Building off small wins

This past weekend Merritt Secondary School hosted their first 16 team Sr. Boys Basketball Tournament.

It could be my Merritt pride, or the fact that I’m friends with a few players on the team, whatever the case may be, coming out to the game felt mandatory as if I had a stake in it.

My effort to show up and support was definitely gratified as I saw awesome noteworthy performances. Seeing Nate Willey score 50 points in back to back games, and seeing the team make its way to the championship game gave me goosebumps, and excitement. There were talks of establishing a winning basketball culture in Merritt and I was seeing that play out before me.

The championship game fell on a Saturday night, when people have so many better things to do, I saw them make the trip to MSS and support the Panthers as they try to capture gold. The energy gave me the impression that it was like a movie, and our local team was supposed to win. Unfortunately, their opponents had other plans. Losing in a hard fought game, MSS fell short at capturing gold. The disappointment on the players’ faces were very visible, but after giving it a bit of time, I think the team’s mindset needs to be reset to one of optimism. Gyms have never been that packed for basketball, and teams never had that deep of a tournament run before.

There might have been an L on their column, but the net impact of the team’s performance is definitely a W for basketball in Merritt.