We are about 24 hours removed from an exciting 8th Grade Red Team playoff game, which saw the Red Team's season come to an end, as they suffered a 35-31 defeat.
If you haven't caught the highlights, definitely take a look at them, because it will illustrate some of the good and some of the bad from last night's contest.
This was definitely a winnable game, and I think everybody who witnessed the game will attest to that.
In the preview, I mentioned that it will come down to a few key plays, a few missed lay-ups or free-throws, and that's exactly what happened.
If you look at the video, those two out of bounds plays where nobody guarded the person cutting right to the hoop, or the 6 quick points they scored in the beginning of the third. Or maybe the 11 missed free throws, most of them coming in the second half, those were the difference makers.
This game was lost not only on that, but the latter part of their regular season, where they sleepwalked through what was supposed to be an easy part of their schedule.
In their final three games of the year, they lost the intensity and drive that they needed to finish the season strong. It was their last night, but probably not where it could've been if they maintained their level of play throughout the entire season and not just the first half.
Had they won even one more game, they probably wouldn't have had to play St. John on their home court. And had they won the playoff game, the championship would've been at St. Emydius, regardless of who they played.
Lesson learned for everybody that CYO games are a premium, and each game is magnified because of the short schedule. This isn't the NBA where you have 82 games to prove yourself, or even Major League Baseball, where they play 162 games. 8 games is a very small sample size, so the "A" game needs to be there day in and day out.
Justin and Miles were the only two players who I thought played up to their ability last night, and a team effort was needed to pull off the win.
Their defense, most notably down in the post areas, were mediocre at best, as other than Miles, nobody could grab a rebound or get a body on someone to let Miles grab a rebound. Every time Miles went up to grab a rebound, it seemed like there were three guys over him.
And of course, the turnovers absolutely came back to haunt them. All those points St. John scored off turnovers.
The Red Team had to earn each and every one of their points throughout the night. St. John got plenty of points handed to them.
Not to say St. John's wasn't a good team, because they are, and in my estimation, will probably win the championship. But the Red Team made it so much easier for St. John and didn't make their lives very difficult.
Looking back at their careers as a whole is something that we should recognize despite last night's loss.
They were bumped up a division and very well could've won the championship again if things fell into place. This wasn't a team that won a championship and decided to mail it in. They elevated their play to this division and that's something that needs to be commended.
I reffed an 8-6 game last night, a division below the Red Team, and I can confidently say the Red Team would've blown either team out by at least 20 points, if not more.
They were in the right division and unfortunately couldn't pull it together when they needed it the most.
So as we all reflect on a great career for the Red Team, we will always remember the magic 7th grade championship run, as well as how close they were to doing it all over again in their 8th grade year.
This is by and large, the best 8th grade team we've had since 2007, and their body of work will be remembered for years to come.
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