Le Jardin League
A lot of ups and downs, good plays and rushed shots, great defense and clutch plays. Radyn's 5-footer in the paint with .4 of 1 second left won it for us. Kailua missed a halfcourt shot at the buzzer.
This was one of the most challenging situations we've had this year. Again, we weren't deep. All our subs were intermediate Thunder, all guards. That meant a lot of minutes for our rebounders. Then we had an off-night shooting from the perimeter and the officiating was wildly inconsistent. It was the worst we've had in roughly 80 games since November.
Kailua played a tough game and hit a lot of clutch shots. They also hacked us, poked us, pulled us all over the court and got away with it most of the time. Meanwhile, touch fouls were being called against us, especially Tenchi. It was tough for our guys to keep focused in those final 2 minutes with the game going back and forth, taking all kinds of fouls and no whistles being blown. But they were able to keep their poise and finish strong.
I'm not sure whether both officials were simply blind to the six or so traveling violations by Kailua that were not called. I'm not sure if Afton Smith's affiliation with the school — he coached the girls varsity team for a long, long time — made him biased in his non-calls. Who knows? I do know that both officials were in training at ‘Iolani's girls basketball summer league, and that in this JV game, they were not a good pairing at all.
I'm just glad we got out of it without losing our heads, that I didn't get a technical foul that would've cost us a chance to win. I'm thankful for all these things. A good win in the weirdest way. Hopefully, the $500 we spent on the entry fee and all the miles of driving by our parents will be worthwhile. As I said to one of the officials in the second half, what they did not or refused to see on the court will be available on video, and the camera does not lie.
To be fair, the officiating in this league has been quite good until this game. What separates the elite leagues from the mediocre leagues is, first and foremost, quality control.
For us, all we can do is focus on what we can control. We were tested by adversity and, apparently, we passed. Moving on.
Lineup: Jance, Tenchi, Josh R, Jonah, Radyn, Chase, Tani Mosi, Sierra.
Big mahalo to Eric for shooting game video again!
Next: Tuesday, 3:30 pm - Stretching/warmups at Kalani HS gym. 4:30 pm - H1 Thunder vs. Maryknoll II (Kalani Varsity League).
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