All season we had been working towards this. Game after game, practice after practice and we were almost there. It was the semifinals of our 8th grade Wyckoff basketball season. Everyone knew after this season that we wouldn’t be playing for this team anymore. After this were off to high school with a few other towns that hadn’t shared these seasons with us. We had been so good every year winning so many tournaments and leagues that it became second nature to receive a trophy. Coming into the semifinal game we knew it would be a tough one. We were playing West Milford, the only team to give us trouble all year. They were bigger than us which made this such a tough game for us. I knew it would be a good game because we didn’t want to finish our Wyckoff basketball careers without being the champions of the league.

I put on my jersey and laced up my sneakers, I was ready to go. Warming up for the game you could feel how tense everybody was. The whole team knew this was the biggest game of our careers. After our coach gave us a pep talk we were ready to role. I wasn’t a starter on the team but when I got in I would always work my hardest. When I got into the game I was so nervous. I usually didn’t get nervous but I just couldn’t help the fact to think about what this game meant. If we lose I will never wear this jersey again. If we win me and the rest of the team will be able to put this Wyckoff basketball jersey on one more time. Knowing all of this I put my emotions aside and just tried to enjoy playing this game. Our team fought the whole game. West Millford kept it a close game througout. In the fourth quarter we started to take over. I had a good feeling about this. Our whole team had played in so many games in the past couple years and had lost so few of those that I became very confident we would pull this win out.

Last possession of the game we were up two points with ten seconds left. West Millford had the ball and they were looking to win it with a three. Two seconds left I watched a player on there team crossover and shoot. I watched the flight off the ball as it went up. It looked like it was going way over the rim so I almost began to celebrate. The buzzer went off and the ball had banked off the backboard and went in. We lost the game on that shot. None of us could believe what just happened. We finally were beating this team that gave us trouble for years and they beat us at the buzzer.

After the game I saw lots of my teammates were pretty upset, some of them were even crying. I didn’t blame them because I wanted to cry too. Wyckoff basketball had meant so much to me over the years. All the friends I made, games we played and memories made from this team were countless. I started to cry a little bit because I couldn’t help but think that all of this was coming to an end.

When I got home I just layed in bed thinking about what just happened. It was hard to fathom at the time what really had happened. When I thought about it being the last time I wore that jersey it made me almost cry again. When you're out on the court running, jumping, shooting and sweating in it, it may not seem to mean much. When you look back, it seems to mean more then you could ever imagine.

A couple weeks later once it really started to kick in that the season was over, I began to smile when thinking about playing Wyckoff basketball. I started to think about all the good things that happened while playing. Like I said earlier, friends I made who I will be friends with for years, memories I made that I will never forget. This was the stuff that I started to think about and remember. Every time I would go into my dresser and see the jersey, it reminded me of all the good things that happened never the bad things.