| Dear Coach, You were Right |

Dear Coach Lathrop,

You were right.

I remember my first memory of you.  It was the first time when you came to watch me practice.  At first, you seemed like a grumpy, old man who was going to be hard to please.  I was right on one count.  You were going to be hard to please.  My senior year was the hardest and most challenging year of basketball that I had ever experienced.  But I learned some of the most invaluable lessons from that year, because of you.

Practices were the hardest.  You knew how to weave conditioning into a drill to make it into the most productive drill we could run - there was no slacking off. But practices were simultaneously the best, because you did more than just coach us the fundamentals of basketball, you taught us how to be real men - men with a backbone.  You put us into situations and drills that asked us to gird up and buckle down.  I remember there would be some practices that you would stop us to correct a mistake, and then you would go on for another forty-five minutes as you instilled into us something more.  You instilled more than just physical toughness or basketball smarts, you were instilling wisdom.

Practical wisdom.

You were hard, but you were patient.  At the beginning of the season, you told us that we were going to run the offense your way, and to do that, we needed to set aside our preconceived ideas of how we would want to run the offense.  You were the coach.  It was your team.  We were your players.  And you had 45 years of experience in coaching.  You knew what you were talking about.  You patiently waited as you worked us through the offense.  You wore down our selfish ambitions and desires, and even when star players left the team, you continued to persuade us to play your game.  And then it clicked.  We played the game your way.  You took a group of selfish individuals and turned them into National Champions.  All because we played your way.

You were right.

It was more than just basketball.  It was always more than just basketball.  You reminded us multiple times that no matter how much talent we had, we had to think about where we wanted to be in the long run, because basketball is only temporary.  We had to be wise.  You told us the story of one of your most talented players, who had a scholarship to the University of Kansas, but threw it away; because he made a knuckle-headed mistake.

As Joe put it, you were more than just a coach.  You were a teacher and mentor.  You were a Christian.  You touched and impacted countless lives of young men like myself and my teammates.  You will be missed.  Our prayers and thoughts are with your family.

The Lord gained a great one today.

All photo credits to Hannah Abigail Lopez.

You made us National Champions.

An Unforgettable Journey

When the basketball season loomed closer, I was faced with playing on a team that I hadn't played for.  I had only met the coach once.  And I knew none of my future teammates.  The situation was rather daunting. But when I first stepped foot on that court, it was the first step on a journey that I will never forget.

We were a young team, having lost a plethora of seniors last year.  This year we had three juniors, a sprinkling of sophomores, and many freshmen.  This team was young and talented and ended up having one of the best seasons, maybe more than we could have wished for.  We took second in the Hoop Prep Classic at the beginning of the year, took first in the Immanuel Tournament, and first in SWCAA tourney. We would also go on to take second in our State Tournament.  We finished up with an overall record of 23-7.  It wasn't easy; there were times when we got blown out, or would lose close championship games, but this team always bounced back.  This team had so much heart, and it showed. 

On an individual note, this season taught me a lot, just like in past years.  But this year, I learned what it meant to be a leader.  And what it meant to step up and encourage and push my teammates.  I got plenty of encouragement from my teammates as well, and definitely some pushing.  One of the things I will remember is that this team would get excited.  The thing that sticks out most to me was in the semi-final of the State Tournament.  That game I was really nervous, but with every bucket, every layup, every steal, the bench would get loud.  I fed off their energy.  I won't forget the energizing bench we had.

Below are some photos I was able to find:

(Most of them were taken by Ms. Suzette Acuna and Abigail Lopez.)

This was one of those "oops" moments.  (Photo creds: Ms. Acuna)

Oh.  And did I forget to mention, that we got to play in the Don Haskins Center?  That was cool.  (Photo creds: Ms. Acuna)

Photo creds: Ms. Acuna

Photo creds: Ms. Acuna 

This is pretty much the story of the season.  Me on the ground, and Nico laughing.  (Photo creds: Ms. Acuna)

Celebrating our SWCAA Championship.  (Photo creds: Abigail Lopez) 

(Photo creds: Abigail Lopez)

Photo creds: Abigail Lopez

At State. (Photo creds: Abigail Lopez)

                           

Pregame warmups.  (Photo creds: Abigail Lopez)

Photo creds: Ms. Acuna

Relaxing after our first round win.

Road To Europeans Part 2 (Highlights Included)

Photo creds: Jared Patterson

The day dawned to find the Hohenfels Tiger's on the road again.  But this time for a much shorter bus ride of two hours, and this time going to Schwienfurt.  The Tigers were going to be facing the Razorbacks, after having lost all of the games they played against them last year.

After their two back-to-back victories over the Falcons of Black Forest Academy, Hohenfels was looking to continue their win streak on the road, going into Christmas break.  After the JV Boys went into overtime and lost by two points, and the Lady Varsity Tiger's snatched their first win of the year from the jaws of the opposing team, the Men's Varsity laced their shoes up and started warming up.

The game was set in the big community gym of Schwienfurt, but with the spacious gym and high ceiling, the acoustics were not nearly as good as in BFA.  basicly, not nearly as loud.  The faithful of Hohenfels turned out more fans than the Razorback's did.  Although it was their home crowd and court, it was rather level in terms of noise from the opposing crowds.

The game was under way, from the tip-off Tigers hungry to prove that the previous wasn't a fluke, and they held true to it.  Lacking their star big man, Schweinfurt just didn't seem capable of pulling themselves together.  Although Tony Saintmeilus (One of the starters) was injured, and Mark Carr (Starting point guard) was late due to a test for his senior year, the Tigers came out ready.

It was a defensive victory from the beginning, resulting in the Razorback's defeat.  Traijan Powell, who hit a buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter, David Vidovic, and Brandon Shull kept the gas on full blast and stole the ball whenever the opportunity presented itself.  Which would result in many fast breaks.  Justin Standifer and Isaac Lopez fought hard in the post, and helped add to the route.  Everyone on the Tigers team (bench included) scored.  Vidovic and Lopez combined to score the majority of the points.  The game finished on a mercy rule, the Tigers won with an overwhelming score of 60-21!

As the day closed, the Tigers got back on the bus to start the return trip home, glad to end the first part of the season on a good note.  They would have one week after break to prepare for the double-header against  the Ansbach Cougars and experience their first home game of the season.

Here are some highlights from the actual game:

The Road to Europeans Part 1

Last year, the Hohenfels Tigers won one game out of fourteen.  We were the "doormat" to all the other teams in DoDD's Europe, as one of the articles in Stars and Stripes put it.  But all that changed this season.

(Photo creds:  Dragana Mckoy.  Left to right: Jared Johnson, Alton Day, Traijan Powell, Justin Standifer, Tony Saintmelus, David Vidovic, Mark Carr, Clayton Pinheiro, Isaac Lopez)

We started out the season with a double header.  We were playing BFA on the road.  After a six hour bus-ride, we arrived at the Christian boarding school, and sat through the JV girls, JV boys, and Women's Varsity games.  Then there was one last quarter we gathered in a room and met the guys from BFA.  Then the Men's Varsity game kicked off.

The atmosphere in BFA on a Friday night was chilling, alot of the students from the boarding school had turned out for it.  It was a place that after every layup, the crowd would roar.  It was a tight game all the way through, Black Forest Academy was a disciplined team, and they were determined to win in front of their home crowd.  As equally determined, the Tigers were putting up a defensive battle.  We would hold on to win by two, with a low scoring game of 34-32.  David Vidovic and Tony Saintmeilus grabbed alot of steals that game, and I put fourteen points up in the paint. The Tigers had pulled out their first victory of the year!

After a short night sleep in the gym, we were woken up and were served a delicious meal by the Falcons (BFA).  Once again, we waited through the first three games and prepared ourselves for another tough battle.  From the get go, it was a faster paced game compared to the night before, even though everyone wasn't exactly well rested.  Mark Carr led us our team with 16 points and helped us stay even with the Falcons.

In the final seconds of the game, we were up by one, but they had the ball in-bounded from the sideline at half court.  Just as loud as it was on Friday night, the crowd was screaming their heads off.  They set up their offense and ran it, in the scramble that ensued, one of their players popped of a screen and shot to the wing.  Forced to pop out to the wing, I went to challenge the jump shot, and my man was taken by Traijan Powell, one of our freshman pointguards.  Although they got the ball into their big man against Trai, he didn't have time to get off a clean shot and he missed!  The Tigers won their second game, 48-49!

No longer the "doormat", the Tigers would face the Schweinfurt Razorbacks on the road the following weekend.  Stay tuned for the next recap.  ;)

More Than Just a Game

Basketball is the sport I love.  It's the game I love.  When you get out there on the court, everything changes.  Your adrenaline takes the pressure up a notch.  When you put those shoes on to get out there to play the game, you enter the world of basketball.  

In this world, your heritage doesn't matter, what you look like doesn't matter.  You all came for one purpose, and that is to play ball.  Basketball is a team sport.  One less person, and you're weaker.  You rely on your team to win the battlefield.

This is the game that literally changed the world.  It helped stop racism.  A select few of coaches stared down the protests of the mobs, who didn't want certain players to play.  And because of these brave men, allowing these players to play the game they love, it shook the world.

Not only did this change the world, and help stop racism.  It allowed so many people to play a sport; whether they are poor, rich, black, white, red, or yellow.  It is a thing all over the world that people have in common.  Brothers in basketball.

I love this sport.