Basketball Euphoria

Back on February 22nd, Bill and I drove the 5 minutes to the high school to watch the boys basketball game.  It was Senior night, Legend was playing a super-intense cross-town rival team (Chap), and three of the starters/Seniors on our team are LDS: two from our ward, and the other from our ward before the split.

I've talked about my love for high school athletics (here, here and here - I'm sure there's more, but you get the idea), and even though I have attended my share of swim meets this year, it was good to be back in the Titan Coliseum with a good old-fashioned electric crowd.

Despite the fact that we had some darn awesome senior players that had graduated the year before, LHS still has a strong team this year.  I don't think, however, that anyone (other than LHS) expected them to beat Chaparral.

They did.  Here are a couple of snippets:

The crowd was great.  I was bummed that I missed recording the Harlem Shake - it was awesome.  They held a "black out" (why most of them are wearing black), and did fun, encouraging cheers, a relief from the negative chants that are so typical at these intense games.  As a spectator, it was one of my favorite games, not only because of the win (which was a key factor, I suppose), but because of the crowd.  Fun, energetic, and mostly respectful.  Can you see Shi in the crowd?  It took me a while to locate her from across the court AT the game, so probably not.  She is at the bottom of the top third of the bottom center section, smack dab in the middle of the row.  

That helps, right? (Just call me The Locator.)

After the intense down-to-the-final-seconds, won-by-free-throws-by-the-only-player-making-them-all-night win, the crowd cleared the bleachers in record time.

Thank goodness no one was trampled.

Fast forward to last night.  Bill had committed the Bishopric to do a "church tour" with our full-time missionaries at 7, Shilo was working at the Rec Center until 7, and Mar had a late-night scheduled.  Legend had made it to the Elite Eight in the State play-offs, and Shi had lamented how she wouldn't be able to attend the game, while also mentioning that LHS would be one of the final teams playing that evening, and the game wouldn't even start until 8:30pm.  At around 6, Bill asked me if I wanted to head downtown to the Denver Coliseum to see the game after our tour.  I texted Shi at work to see if she wanted to make the trip to catch the game.  If Shi would have said no, we wouldn't have gone.  

She texted back, Sure!

When we arrived at the Coliseum, the previous play-off game was still going.  It eventually went into a double overtime, delaying the Legend v Fairview game for over an hour.  I think the game got underway around 9:40pm.  Although Legend scored the first points (3), they were quickly down by 8.  The team gradually made up the difference, and by the final quarter, it was anybody's game as the lead volleyed from one team to the other.

(I think this was during half-time, thus the lack-luster expressions.  Or maybe it was during the first-quarter 10-minute delay when the scorekeepers had to rearrange the entire scoreboard - after play had already begun - because they had posted the team names on the wrong sides of the board and were delegating points incorrectly because of this {oversight}...  I wish I would have walked to the other side of the coliseum to snap a few pictures, since the crowds for both teams in this game were seated on the same side.  It would have given a much more accurate portrayal of the packed and enthusiastic student sections from both teams.)

At 11:04pm I texted Rebecca, 1.6 seconds legend lead by 1.

{INTENSE}

A Fairview player did one of those more-than-half-court shots at the buzzer, and the ball bounced off the rim.  Scary.  But Legend won the game.  Despite the fact that their lead scorer didn't score a single point.  Despite the fact that one of their starters (from our ward) had injured his ankle in practice two days prior and didn't even dress down for the game.

During the game, Bill said repeatedly (very loudly, may I add),
"Legend's going to win this game because they have heart!"

It was an awesome game, and I am so glad we decided to go.

Final Four.  Next Thursday.  At CU.

Legend will be playing the #1 seeded team, Denver East.
I hope Bill can arrange to skip out of his Stake meetings.
I'm sorry to miss our RS Birthday dinner.
I'm going.

I texted Lex on our way home.  She has a lot of friends still at LHS and had already heard the news.
Then she sent me this:

with a text that said,

That's so exciting! :) oh and look at what I was still able to do!

And here's one more!  In jeans too! Haha

Nice!

And on a little side-note... we are aware of the amazing success of the Lone Peak boys BB team in UT.  We wish we could have seen them play.  If we would have stayed in our Cedar Hills home, that would be our school right now - can't help feeling a little long-distance euphoria for them, too!