The game must go on: Bay Port and DSHA girls basketball end state tournament on their terms
GREEN BAY, Wis. (BVM) — What do you do when you find out you won’t play your final game?
That without even knowing it you had finished your season. There is no final loss or win on the season, no closure, it’s just over.
It is a strange concept, but as the COVID-19 pandemic began to shut down day-to-day life many athletes from every level have had to experience this for the first time.
Basketball was specifically hit hard as many high school state tournaments were about to start in early March when the response to the crisis quickly picked up. This left high schoolers with no closure and broken dreams of playing in or winning a state championship.
The Bay Port girls basketball team, coached by Katie Coleman, was about to attempt a rare feat of winning back-to-back state championships in Division 1. Divine Savior Holy Angels (DSHA), coached by Brian Hendricks, was capping off a solid 23-3 season with a state tournament berth and the momentum needed to face the reigning state champs in a semifinal game.
It was Friday, March 13 and the teams were at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis., but there would be no game. The season was over.
“I think it was the whole week we were kind of talking and like ‘oh we’re probably not going to.’ And then it was Thursday and games are still going on you’re excited about it because you think you are going to play as well. Thursday night came and they canceled the game,” said Coleman.
DSHA had met the night before to talk about their new reality. After the team had gone back to their rooms coach Hendricks called the captains back down to talk about what they should do on Friday. The seniors made it very clear they were going to the Resch Center.
“Earlier in the year we had played Bay Port on New Year’s Eve. The night before I took the team to the Resch Center and we walk in the front doors and we hang out in the lobby and I told them, ‘Hey, here’s what’s really cool about this. In three months we’re going to get to go back to the Resch Center, but we don’t go in the front door, we go in the back door. We’re going to be in the team entrance because we will be playing,’” said Hendricks.
The captains remembered that moment and wanted to see the back door they had earned the right to go through. Once there, the WIAA sent out a text that teams could go to the Resch Center. That’s when Bay Port showed up to the arena and the teams went onto the court.
“It kind of just unfolded as we were all there on the court. You walk out and you see the seniors crying and it’s not the last memory that you want them to have so I just looked at Brian and said, ‘Hey, let’s just play,’” said Coleman.
Starting line ups..here we go! pic.twitter.com/cBqwCqHnr4
— Bay Port Girls Basketball (@BPgirlsBball) March 13, 2020
Announcing the seniors first, without a ball or a crowd to cheer them on, the Bay Port Pirates and DSHA Dashers took the court for their final game of the season.
There were no fans, no parents, no media..just two teams who wanted their season to end in their terms. @DSHABasketball @notthefakeSVP @RexChapman @FS1 @jimmyfallon @jimmykimmel #SeniorNight @espnW @espn @ESPN_WomenHoop @Giannis_An34 pic.twitter.com/k2gkpcen2O
— Bay Port Girls Basketball (@BPgirlsBball) March 14, 2020
“It didn’t bring about full closure, obviously, but it brought this small little bit where it helped, it didn’t fix everything, it didn’t make everything all great and wonderful, but it was a moment that kind of helped us have a little bit of closure to wrap up the season,” said Hendricks
For 10 minutes these girls got the chance to live out a dream. To hear their name announced and to play in the state tournament. Making it as realistic as possible. Trying to forget what they had lost and focus on what this moment meant to them.
It’s not even close to what these girls and athletes across the world deserve. None of this is their fault, they could not have planned for this, but there is a lesson to be learned.
“It’s kind of cliché, but you have to play every game like it’s your last,” said Coleman.
She’s right. It is cliché, but never has a cliché been more applicable than right now. Every athlete has heard their coach or parent say those words. Most brush it to the side not able to grasp how quickly a career or season can be taken away. This changes everything, you can’t avoid or deny the truth of that statement now.
These girls didn’t know they had played their last real game. That their season had ended and had no control over it. They were however, presented with an opportunity to go out on their terms. Finish the season in a way that shines some light on a dark time for all of us.
End their season with a game.
