With our ticket punched to state, our boys knew they'd have their work cut out for them facing the #1 seed Wichita Collegiate. But also they had absolutely no pressure on them and knew they could just go out and have fun!
Found our boys in the official state program:
Getting warmed up! It was a bit of a downer this year when KSHSAA changed the format to make the first-round games at neutral sites throughout the state. For my entire life, a trip to State Basketball was equivalent to a trip to Hutch. And honestly, playing in the Hutchinson Sports Arena is one of the coolest parts about going to state. We were all pretty bummed to learn that we'd be playing our state game at Friends University in Wichita instead.
A bright spot about the game being in Wichita was that the Hookers were able to come cheer on Oliver! Since we were driving straight from Brynn's game in KCK, we met them at a fun pizza place in downtown for dinner before the game. Syd & Wes supporting their favorite Eagle!
Before the game, Oliver had his final game as team captain, meeting with the officials and the two Collegiate captains.
Announcing the line-ups. Senior Oliver Dwyer!
The 8:00 p.m. start time was also a bummer because we didn't have nearly the crowd we typically do.
After tip-off, our boys got off to a quick start! In fact, we led for the first 4.5 minutes of the game. When we were up 13-7 with 3:30 to go in the first quarter, I looked over at Wes and said, "We don't have a shot clock in the tournament. Do you think we can just hold the ball for the next 35.5 minutes??"
The student section sported a Hawaiian theme. Evie & Company were in the back row.
Oliver going in!
I spy some sweet Middle Schoolers walking in the gym behind our #2.
My pictures were pretty terrible, but this is Oliver getting a great rebound over some pretty big dudes.
Like I said, pretty big dudes.
Driving in!
In the 4th quarter it was special when the 5 seniors got to take the court to play the final minutes of their final game as Wellsville Eagles.
Shaking hands with the likely-upcoming-state-champions.
We are SO proud of our boys and how hard they played! Maybe someday these girls will be playing at the state basketball tournament. . .
All of Oliver's fans caught up with him after the game.
And some of his biggest fans were cheering from home!
As you can see here, Wellsville had the second highest scoring for all of 3A boys in the quarterfinals with 60 points. The only unfortunate part was that our opponent broke the all-time scoring record for the 3A state tournament with 106 points. It was a fast-paced, action-packed game for sure!
And as I was perusing through the official state program, I noticed in the records that, prior to our game, the widest margin of victory was Collegiate by 40 in 2010. Who would've guessed we'd find ourselves in the official records?!? And I have a feeling this one may stand for awhile. So that's exciting.
Oliver and his team had a fun, but LATE, bus ride home, not arriving back to Wellsville until after 1:00 a.m. I was very thankful that my mom and dad rode with us for our 400-mile-cross-state basketball adventure (Wellsville to KCK to Wichita and back to Wellsville)! We left their house about 12:30 p.m. and arrived back at about 12:30 a.m. Even though our favorite teams didn't get to advance, I'll always love watching them play. I'm so sad that Oliver's career as a Wellsville Eagle basketball player has come to an end, but I'm forever thankful for his work ethic, demeaner and humility on the court, and the way he supports his teammates. I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to watch him all these years, and mostly blessed to call him mine.
