Jacob had originally been targeting the last game of the season, against Northstar, his former school, to make his big comeback. But as that day approached, it became clear that wasn't going to happen. His leg just wasn't quite ready for that kind of activity. Still, it was good to see him out on the court for warmups and to see his team get their big first win. Then the goal became to get back for sectionals. But then the flu showed up and put everything in doubt. Thankfully Tamiflu seemed to save the day, and Jacob was even feeling good enough to get in a practice before the game to ensure his leg (and the rest of his body) felt okay. Once that happened, we had the green light.
Because they were the lowest seeded team in their bracket, with how the seeding works they played the 6-seed--still the strongest in this round but also pretty middle of the road. With Jacob back in the lineup, they were definitely going to be a better team and seemed to have the chance to surprise a team or two. The 6-seed was Letchworth, who barely won a game last year but had obviously improved this year. We had to go there, which meant a very long drive, over an hour past Geneseo and Perry, which both feel like long enough drives as it is. We stopped in Geneseo to grab Taco Bell for Carter and me, which turned into a debacle. The KFC/Taco Bell there had a more limited menu so we had to shift our choices from our usual, and then we had a guy in front of us who took forever. First, KFC had no white meat so he was calling someone to ask if that was okay, and then he was asking questions about everything--what's a taco supreme, what kind of nachos do you have, etc. It was frustrating since we were in a little bit of a rush to get there. Luckily, we still got there in plenty of time.
This view over the Genesee Valley en route, with a pleasant sunset view, was reminiscent of last year's drive to Marcus Whitman before we lost.
I should have taken more pictures--the gym was huge and fancy, and seeing him on the court was rare this year--but I suppose I was caught a bit off-guard by the game and then just forgot. Jacob did not start, as his coach wanted to honor the guys who played all year. But early on neither team could make a shot, so Jacob came in not too long into the first quarter. That quarter ended with us trailing 5-4, and two of those points were Jacob's once he came in. It was nice to get those points under his belt right away. During the course of the game his threes were struggling, but his twos looked effortless, which was pretty much opposite how things usually go. He looked so much more agile than I expected. I don't think anyone would have known he hadn't played most of the season. Shockingly, the rest of the team looked great as well. Joe put in his usual 20+ points, but almost everyone else got in on the scoring, too. They looked so much better than they had all year--better rebounding, better shooting, and good teamwork. It was neat to see such a team effort for a change. I can't say Jacob was the reason, but I do think he gave them some extra confidence, maybe settled them down a bit, and probably took some of the stress off so they could relax and enjoy it. They took a huge lead in the third quarter and ended up winning by 19! It was fun to see them smiling after the game as we cheered them on the way to the bus. Jacob ended up with 11 points, which felt like a really solid first game back, especially since his playing time was still limited.
On the way back, Craig was on a call for Jacob's travel season, and I swear my anxiety shot up (despite the meds) just listening to discussions of the trips, the schedule, the hotels, and all of the things that we skipped last year as Jacob healed. I can't say I missed them. It was like I was right back to 2023 and the midwest odyssey, which if you recall kept me awake at night for weeks. It's coming and there will be a trip or two I need to do solo, so good thing I have meds this time around! It's exciting to think he could get recruited this year, but it's a LOT.
Winning their first game meant they would play another game on Friday, this time in Gananda. I didn't even know where Gananda was until I looked it up--it's out in the same direction as a facility we've been at a lot for basketball tournaments and box lacrosse, just the other fork in the road nearby. Then we learned a lot more about it because Jacob found out from a teacher that it was a planned community. Given Jacob's fascination with Disney and the planned community of Celebration, having one nearby was intriguing to him. Unfortunately, it lost its funding pretty quickly in the 1970s and only has a population of 6,500 compared to the 90,000 they were planning. He enjoyed reading me the Wikipedia article on it as I drove him to training the one day. Speaking of training, he spent the week a little nervous about his leg as it was a bit more sore after Tuesday's game. It still swells up, too, which is sort of odd to see. But I don't think we could have kept him off the court if we tried, especially if this could be their last game.
We weren't sure what to expect from this one. This was definitely a better team--the 3-seed--but it turned out that their best player was hurt. We struggled a bit early on (once again, Jacob didn't start), but slowly things got better and it turned into quite a back-and-forth game. It was close for most of it, and we were only down a point at halftime. However, we noticed Jacob didn't play much in the third quarter after we saw him get looked at by the trainers on-site. We weren't sure what was wrong but it seemed like his hand was bothering him because he realized he couldn't clap with his team. We ended up with a pretty decent deficit during that time he was out, though he did end up going back in. He didn't score much but we did make a comeback and even took the lead! It was looking good for a bit, right down to less than a couple minutes left, and then things started going wrong. There was a completely botched play where we lost possession. Jacob missed a three and then bobbled the ball on another chance. They got some foul shots to inch closer and we suddenly couldn't rebound, so the other team took the lead. And then the kicker--Joe hit a three...just as the coach called a timeout. Noooooo. That would have tied it but it didn't count. It was so disappointing. They just couldn't put anything together and ended up losing by five. It was crushing given the lead they'd had late. And with that, the season was over, just as it was getting started again. Not that we expected a long run, but clearly it was possible it could have gone at least a game longer.
It turned out that Jacob jammed his pinky on his shooting hand pretty good. He could still play but it hurt to shoot and clearly he wasn't at his best after that. He did end up with 10 points, which wasn't bad for another abbreviated game. But the injury was definitely a bummer. We had an interesting little distraction after the game as we realized that the school's former somewhat-disgraced athletic director was there. I saw someone hugging the players and despite a new beard I realized pretty quickly who it was. Everyone really liked him, but he ran into some legal trouble late last year and had to be let go. It's still in the courts but working at a school isn't really an option right now, which is sad for him because it was clearly something he loved and was good at. Jacob really misses him. The new athletic director is sort of flaky--which was confirmed when she herself sang the anthem before the first game. I mean, she wasn't awful but at the end she hit pretty much the worst note ever. She's nice and enthusiastic but doesn't really know what she's doing. She ordered illegal jersey numbers this year (consecutive numbers instead of the ones referees can hold up fingers for), and the uniforms themselves were pretty awful--the look and quality were lacking, which was a struggle for Jacob who loves that sort of stuff. It's definitely been an adjustment, but it was nice of him to come see them.
Jacob got his finger x-rayed the next day and thankfully there isn't a break. It's just sprained/bruised. Hopefully it heals up quickly because travel season is about to get going with tryouts next weekend. I don't know how we'll find a happy medium between what is expected from those players and what his leg can take, but I guess we're about to find out.
One other point of note is that Jacob's game happened directly opposite a Knighthawks game and Craig chose to go to Jacob's game. He voluntarily ended his streak at 415 consecutive games! Carter and I told him he should have gone back and taken over at halftime (especially after we heard the broadcast--it wasn't awful, just a bit more boring), but he didn't have the heart to do that to the guy who was doing the game for him, who is usually his color analyst. I think in many ways he was relieved to end it as there had been a lot of pressure to keep it going (keep in mind game 200 was the day after Carter was born!) and I think he wanted a little more freedom to feel like he could miss a game if he had to. So I guess ending it on his own terms was the way he wanted it to go, and this felt like an important reason. That made me wish even more that they could have won, but no such luck.
I'm truly sad the season is over, and at this point we don't know what next year holds. Depending on the day you ask him, he could be back or he could be somewhere totally different. It's going to take a massive effort if he goes somewhere else, but his mental health is obviously super important so we have some big decisions to make. I suppose we will always wonder what this season would have been like had he not had surgery, but hopefully it's abundantly clear down the road that we made the right decision.
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