Bittersweet: Issue 3

My reflections on the 2019-20 season are bittersweet.

I absolutely love my teammates and the season was full of friendship, laughs, hard work and team bonding. We all started the season with the primary goal of getting back to the Class 4A state championship game and repeating. All season, we worked diligently during practices and even harder in games to achieve our goal and prepare ourselves for the state tournament.

At the end of the season we found out we were seeded No. 9 in 4A and would potentially again be traveling. I feel this fueled our fire to prove that we were the best. We focused game-by-game after our initial bye week.

First, we beat Cheyenne Mountain at home, then traveled to Montrose, a closer game, but we won again. Canon City was next, luckily at home again and with a packed house of our wonderful students and fans – it was electric and we got another win.

We made it to the final four game, but it came without our fans because of the COVID-19 virus. We were not new to the Coliseum, (it’s our house), but it was definitely a different feeling without the crowds like in 2019. Thankfully, we were each able to bring four family members. We knew we came too far to let anything throw us off track and we focused on the game. It was a battle, the best of the 2020 playoffs, and everyone stepped up and was involved. We had the best bench energy I have ever seen and the most hustle on the court. The game went to overtime and we came out victorious – it was an amazing win, but we didn’t know at the time that this would be the final game of the season.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but the sweetness was the season ended on a fantastic team win. It was later that day after our game that we found out that the championship game (against Holy Family) of the 4A tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19. We were in shock, devastated and sad realizing that we wouldn’t be able to play that one more game to give us our repeat state-championship title. We met (the next day) to discuss what happened and we all agreed that we are state champions, and instead of focusing on the disappointment of the game that we didn’t get to play, we were thankful and grateful for the tournament games that we were able to play and the bonding of a wonderful season.

We ended on a victory and we all know that we are still undefeated at the Denver Coliseum (3-0 over two seasons).

During this quarantine time, the lack of personal interaction with my teammates, friends, extended family and teachers has been very difficult and trying, but it has also given a rare window of time to really self-reflect on how lucky we are and the things that we all take for granted every day. Additionally, I have been keeping myself busy with individual workouts and, of course, my schoolwork. I have been taking a lot of time to get in shape and push myself to be ready for club basketball as soon as it starts. Specific things I have been doing are running, weightlifting, shooting and ball-handling. I have also been spending time with my family, walking my dog, playing games, and watching movies. I’m thankful for the health of my family and friends.

I want to be able to look back at this strange time and know that I used it to grow and become a better person.