The majority of Cal high school girls' basketball teams are done for this season. Most of them had losing records. I'd guess there were more winless teams than undefeated teams. We focus on the front-runners, but like it or not, this majority of girls are the face of California girls' high school basketball. They deserve our recognition.
I've followed Miramonte since 2000, and for most of that time they've been at or near the top of their league. I only go to games that I think will be competitive, for entertainment value. But one year, I went to see them play a team that had been at the bottom of the league for a while, struggled to win a few games each year, may have had a winless season in there. I was curious what that team was all about.
I was amazed. These kids came out, played hard, kept their chins up, never gave up, and left me amazed. Clearly they wanted to play the game, and their victories came with every point they scored, every rebound they got. Needless to say, they were badly outscored and out rebounded. Basketball is a hard game, and they had skills, just not enough to win. I started thinking about this while reading the thread on whether the tournament was too big. I was particularly affected when Clay mentioned how his kids were thrilled to get in as a 14th seed. His kids wanna play. And I think so do the vast majority of girls who choose basketball as a sport. So here's to them all, my hat's off.
