The score doesn’t always tell the tale

I
t’s often heard in sports that the scoreboard doesn’t reflect the contest that was played out on a court or a field, and every year, in every sport, I witness games where this adage applies.
It comes as no surprise that this hoops season has resulted in several games where this scenario played out, and I’d be willing to bet there will be more.
A couple of weeks ago was a great example as the Lady Dogies took on the No. 1 Lady Bearcats of Douglas, only to turn around and travel down to Wheatland to face off against a scrappy Lady Bulldog team.
On Friday night the squad was in a battle from start to finish where the ladies worked their tail off against the undeniable best team in the state in 3A if not in 4A.
With a 6-foot, 4-inch inside presence who UW actively recruited when she was just a sophomore and recently signed for the upcoming season, who is surrounded by guards who can score from anywhere on the court, the Lady Bearcats are the full package. 
Many teams in 3A feel great just to come away without getting mercy ruled by this talented squad.
Bearcat defense did a great job of closing off access to the lane, so Newcastle went to work from the perimeter draining 11 threes. When the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Dogies were only down 23 points, and while that appears at face value to be a sound beating, against Douglas that is a pretty impressive score differential.
And, to make the game more impressive, Douglas did not pull a starter off the floor until there were only two minutes remaining in the third quarter while three of them played the entire 32 minutes.
That tells me that they were just never
comfortable, and it’s a testament to some respect being shown the Lady Dogies by the Lady ‘Cats.
It was a really quick turnaround for the girls as they got on the road to play a tough Wheatland team on Saturday, so that made the challenge tough for the ladies. I could see that the contest the night before had worn the girls out because many of their shots that usually fall were all just a smidgen short.
It was a battle during all four quarters but it was grit that won it for the Lady Dogies. Wheatland pulled ahead three with seconds to play, but that lead was wiped away with a buzzer beater shot in regulation by a sophomore, Shelby Tidyman, to push the contest into overtime.
My response was Holy Wah! It was her
first bucket of the night and she hit it with all the pressure of her young basketball world on her shoulders.
Newcastle would go on to win the game by one after a Lady Bulldog player went one for two at the line with just a little over a second to play.
I did feel a little bad for Wheatland because I knew that they were also a step slow after a tough conference battle win against Burns the night before. 
Of course, I felt better that Newcastle came out on top, but I was really hit with the notion that the score doesn’t always tell the tale of the battle that played out on the court between young warriors whose focus is on the win.
These are the contests that demonstrate character, fortitude and passion all among people just starting out in the world to make their way. And what better way to do it than facing the kinds of challenges that they will face in life but in a safe way?
This is just one of the things I love about high school sports, because as I peruse the scoreboards each week, I know that there was so much more to each of those contests.