My room, 11:46: If you walked in you’d find me watching game film. I had a coke in hand so as not to doze off during the 4th quarter, and as I tried to find a comfortable position, my eyes were ever glued to my computer screen. Deficits of 13-0, 35-28 and 40-32 were erased as we fought with such resilience and the grit of warriors that even the most unemotional soul would have burst into applause.

When it got there, to the play I wanted, I rewinded and replayed until I was satisfied. I remember it as if I was still there. Ojai Valley School running “Duke,” a defensive play. Less than half a minute to go, 49-48 Thacher. Thacher’s guard throws the ball away, I hustle the width of the court to retrieve the ball before it went out. I get it, immediately pass to guard Alex Alvirez. The pump fake, defender goes flying by, Alex drains the three, we’re up 51-49. My Facebook status after the game received comment after comment describing the back and forth, come from behind win in their gym as, “intense.”

Granted that play was orchestrated by coach Scott Benigar, he held the ball until we all got into position. We did, the play happened. Not only did he orchestrate the play, but also the moment by making sure we got it right. Thanks to his “genius coaching,” as he called it in a film session, the play transpired how it did.

I was new to the team, not for the reasons you might have thought. I played basketball as a kid. I went to HoopMasters with my friends, I played on my school teams and attended UCLA basketball camps. The only kicker was when I walked out of my freshman basketball team’s last practice at New Roads High School, it’d be my last. Here’s the overall reason coming from a shy and slightly angry sophomore, the same coming from an apathetic junior, “I can’t stand the insane race ratio, the coaches are emotionless psychopaths, and I like going home on Fridays.” From my friend’s standpoint, they know me as an athlete always quick to mention sports or the last night’s game. Such reasons would have been preposterous to process, still it happened. Either way the teams sucked back then. Both had losing records. Less of a reason for me to care.

I joined this season with a desire to try to perform the best I could and to contribute what I could, especially because let’s face it, it’s my senior year and quite frankly I might not have many more chances in the future. It was me, my then roommate Ryan Skolnick, Alex Alvirez a friend of mine, Jimmy Chen a natural driver and scorer, but to me (THEN) a mix of a quiet egotistical basketball mind. We also had Isaac, I had never really spoken to him, and Colm Barrett, a natural athlete whose attitude I was slightly worried about based on the football injuries he received as a valuable return man (not like the latter is a bad thing). Those were all the guys I knew. The rest were other kids of Asian descent with whom I did not have the smallest form of a relationship, other than Derrick Ha and Jack Liu.

The negativity stops here. After MONTHS of hard practice and suicides that drove many to that oh so familiar momentary hatred of the coach, we won our first game. We would win five more, some thrillers some blowouts, on our way to a 6-4 season overall. I’ll say it should have been 7-3 for that first game against VCC, but still I had fun. I had my own personal problems with Benigar and fellow coach Brad Weidlich in the beginning, still it didn’t stop me from trying to do my job. This year, it was gritty play mostly, a lot of passes to open three point shooters, a few of my own, and the ability to drive to the short corner. I’m getting light headed to talk about it now it’s so exciting.

For the most part, we all contributed, as for when we didn’t, we lost. When we adhered to the team motto of “TOGETHER,” (I put it in caps because it’s important, trust me), we won. By the time the season, I had enjoyed myself, found basketball again, got very fit from all those suicides (though they made want to commit homicide at times), formed a respectable relationship with the coaches through basketball, and formed on the court friendships with my far eastern counterparts. The laughs we had, shoot around sessions in practice, the back rubs (:, and all else. Here’s playing with you guys.

For our last TOGETHER, it was public. We not only achieved a winning season, but we showed everyone, literally, just how united we are. I chill with Alex on a regular basis, Jimmy and I have become interactive in a positive way (whenever we talk), as for my recent roommate drama, I have to say that on the court, we were cool when it counted. It was a vent which helped me become a better person, through strenuous suicides, to fantastic free throw shooting, to assists to my teammates and theirs to me, from AND 1’s to team chants, to thunderous chants from the bleachers, to the echo of a ball hitting the hardwood, I’m glad I played. TOGETHER, we did it, we accomplished a winning season, something that still has my parents in the ER, one from an aneurysm, and one from cardiac arrest, brought on from extensive celebration.

Alex Alvirez, Colm Barrett, Ryan Skolnick, Isaac Kwong, Jimmy Chen, Ian Cheung, Mike Gao, Jack Liu, Amit Pandya, Derrick Ha, Wei Wei Wang, Anthony Ho, Scott Benigar, Brad Weidlich, thank you for the season.