Call it whatever

Another B-L-O-G, another day of R-A-I-N?

Last night we watched the Mesa Jackrabbits visit the home court of the Hamilton Huskies. These two played in December (holiday tournament) and Mesa handled the Huskies then. This was still on the players' minds no doubt. Hamilton had a some key players sitting out, unfortunately. Mesa has probably the best point guard in the state and another one going to play for Tulsa next year.

At the end of the first quarter, Hamilton was ahead. At the half, Mesa was up by 7 or so. The third quarter ended with Mesa still in the lead. The last five minutes of regulation were electric, however. The Huskies took over and came back to tie it up, sending it into overtime. The students were rowdy, the parents were buzzing, and the refs ... well, they didn't exactly bring their A games.

Coincidentally, the game just happened to be broadcast live over the AIA website. So the proof is there. I can't count the number of bad calls or no calls on the part of the officials. But life goes on.

Here we go into an extra 4 minutes of action. The Huskies were in a zone, it seemed, and were up by 2 with about a minute left (due to an obvious goal-tend which the refs didn't call). Then the Jackrabbit all-star Jahii-what's-his-name took the ball and tied the game again. As Hamilton comes in after that, they made a costly turnover. Then a questionable foul call sends Mr. Carson to the line for 2 more shots. He missed one, surprisingly, putting Mesa up 73-72 with a few seconds left. Hamilton hurries the ball down and we find big Micah Fetters shooting it in the corner as the clock winds down. . .

The night was full of exciting overtime thrillers. The Phoenix Suns lost at home to the inferior Charlotte Bobcats in OT. The #1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats went down against the Gamecocks of South Carolina. And sadly, the mighty Hamilton Huskies felt the crushing blow of defeat, barely losing to potentially the best team in the Valley of the Sun.

A referee call here, a made free throw there, and today is a day of joy for HHS fans. But we can't let it ruin our day. That's what the clouds are for.

- JL