The journey to the tourney — the Final Four Basketball Tournament — is one of the most exciting sporting events in America. The Top 28 High School State Tournament to determine the State Champions in each of the seven classifications is enough basketball to satisfy the appetite of any basketball fan.   
Basketball is one of my favorite sports. I played four years in high school and was considered pretty good. Of course, that was before integration. Today, I don’t think I could make any high school team.  
For seven years, I conducted a basketball camp for kids ages 7-12. I would have 150 plus kids play and have fun. There was no charge to participate. The message to the parents was that it was for the children, and they were given notice before the season started that they were there to show support and give
encouragement. They did not have any input in how the program was run.  
I had the privilege of seeing the great Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics play. I followed the careers of Bob Petit and Joe Dean, two of the LSU legends.  
The most exciting and best basketball player, in my opinion, was Pete Maravich of LSU, who later played in the NBA.
You could say that for a basketball lover, I experienced some pretty good basketball in my life. However, this year St. Charles Catholic High School’s basketball team of which Kameron, my grandson, is a member, has a losing record of 2-22, but it has been one of the most enjoyable for me.  
How can losing 22 games be enjoyable? Be reminded that I said it was enjoyable for me, not Paul
Waguespack, the coach. Paul was a standout basketball, baseball and football player in high school and the first basketball player at St. Charles to score more than 1,000 points in his career. He works hard and wants to win like any other coach.  
Of the 24 games, I’ve only missed one. I’ve enjoyed all of them because, while losing, the players played hard and never gave up.  
Saying all of this, the most exciting three minutes of the season happened last Friday night at the Comet gym in a game against Donaldsonville. Behind by 35 points, Coach Waguespack put Jordan Brooks and Jeffery Millet in. Jordan and Jeffery are reserves with great team spirit who play very little. When they entered the game, the crowd that was left gave them a standing ovation. Jordan took his first shot, missed, but hit the rim. The student body got excited. A little while after, he took a long three-pointer. It hit the backboard and went in. The fans and the players on the bench went wild!  
To top that, a little later Jeffery dribbles and takes a short jump shot, and it goes in. He ran down the court smiling and pumping his right arm as an exclamation mark on mission accomplished.
At the game’s end, the players on the bench hugged the two as if they had just won the State Championship. What an exciting ending to a high school basketball game!
I was reminded that the last three minutes of that game is what high school athletics should be about.
    
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