Hoopin'

by PE09

Playing basketball is one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. When I’m out on the court I feel like all my problems are gone and no one can stop me. Since I have been on my school’s basketball team and played in real games there are no words that can express my feelings for the game. My first year playing for my school’s basketball team, I was kind of nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. The first game I felt like throwing up, because I had never played in an actual league game. That game I had six points, six assists, and four rebounds. We finished that season 8-1 and it taught me to be dedicated to basketball because I could have a future in hoop. That year our leading scorers were Josh, Jeremiah and me.

Seventh grade was a mediocre year basketball wise. I had a new career high of eleven points. During that season our worst record was 2-3 but we managed to bounce back and forge a 5-3 record. That season taught me teamwork because I had a career high in assists. Plus it was my first season without my co-stars Josh, whose grades were bad, and Jeremiah, who broke his leg playing football right before the basketball season started. However, we got some acquisitions by the names of De’Markus Williams, Mike Lusk, Derian Higginbotham and Brennan Mauchline. They helped us keep the dream alive for winning a championship.

Our eighth grade campaign was not so great. We started off the season in the Christmas tournament, where we played Elmhurst. They weren’t much of a challenge. Our next game was against Bret Harte and we demolished them in four quarters of non-stop pressure defense. Our last tournament game was against Montera and they murdered us 69-33. I was mad but we won our first game in a fourth quarter comeback against DBC. After that we lost six of our last seven games. This season taught me perseverance because as much as that hurt I kept going on.

This year we had a dream team of players. We had Jeremiah, De’Markus, Clarence, Brandon Slaughter, Kyle, Mike Lusk, Devin, Brennan, Bobby, Derian, and me. Yet we were unable to win more than two games. I cannot believe that bull. We should have won every game this year! I’m highly disappointed in the team because we had the talent, yet we lost. This season taught me that you can’t predict the outcome of everything. There is much room for improvement and if we want to get better we need to train a lot more. Even though we won’t be a team anymore, I hope we can improve and get better as individuals as time goes on. But only time will tell….