“It was an intense junkyard dogfight. Taunting slurs and jeering insults flew across the hardwood. Both sides got into foul trouble early.”
And that was just from the fans!
Last nights Narrows League Boys Varsity Basketball game pitting the (5-1) Central Kitsap Cougars against the (1-3) Bellarmine Prep Lions was fast and furious from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer in the 4th period.
Led by Abdul Gaddy, the #2 ranked Point Guard in the Country, the Bellarmine Boys managed to head into the locker room at the half with a slight lead. Then, towards the end of the 3rd period, the momentum seemed to shift in their favor as the Lions approached a double-digit advantage.
But coming off an emotional last-minute loss to Mt. Tahoma last Friday, the Cougs rallied back to take the lead and never looked back.
And now for just a few casual observations as a parent in the stands…….
This year’s squad has some really incredible potential. There’s a wide range of skilled starters, and a very deep and talented bench. If they can learn to trust one another, play unselfishly, and work together as a team, they could be the team to beat in the State Finals.
While Basketball is very much a ‘team’ sport, one player demonstrated extra effort last night, and really helped to keep us in the game – Job well done to Matt Wain!
Many times, the difference between a win or a loss is crowd support. This is especially true for games played on the road. A HUGE kudos goes out to the Cougs JV Basketball team and a wonderfully rowdy group of CK High Football players who helped to keep our team’s spirit fired up! The entertaining verbal volleys being tossed from one side of the gym to the other are part of a longstanding tradition among high school and collegiate athletic events. So, unless there’s an imminent threat of bodily dismemberment, or people are throwing bad fruit at the Refs, these ‘spirited’ jeers and taunts should not be silenced or micro-managed. These games are very special moments in our kids lives. Allow them to enjoy the moment! Otherwise, people will stop coming to the ‘away’ games, and everyone loses, maybe even literally!
Our next game is at CK High this coming Thursday, Dec. 18th, against North Kitsap. JV starts at 5pm, and Varsity at 7pm. Go COUGS!
I’m going to respectfully disagree with you on this, Rich. As a former collegiate athlete and a high school coach for 8 years, I’d say the jeers and taunts do nothing positive for sports or the kids. I don’t understand why parents and peers can’t use some of their energy to encourage their own team…why does it all go to discouraging the other?
When I coached high school basketball, I spent the first half of the season missing cross country, and the 2nd half of the season counting down the days til track started. Those 2 sports understood sportsmanship. They understood competition. The athletes in those sports seemed to grasp the idea that working together, even with an opponent, could better their own performances. They knew you could compete with a desire to win and still appreciate the efforts of those whom you were trying to beat.
I hated sitting on the bench in basketball games, hearing the kids (and worse the parents) in the stands behind me belittling the opponents. I wish all areas of our culture, not just sports, could learn to encourage rather than discourage, to lift up without having to push down.
Matt: While I very much respect your opinion, I think it’s entirely possible to have this kind of good-spirited fun between fans/teams without degrading into something that is discouraging or unsportsmanlike. The game at Bellarmine was a perfect example. Both sides truly enjoyed the ping-pong exchange of chants and cheers. There was nothing disrespectful or degrading from either side. Just kids having fun supporting their teams.