The Sixth Man

One of the most exciting games I have ever seen live, occurred today when the Lady Wildcats defeated the #2 seeded Hastings who was last years national championships. This was not an easy win by any means. IWU pulled out a defense that has not been seen all year...The Zone...and ran it very very very well. Wildcats won the game by the score of 61-52, but it was not until the late minutes that IWU pulled away. Hastings had cut it to a one point game, but a Liz Howerth three, and then a steal and a layup put them up by 6. Then with the shot clock winding down, Sarah McGill fired up and off balanced shot beyond the arc to beat the shot clock and banked it in. It was then the Wildcats knew they had the game sealed. This was not the ordinary Wildcats...Their late production came out of no where. Hastings had the Wildcats on their heals, until those last few minutes.

The buzzer sounded, Wildcats shook hands without a yell of excitement. There was a prayer in the middle of the court and they walked to the locker room with their heads held high. Once they were in the locker room as Ryan and I chased them in to find footage. There were screams for joy. Liz Howerth said, "There was another strength out there playing other than us." It was the sixth man. The Wildcats all year have used the phrase an Audience of One. And today the first thing Coach Brooks said in the locker room was "We played and praised God with our playing today, and that is what we are here for. We know what has got us here, and it is all for him." If you watched the game you knew it was true, because these girls came out of no where and were hitting shots they couldn't hit, or shouldn't of made. There was something different about this team.

The team knows it was not themselves who had the talent to win, but someone bigger than them...someone bigger than the game of basketball. Ask any of the players and they will say God came through for them today, and they could not of done it without him. Think about that...it is more than just a "team effort" it is a "God effort". They relied on the one being who gives them the gifts they have, and knew it was in his hands. Now am I saying God decided basketball games? I don't know...I am not God, but the girls know there was a sixth man out on the court today they allowed them to knock down their shots, play God honoring basketball, and keep their heads held high...no matter what the outcome was. When the girls got back to the locker room, the first thing they did was pray. Thanked God for the ability to play, for the ability to have fun and honor him. Then the celebrating began. It is just amazing to see that they know there is a player they could not forget, and put first before celebration. A God Honoring team, honored their Sixth man as they pulled through an Elite Eight game and on to the Final Four.