She makes the final buzzer beater in a last-minute, chucked-up shot that bounces all around the rim.  Everyone comes storming the court to celebrate the amazing win that has been achieved through the hard work and dedication of the girls to the amazing sport of basketball.  Last season the Ayersville Girl’s Basketball team went 21-4 and won only the second conference championship in the history of the school.  We also had the most regular season wins and tied the record for overall wins.  Throughout all the hard drill and long practices in pre-season, I can remember thinking, ‘Man I wish I could just be done with this drill already.  It’s so tiring.’  However, knowing that my basketball team had the potential to be amazing that year, I told myself to push through the tiredness one play at a time until my team came out on top with the victory.
In preparation for the season, we spent many long hours in the gym as a team and as individuals, shooting until arms became noodles.  We knew that The Hanger, a small blue and gold themed gym, had just enough bleachers, making the gym always look full. The gym has feeling to it and feels like were our second home.  Going into the season, we all had individual goals that led to us becoming a unstoppable team, loving each other on and off the court no matter what happened.  We all had that one goal of being the best we could be and making it as far as we could in tournament.
The sweat drops ran down our back and nasty sweat soaked socks had to be peeled off our feet once practice was over, but it would be worth all the hard work we had put into this sport.  We loved and cared about basketball so much that it seems as if it were a real person.  Throughout pre-season we completed each drill with hard work.  Our team was special because we had unity that other teams long to have with their own teammates.  Also, many teams wanted to beat Ayersville badly not only because of basketball but because of volleyball, too, because we had just won our third consecutive conference championship.  Hard work separates the average person from the winners and champions; in fact, we all wanted to be champions and knew that we could beat any opponent.  Nothing could stop us from reaching it.  “You have the power to be amazing, but it’s up to you,” Coach said.  Every time we put on the blue and gold Ayersville jersey we had the power within our reach to show the community as well as everyone the unity of our team and that we can do anything no matter what adversity we overcame each game. 
My teammates and I overcame many obstacles throughout the year whether it was being in foul trouble or someone having an off day.  On the court next to each other, we all became leaders because we knew that the hard work we had put in transferred to success.  Our well-trained skills made us more confident as we continued throughout the season.  Although our team didn’t make it past district finals, we still had learned many valuable lessons on and off the court with some amazing pep talks before and after games.  Our coaches also made us realize that we can do anything with a little bit of hard work.  We set goals and would have to achieve them, and if we didn’t get it the first time, then we would keep trying until we accomplished it.  Hard work can lead to many exciting accomplishments as long as the effort and confidence is there. 
All of our hard work led up to many big games at the end of the season; nevertheless, our tournament run began for sectionals in Paulding versus Continental and Edgerton.  Both of our sectional games were easier because we had spent days preparing for them, and we had previously beaten both teams during season.  We would watch film, scrimmage against the junior varsity, and learn new plays to run against their defense.  Next we moved onto districts.  These games would be a tougher challenge than the sectional games.  First we played the Pettisville Blackbirds.  They were a fast, strong team just like us.  Playing a poor game that day, we missed too many shots; we also had too many turnovers.  However, we advanced to the district finals game versus our archrival the purple and gold Holgate Tigers.  They had previously beaten us in a regular season, a nail bitter by only three points.  Going into the district finals, we knew that it was the game we had been working for; consequently, it was the most important game we had played all year. 
Finally, the day arrived, and we traveled to Archbold, Ohio, on a cold, stormy Saturday.  Our preparation let us know we could beat them if we played amazing; however, we tried our absolute best but couldn’t finish it the fourth quarter.  We missed too many layups and had to many turnovers.  The roar of the student sections overwhelmed us, while their yelling and screaming startled everyone.  Then they would become silent when we would swish a free throw as they screamed as loudly as they could.  Even though we didn’t accomplish our goal of beating Holgate, this was a very successful season in my eyes.  The Ayersville Lady Pilots basketball program went from being just over 500 to having an amazing record of 21-4, which will continue to grow over years to come.  Our hard work has changed our program forever, and the success will continue to come as long as the hard work continues.