playing for the Ring...

After their win on Friday, Merkel was set to play Brock for the state championship on Saturday. Brock was ranked #1 in the state and Merkel #2. Merkel was in their first trip to state and Brock was going for their fifth straight championship. And, I hadn't realized it until after Merkel had won the night before and the reporter I went to the game with and I were talking but the last team to win a state title that wasn't Brock was Jim Ned, back in 2008. So, would it only be fitting if Merkel won it and brought the Class 2A state title back to west Texas?

Well, at the start of the game it was close, both teams traded the lead, played really tight defense and was looking like the game was going to be a dogfight. This we along for the first three quarters with the back and forth. Then, in the fourth quarter Brock took things over and Merkel went cold shooting the ball almost at the exact same time. Merkel was still playing really tight defense which was keeping them hanging on by a thread, but their cold shooting kept moving things apart. So, for the fifth straight year Brock won the state title, it was a really good for the first three quarters though.

Merkel's 1st Trip to State...

After a thrilling and dominating performance in the regional tournament the week before, the Merkel Lady Badgers were punching their ticket to Austin for the state tournament for the first time in the school's history. The team had been ranked in the top 2 in the state in pretty much every poll of the year. And, they were coming into Austin with only one loss. So, it's not like it was undeserving, but the Erwin Center is a totally different place than a high school gym and the team they were playing, Poth, was just full of state experience. I think I've seen them in Austin pretty much every trip I've made down there. The only thing I'd never seen them do is win.

Merkel came out looking like they had an obvious case of nerves, but they were able to put that to sleep pretty quick and took a lead that they never gave up. Merkel's two big post players dominated the game and Poth just couldn't deal with the big six footers in the middle. The problem the post players posed gave the guards plenty of room to work and and either get open from the bigs being double-teamed or favorable 1-on-1 match ups. The combination of the two gave Merkel a win and a spot for a chance at a state title in the teams first trip to Austin.

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.

Stock Shows, Week 2...

This week was the last of the tiny stock shows of just the individual schools to cover, next week things start to ramp up with the county stock shows which have a lot more competitors and last more than just a day. This week I shot Wylie and Merkel's shows.

One Down 16 to go...

The final game of the weekend was another area match up between Colorado City and Merkel. Both were expected to have big seasons and whoever won this one was off to a good start. The game started off looking pretty good Merkel scored first, but Colorado City moved the ball well. The biggest problem is Colorado City kept shooting themselves in the foot in the red zone.

In the second quarter Colorado City started to put things together, but Merkel was still playing really well on both sides of the ball, it was just looking like one of those games that looked like it would go back and forth all night. It was a lot of fun to watch but made things a little stressful to cover given earlier deadlines on Saturday, than the normal later Friday night deadlines.

I shot until the middle of the third quarter and after I got photos that would work for both teams I ran to the pressbox to edit. Things stayed close all through my editing. I was kind of hoping one team or another would pull away, but that just wasn't going to happen. So, I sent two photos, one that would work if CCity won and another that would work should Merkel win. Finally, towards the end of the fourth quarter Merkel pulled away with the lead and with less than two minutes left they scored a TD to put things away. This was easily the best game I got to see of the weekend, I just wish I wasn't so squeezed for time. Nonetheless I was happy with what I got. Hopefully things will only get better from here.

First Stop on the Way to Williamsport...

Shooting bad baseball is not fun, shooting good baseball that means something is one of my favorite sports to shoot. Luckily, during the regular season we're too busy with high school and college baseball to shoot little league. However, during the summer there are no high school and college sports going on, but there are still the district and state little league tournaments. Both of witch have some type of stop in Abilene. The first one is the district 5 tournament. The good thing about it is every team in it is from Abilene or somewhere in the area, the bad thing is... well...the same thing.

Since there wasn't a whole lot going on that night I figured I'd shoot two games one was two local teams, the other a pair of area teams playing right across the street after the first one. The second game was kind of awful, I had gotten there a little late because the first one went long. It was a totally one-sided game. Errors, bad swings, mental mistakes etc. they couldn't do anything. The other team was hitting everything. I didn't end up staying long since I had a few shots and luckily was pushing up to deadline anyway.

The first game between Dixie and Cedar Creek, both from Abilene, was a great game. Cedar Creek was up 4-0 when I got there and I thought it could be a blowout, then Dixie's bats woke up and they took a lead going into the final inning. Down by 2, Cedar Creek tied it up and had runners on first and third with two outs. Then the Cedar Creek batter cranked a huge hit for a three-run homer to win the game. It's one of those things every kid dreams of doing. It made for some really nice shots, from both teams. The only bad part of the game was probably my favorite shot was from a Dixie player coming home after an earlier home run.