By now you've no doubt heard about the resolutions of Park's indoor seasons. The latter days of winter saw Bruins wrestle respectability from forecasts of doom while others found devastation where they'd expected glory.
Boys' basketball fell in the former of those classifications, slowing their semifinal game with heavily favored Chapelgate to a strategic crawl. Though the Yellowjackets had confidently handled the Bruins twice earlier in the season, for 3 quarters at least the contest remained a toss up. With little pressure to succeed, or even remain in the gym, our Parkies matched the undefeated front-runner blow for blow before finally succumbing in the final stanza. All in all, the boys built quite a season with no abundance of raw material, and may have begun to address some of their needs for next year with their experience at the end. Well done.
The squash team had a similar finish, impressively passing all but 1 of their number through to the second round of their individual tournament. Matched against some of the premier players in the country, the second day didn't go quite so well, but it was a proud showing by the ever-improving team. My own inaugural experience on day 1 (maybe I'm the good luck charm...?) was fantastic. Make a point to head to Meadow Mill next year and check these kids out!
The aforementioned athletes faced little doubt in their games. Most expected them to lose. The girls basketballers, however, found that doubt, like any number of analogous bacteria or viruses that given the space to multiply and gain strength, can quickly become lethal. Doubt is a killer. Slacken your defenses for just a moment and it crashes in, humbling the mightiest of individuals and spreading through teams like a malignancy. Doubt may have been present in the minds of some, though certainly not many, among the Park throng prior to their championship bid last Sunday. It's not uncommon for teenagers and adults alike to carry doubt throughout their entire lives with little or no symptoms or consequences. If it was present, it was apparently sealed away early as the Bruins managed the somewhat sloppy contest on their terms for a half. The locker room speech rang of confidence and motivation. But, if you watched closely, somewhere there in the third period you may have noticed it; just a shadow at first, but unmistakable nonetheless. Doubt. While still largely innocuous (the Bruins held a 9 point lead shortly into the fourth), tentacles of apprehension, gloom and despondency began their silent creep from player to player. Park fell behind, struggled to tie and faced an overtime. All the while the doubt gained, until the Bruins' no longer grasped the game they'd seemed destined to play in all year. Shots and free throws ceased to fall and eyes rarely left the floor during time outs. The girls were finished.
Another malady entirely affected the indoor soccer squad. The girls had apparently simply forgotten to set their alarm clocks, and at the conclusion of the first half, the Bruins awoke to find themselves down 4-1. Thankfully, their talent hadn't remained in their pajamas, and Park roared back early in the second, tying the game with 10 minutes to play. That effort continued for the remainder of the contest, but Garrison managed to squeeze 1 more goal through and it was enough to earn the win.
The winter of 09-10 will go down in the annals of history as a success, and rightfully so. Yet, no banners have been ordered, and the haunting questions remain. What does it take to get over that final hump... and where can we find some?
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