Where focus goes the energy flows

Just another Saturday morning. Loud gymnasium, five courts filled with squeaks of sneaks.

The team, 8th grade girls, three have earnings in still, game time is in five minutes. One wants to know if anyone else is coming, another talks about the opponent in the second game.

Warm-ups go well, good energy and focus. That can be a sign of good things to come. It also can mean absolutely nothing.

With girls basketball at this age, the first five minutes can project the entire game. The adage, as veteran and legendary Oreland resident once taught me, “winning and losing at this level comes down to the press, handling and applying it.”

Our girls got down early, but still single digits. Our press began clicking, and the other team and their coach began to unravel. Getting layups off the press is more fun than a visit to Disney World.

With only six girls, we subbed often and had more than one girl asking to come out. I looked the other way and they figured it out.

The girls played great and built a 12 point lead. High fives, smiles, pep in our step. A double digit lead with six minutes left is usually safe at this age but with 8th grade girls at 9:30a in the morning, anything is possible at any time.

If you have a daughter at this age, you can relate. The 12 point lead went to zero in the blink of a an eye. I have been burned taking my timeouts home with me, but this time we needed one.

With two minutes left, we needed to regroup. The girls came to the bench and begin asking questions - “how many fouls does that girl have?” Another says, “she fouled me four times.” Another isn’t even listening and one is looking at her parents for guidance. Two were in tears Again, we only had six girls

Our whole philosophy is focus on the Next Play. It's not easy. In fact, it’s the hardest thing to do sometimes when you blow a 12 point lead.

In mid-season form, our girls locked in with great focus and scored two layups to win the game by four.

Notably, Nora B had four rebounds in that time frame. She was focussed on both ends of the ball and saved the game.

The message… where the focus goes, energy flows. We could have, and have crumbled in the past like a giant expensive cookie.

Not today. Great win.

Great energy and great victory that we won’t forget the game or the lesson.