Ok, so this past weekend we decided to go to Emporia and watch the girl's 6-A State Championship game between Goddard and Lawrence. I had never seen either one of the teams play, so I had no predetermined ideas opinions of the players. Watching them warm-up I was very impressed with one Lawrence player in particular. She was very tall and thin, and she could hit from anywhere. I mean anywhere. She was nailing three pointers, lay-ups, free throws... where ever she took a shot from.. nothin' but net. I thought, wow, she's going to be tough.

So the game gets underway and Goddard is playing tough defense. The player that I was watching in warm-ups seemed slow, and a bit lazy. She missed a couple of three pointers and then pretty much gave up. That's when I started watching number 3 on Goddard's team. She is unbelievable. She can handle the ball, she penetrates and dishes it off, and then nails it from the outside. I think she ended up with 21 points. The way she treated the other players with respect was impressive. I also liked the way Goddard played unselfishly.

Some of the Lawrence players seemed very selfish and played with "attitude".  They were way too physical, almost throwing a couple of the Goddard girls to the floor at times. I know it's the State Championship, but you still need to play with sportsmanship.

Goddard led the entire game.. until the very end. It was the tall girl that had no points in the first three quarters that pulled it out. She nailed a couple of shots from underneath and then hit a 3 from way out to tie up the game. In the end, Lawrence won the title by one bucket. Goddard was devastated. Again, I don't know any of the players, but I was pulling for Goddard, if for no reason other then  just because of the way they played with respect.

In the end, it's what my coach always told us, it's not who wins or loses, it's how you play the game. I'll never forget that lesson in life, and I hope those girls remember it too.