More district results - Missed it by that Much - March 3, 2021

 You remember the Maxwell Smart line in the "Get Smart" TV series or movie where Max screws up and then says, "missed it by that much!'  Well, I sort of feel that way this morning.  I predicted over 85% of the district and sectional games last night for boy's and girl's games but I missed the one game that really counted for our family.

My wife and I got passes for the Eureka-Lafayette Class six District three game.  This season, we had scored nearly 70 Eureka freshman, JV, and varsity games from home, using live-streaming to capture their game stats.  My wife was my spotter and the stats were right on the official stats.  It gave the coaches, especially the frosh and JV coaches who don't get this information, a great view of how their team was doing and where they needed work.

I had Eureka favored by 10 points.  It was a tale of two halves.  Eureka came out strong and built a 19-5 first-quarter lead.  Lafayette's defense woke up in the second quarter but it was still 25-11 after a six all second quarter.  I have to give the Lafayette team a lot of credit.  I did not think they would come back the way they did but they clamped down on the Eureka offense and clawed back to 29-22 going into the fourth quarter.  The game went overtime and Eureka had the last shot but missed tying it, losing 39-41.  

I have to give the Eureka coaches a lot of credit for a 17-7 season with a smallish team that is more remindful of a class one or two lineups than a class six team.  They played some excellent defense and held teams to a 45 point average during the season.  They played team ball on offense and over-achieved all season.  But it wasn't to be and I take my hat off to a scrappy Lafayette team.  

It was a tough way to end a career for my grandson and his two senior teammates.  They played together for four years of high school and several more on the Eureka feeder teams.  It is disappointing to have your high school career end like that but, as the college coach who attended the game to watch Nate Parker and Luke Laudel said, "you have a lot of great experiences ahead of you".

And it wasn't the only upset last night, with high-powered class six Park Hill losing to Park Hill South. 

 I did get the Maryville girl's team right last night.  I had corrected a previous rating mistake in my post and Maryville covered the 18 point spread exactly.  Even a blind mule sometimes finds water, as they say.

Here were my boy's and girls' picks with ratings, predicted spread, actual score, and winning margin.  I predicted 87% of girls and 85% of boys games but I would have gladly taken 15% correct boy's games if the Eureka team had won their game instead.  

You know the feeling.  It's a little sad to see their season end, but, as the wise coach said, there are a lot of great experiences ahead.