Cold, Cold, Cold
The weather in China has been crazy since the second day we returned in late December. On December 30th the weather was a sunny 68-70 degrees, however by January 1st the temperature dipped to the high 40s! It got so cold that we could see our breath in our apartment if we didn't turn on our heaters. They say at one point it got to 38 degrees.
Now imagine this weather with basketball being played outdoors. Yes, many of the gyms in south China are outside or have walls and roofs, but no insulation or heating systems. To be quite honest, our first two winters never created a problem with such severe lows, but that was not the case in early 2011.
Defense was the Difference
Our first game matched us up against Shekou International School. They are an established school, founded in 1988, with an enrollment of around 700 kids from over 40 countries. As compared to us, QSI Dongguan, a school of 250 students that opened in 2005. Thus, on paper this game seemed to pit a big city favorite against a small town underdog. This would not be the case. Although the game lacked any high scoring offense (this was probably due to the cold temps of playing at 10 a.m.), the Dongguan Tritons dominated on defense and rebounds. Even though we only have one player over six feet, we played big. In the end, we never really trailed and won 32-26.
This one victory in itself was historical. It was our school's first-ever post season victory. However, the boys were not finished. We later played a couple of games against schools with over 1,000 kids, QSI Shekou and Clifford International School, but came up empty in hard fought battles. At this point two teams were eliminated, Macau International School and Shekou International School, but we remained to play Utahloy Guangzhou for 3rd place.
By the time we reached this game, it was already 5:00pm and it was getting chilly. The schools battled in a real seesaw of a match up. We jumped out to a two point lead after the first quarter. Then they held the lead by 4 at the half. By the end of the third quarter we came back to take a one point lead. With three minutes left in the game we looked strong and pushed ahead with four points and momentum on our side. Then Utahloy took a crucial timeout to slow our transition game down. It worked and threw our kids off. They staged an admirable comeback trading baskets with our squad for the next two-plus minutes. Then with our Tritons holding on to a two point lead, they pushed the ball up the court with 20 seconds and made a nice 12 foot jumper. We tried to call timeout, but the officials did not respond, our point guard threw a long pass with five seconds to our wing who threw up a long shot at the buzzer, but it bricked. Overtime.
In overtime, the extra period was a series of trading baskets as neither team could make a serious run. By this time it was getting real cold and the amount of points being scored had dropped considerably. After the three minute period ended, both teams managed an equal six points. Overtime number two.
The second overtime saw both teams play hard. Utahloy Guangzhou came out strong and on the first play drove the lane, made the basket and got fouled. The free throw was good. They jumped out to a three point lead. After no scoring for over one minute, a freshman on our team named Alan stepped up and hit a 15 footer with such confidence. It got our boys excited. The next play on defense we stole the ball and led a fast break with a layup finished by Kevin, one of only two seniors on our team. That four point swing gave us a one point lead. Tough defense on both sides lead to no scoring for over a minute. Then with time winding down our point guard, Bryant, drove the length of the court and shot a contested jumper. The rebound came down right to Chayang, our starting wing, and he tried a put back and was fouled with with 1.2 seconds left in the game. The score was Utahloy 25 Dongguan 24. We needed these free throws. Chayang confidently sank the first. The second rimmed out. Overtime number three.
The third overtime is where we took over. The boys took the ball to the hole and Utahloy began to foul. We made three free throws and held the Guangzhou squad to one desperation two point bucket at the end of the game. Victorious at last, and our boys deserved it. After playing nearly two hours, they pulled their second upset of the night over a "power" school. How sweet it was.
