This past Tuesday, my college team, LYIT, competed for an All-Ireland Championship in Dublin. We had a great season and were beyond excited to make it to the final. We were playing our opponents, Griffith College- for probably the 6th time this year, as we happen to play them in both National League and College. They also have two Americans and a Spanish professional player. The two Americans played Division 1 at Fairfield and they are both incredible players. Griffith College also had a significant height advantage- as my college team could quite possibly the smallest team in the history of the game of basketball. I am the tallest player on my team, by 3 inches- so I get to player center and do the jump ball (I love it!) My whole life, I have been a guard and been one of the smallest players on my team, so it has been quite the shift playing here in Ireland.
Before the game, I found myself really nervous, which is weird because the whole time I have been playing in Ireland, I haven’t been nervous or put any pressure on myself at all. I made a promise to myself that I would just enjoying getting to play the game I love, instead of putting all the pressure that I used to put on myself in college. This game was our one chance to leave Ireland with a championship, so naturally the nerves sunk in! So, I did what I always do, I called my dad. I called him right before warmups and said I was nervous. As usual, my dad gave me three or four points of advice, the usual 1) flat feet 2) arc on your jumper 3)CALM 4) I love you and am so proud of you. See my dad and I- we’ve been on this basketball journey together since I was about 8 years old, and that voice was all I needed to hear and I was ready for the game.
The game itself was hands-down the most exciting game I have ever played in and been apart of. Our college got a fan bus to come down to Dublin, so we had a super loud crowd. (Thank you to our amazing supporters!) We went down early by 14 points, so I knew we were going to have to work if we wanted this win. Our coach, the legendary Niall McDermott, or as he likes to be called- “the John Wooden of Ireland,” told us that all we need to do is keep it close until the last 5 minutes of the game, and then we will push ahead and win this game. We then got it close, and actually went ahead by 6 points, only to be tied for the remainder of the second half. The fourth quarter was back and forth until my roomie, Faith hit an incredible 3 pointer to put us up 2 points with 7 seconds remaining. We went absolutely insane, I for sure thought we had won it. However, Griffith answered with a buzzer beating lay-up to put us into overtime.
I was exhausted, but I knew my teammates and I wanted to win this so badly. Overtime was back and forth the entire 5 minutes; it honestly felt like the longest 5 minutes of my life. It came down to the wire and coach Niall drew up a ball screen play for me on the wing. There was 2.4 seconds left and I knew I had to knock down a jump shot, no time to drive. All I could think was how many times my dad and I had repped that wing ball screen to jump shot play in my driveway during the hot summer days. All I could also think was how many times I have had that shot at end of game situations where I need to make the shot, and missed- which was every time. I have never made a game winning shot in my life, most likely due to my lack of confidence and pressure I put on myself. I finally cleared all the doubt and told myself, this is your shot. I thankfully then made the shot!! There was 1.7 seconds left, and Griffith got a shot off, but it rolled off the rim, meaning WE WON.
Everyone stormed the court and I was jumping into Faith’s arms screaming my head off. Faith and I wanted this so bad. It was an incredible feeling, something I have never felt before. I can count on two fingers how many championships I have won in my life. A high school state championship (which was also incredible) and this: an ALL IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP. This one was the sweetest victory because of the intensity of the game, and how incredible all of my teammates played to pull this one out.
In college, I remember our sports information director telling me and the other senior at the end of our careers- we had both played 100 games and out of those 100, we lost 60 games by 10 points or less. That is insane! I saw only one playoff game in my entire college career (it was a quarterfinal game). It was very discouraging to work so hard in college and always come up short. However, all those moments of loss and frustration, all make this moment and this win even more incredible. There is a saying that all the bad times make the good times even better; and that could not be more true in this moment.
I can’t thank my college team/coach enough, you are all incredible players and people. Thank you all for giving me a day I’ll never forget. I can’t think a better way to end my basketball career, as I only have a few more games left. As I get ready to reluctantly hang up my sneaks for good, I will always cherish this moment. A special thank you to my mother who was texting me the entire game and screaming at the live stream computer from New York and to my Dad, Uncle Gordo, and family who were following along as well. All I can say is Dad- we finally did it!
