Wawasee vs. Bethany

Tonight was the game that Meg was most anxious about when she first saw the basketball schedule.  She did not have a great experience with Wawasee when playing soccer against them this fall and did not want the same situation in basketball.  She had thought about sitting the game out, but neither her coaches or Doug and I wanted her to do that.  Plus, Hannah-Marie would be on the Wawasee side and we knew that she would look out for Meg.

The JV game started off well for Meg until she saw two girls walk in to the gym during the first quarter who had made Meg's life miserable at Wawasee both on the soccer field and in the classroom.  They had both quit basketball, so there was no reason for them to attend the game especially since it was an away JV one.  Meg started to panic when she saw them and asked to come out of the game.  Her coaches handled it perfectly.  KP came down and sat by her until she could catch her breath.  Then Brent put her right back in.  I was nervous for her, but once the Lamles arrived and I realized that we had friends in the crowd it was a lot easier.

Meg played very well in the JV loss.  The varsity game was a lot closer with Bethany leading the majority of the game.  Turnovers and missed free throws turned the game toward Wawasee favor in the fourth quarter and they held on for a victory.  Meg played the last minute of the game, just enough  to be a part of the team and to allow me to get pictures of her and HM on the court.  Hannah-Marie had played well and we enjoyed watching her.  The girls got pictures together after the game and overall it went a lot better than I would have expected.  

I drove Meg home after the game.  She was still rattled, but glad at how she had played.  The reality for her was that the girls that had made her life miserable at Wawasee could no longer bother her.  She had played further in a sport that they both had quit and after a two year hiatus was still on par with the juniors on JV at Wawasee.  The game was also a great reminder to me that Meg had taken a huge chance this year to make her life better.  She has thrived at Bethany both in the classroom and in sports.  We couldn't be more proud of her.