Another first

On the biggest stage in the history of Rosehill sports, the boys basketball team played like men, worked like a team, and did their school proud yesterday in front of a sell out crowd of 21,000 fans(ok maybe more like 500) at the beautiful Toyota center. In a double overtime win, the Eagles defeated the Covenant Christian Cougars on a ten foot jumper by sophomore Johnny Tumlinson with 2 seconds remaining to secure one of the biggest victories in the history of the program. In the midst of a season filled with disappointments and struggles the team came together and used speed, quickness and timely shooting to earn a come from behind victory that was sorely needed.
The game almost never made it to overtime. The Eagles scored only five points in the fourth quarter and allowed the Covenant Cougars to take the lead due to their outstanding hustle and defense. The Eagles choose the most inoportune time to go into the worst offensive slump of the game, and had to look to a freshman to bail them out. Josh Rickard scored three the old fashioned way, when he hit a baseline jumper and was fouled with just ten seconds left to play. Showing the maturity of a senior, Rickard stepped to the line and calmly sank the free throw, tying the score, and sending the game into overtime. The first extra period was an excercise in futility as both teams scored only two points thus forcing a second overtime period. In that period Covenant quickly grabbed the lead, but Rosehill fought back and with 17.8 seconds remaining on the clock, they found themselves with the ball and the chance for the victory. Johnny tumlinson raced the ball upcourt and passed of to Jared Nelson who dished back to Johnny inside the key where he scored on a short jumper to put the Eagles ahead for good. The game ended when Michael Bass intercepted the Cougars inbound pass,securing the upset victory. The throngs of Rosehill fans went wild and stormed the court in a scene straight out of Hoosiers. It truley was a memorable moment.
Matt Briner Keith Arrant, Michael Bass, Austin McNight and Jarred Nelson all played well, along with Tyler Kaminski, Jordan Kaminski and Nathan Ramirez all pitching in to spell the starters along the way. Coach Mitchell should be commended for preparing his undersized team in the art of team basketball. The team is young and inexperienced, but with three outstanding sophomores and one freshman, the outlook for Rosehill Christian basketball is beginning to look bright.

Not much to say

It has been a while since I posted on my blog. It just seems that I have not had anything profound to say. Exams, grading and the holiday season just seemed to have exhausted my mental resources, and no thoughts of genius have been coming to me.

One thing I have been contemplating over the last week has been the Tsunami tragedy in the Indian Ocean. People in general respond strangely to death. The terror and grief have been felt worldwide, and I too have been grieving for the families of the lost. The strange thing is that everyone knows we will all die someday. All 120,000 people would have been lost at one time or another. It seems alright to many when one lonely ederly person dies alone in a nursing home. Not true though if you were that person dyeing. Death is inevitable, it is horrific and tragic no matter the circumstances. We should all learn from Jim Elliot when he said "make sure when it is time to die the only thing you have left to do is die."
If you have faith in Christ, share it NOW with the world. If you have not surrendered to Christ do it immediately. How many of those 120,000 people do you suppose figured they had plenty of time to come to terms with their maker. Death is final and it will get us all in the end.