One and Done - that time of year - February 27th, 2021

 One and Done.  It is that time of year for many teams.  You play a whole season with a goal of winning your district and maybe moving on to the play-offs.  It seems so abrupt.  Down in Oklahoma, where my second cousin's grandson plays for Oklahoma Christian School, in Edmond, they have a play-back option so if you lose the first game, you still have a back door to get to the state playoffs.

For most coaches, this season has been played like they were standing on eggs.  Move too quickly or step sideways too fast and the eggs break.  Covid made every day, every practice, every game very special because you did not know if your team would have to quarantine tomorrow.  As the season wound to a close, more teams were out for two weeks at a time, following the pandemic protocol.  I am sure that coaches were feeling more and more stressed as they got closer to the district playoffs.  What could be any worse than having a great season and then losing everything right before districts?

For Confluence Preparatory Academy, Coach Brian Karvinen, Kam Bevel, and the rest of their squad, a covid quarantine just before districts has ended their dreams.  I have followed CPA closely and had a number of messages back and forth with Brian about Confluence.  They started the season at about a 117 rating and rose in the ranks of small schools to a top-five position and a 129 rating.  With a soft district, they were primed to make a run at Vashon in a sectional game.  Brian's step-son, Shane Lockwood, was like a big brother to my grandson, Nate Parker, at Eureka when Nate joined the varsity as a freshman. Shane was a great teammate and is now at one of the Military Academies.

Kam Bevel played with Nate in 6th and 7th grade for the Force, coached by Eric Bain.  He was a good kid who had some trouble in middle school and at U City, but he blossomed into an outstanding young man at Confluence under Coach K.  I feel for Kam and all his fellow Confluence players.  It is one thing to lose a close game and get eliminated.  It is entirely a different situation to have to sit because of a covid contact issue.  Sometimes life just doesn't seem fair.  Except for Kam and Cedric Wilson, the rest of the team is back next year.  They will be a force to reckon with.  For Kam and Cedric, I wish them great success as they move on to other things.  Hats off to the Titans.  They will be back!

For other teams, the season that showed such promise can end with a game or even a bad quarter.  A team like Kirkwood, which played everyone strong, a team that was 18-5, that had beat Ladue, with a 12-8 record, twice during the season by 7 and 13 points, could not seem to find the net and lost to a young, promising Rams.   The reward for Ladue's outstanding game and upset of Kirkwood is daunting.   A semi-final match with #1 rated Chaminade, a team I have rated at a whopping 145, while Ladue is a sound 115 rating.  

But ratings don't mean much in the playoffs.  You can beat a team badly during the season and lose by 20 in the playoffs.  Don't ever look at the ratings and think, "this is a piece of cake".  Never take any game for granted.  Everyone puts their pants on, one leg at a time; their shoes on, one foot at a time.

I know Confluence wouldn't be taking anything for granted if they had the chance.  If you are playing this coming week, do your best and leave everything on the floor.  Coach K would expect that of his Confluence team.  

Confluence can't do it now but your team can.  Don't waste your opportunity.  Do the same for your coach.  Leave it all on the floor and you will never have to look back and think, "if only I had played a little harder"?

Postscript:

It was an especially difficult week for Brian, his team, and Confluence Academy.  Earlier in the week, a 2019 graduate, and former basketball player, was shot and killed.  A tragic loss of life.  The covid quarantine was disappointing.  The continual loss of young people from gun violence is unconscionable. We have to do better.

Wishing your team success!

Here are my top 20 in every class (I am missing a few games from last night or today):