Uni vs Greenview: Can we run it back?

 Aakash Vasireddy | Blog Post #5 | Non-Fiction Writing | December 7th, 2021

There are countless new experiences that we take for granted throughout our lives - experiences that pass without any second thought. From coming to Uni as a Subbie in 2017 and walking into the building for the first time, to attending my last Howdy Hop with my friends in the greenspace we call Uni Quad, I have gained so many memorable moments throughout high school. I’ve been on the ground laughing hysterically from interactions with friends, but I’ve also stressed in the library, furiously typing out my college essays - I’ve experienced it all.

However, if I had to pick one experience that I would like to relive for the first time, I would choose the most intense basketball game I had ever played in during sophomore year: a conference match against Greenview High School. Well into the season at the moment, I’m constantly reminded while watching through all our old game film of all the great memories I had so far playing basketball at Uni. I’ve had some of my greatest and worst moments on the court while competing with teammates and other schools, and I love watching our old games to grade my performance and track the progress of myself and my teammate over the years. I’ve been teased quite recently by a few close friends about how much I remember from these past years - my ability to recount single moments or plays from games that happened over two years in such detail.

This game was by far the most crazy and fun thing that happened that year, so I was extremely exhilarated to look at the game film and relive one of the most hype and energy-spiked environments I’ve ever been in (along with one of my better performances). However, when I opened up my Google Drive the next morning (in the airport, no less) to view the footage, I was met with the words “Unable to process this video.” Desperately, I tried anything to get that video back, but I was soon met with the realization that the second half (and third half - we’ll get to that shortly) were not available for me to watch. I was only able to experience those two hours in the moment, but not being able to go through and watch it again is why I would love to relive this moment for the first time.

For some context, something I’d deem helpful for someone who does not follow the basketball team as closely, Greenview was recently added as a member of our conference my freshman year, but our two teams quickly developed an intense rivalry. We played Greenview on their homecourt and found ourselves in a quite volatile environment. The fans were amped, and despite not being the most back-and-forth game, the competitive atmosphere drove up the energy in the gym. Looking back and talking back about the game, we always mention that our first win that season (how embarrassing!) included six technical fouls. For the non-basketball people, having a *single* technical during a game is quite rare, so to have six was quite absurd. We then lost to them in the conference tournament the next year.

These events made the following year that much more competitive when Greenview came to our home court to play us. We were just coming off a two-point heartbreaker against Decatur Christian, a team we should have beat, and the Greenview game was to end off Finals week as the final event before the Christmas/New Years break. We had a full student section filled with friends and classmates across all grade levels, everyone eager to finish off their first semester and their last school day in 2019 by watching their basketball team play at home and win.

Right from the tip, the game was charged with huge amounts of energy. Our coach scouted their team and identified their better players, and he assigned me the task of face-guarding their best player (as I had done the previous year for some of the game). Face-guarding is essentially when all your focus is on the player you’re defending. You don’t have help-side responsibilities. You don’t switch onto other players. You literally just have your back to the ball every possession and watch your assignments jersey. All I was seeing during the game was red. I think face-guarding made my team involvement less impactful because I relied on everyone else to make the proper plays without my help defense, and I didn’t even know what happened on plays most of the time. When I watched through the first half, there were plays that I didn’t even know happened because I was staring at my opponent’s jersey the entire time. I remember one play I was face-guarding down the entire court, so much so that my opponent started getting annoyed and pushed me to try and get open. The ref called an offensive foul and I came over to the bench yelling “HE DON’T LIKE THAT!”

The game went back-and-forth. As all basketball players know, basketball is a game of runs. Throughout the game, there were small spurts where we made three straight baskets, and then there were small lapses where we gave up three straight baskets. It’s just the way the game is played, and that element during the game made for an extremely competitive environment. As the final minutes in the fourth quarter ticked away, the tension in the air dramatically increased with the scores being eerily close together, neither team budging in the game. However, when the clock expired, reading 00:00, the scores read the same number: overtime.

Similar to the technical fouls, as I mentioned earlier, having overtime is pretty rare. We had one overtime game during the season already versus Hoopeston. The scores were tied going into the last possession of overtime. Hoopeston had control, and the MVP of their team that night that I had been face-guarding the entire game got the ball, got a switch onto Ethan who (at the time) was much shorter, and sunk a mid-range shot off the glass to seal their victory. Despite the loss, I can still say the energy in that game rivaled the energy of the Greenview game throughout the four regular quarters. However, the energy during Hoopeston’s overtime could not compare to the energy during Greenview’s overtime. Again, each time went back and forth down the court, each bucket worth so much more than two points in the heat of the moment.

The first overtime ended, and the home and away teams yet again shared the same scores. Then the second overtime ended: same thing. The third overtime ended: same thing. At the end of each overtime, we tried drawing up a play to make the game-winner, but we could capitalize. Midway through the fourth overtime, the night felt like forever. We had probably played another half with all the overtimes, and I had not gotten a rest throughout the entire game, overtimes and all. When it came down to the last play, I got fouled with a few seconds left on the clock - we were down two.

With all the eyes on me, I bricked the first free throw off the rim. We went on to lose that game, the score reading 64-63: Greenview wins against Uni High.

I have never forgotten that moment and the ups and downs I had during that game. It was one of the best experiences ever to compete for the home crowd and feel the energy they gave. Ultimately, we came up short and if reliving the experience for the first time means making corrections, I would do that in an instant. In the past couple seasons (unfortunately only two due to the pandemic), we haven’t had the greatest of records which makes winning now and (hopefully) winning in the future an exciting experience, but I can’t help but wish that I could watch that film again, despite not being able to change the outcome.