GBB: Reporting gone bad, but a day that went perfectly

INDIANAPOLIS – Those of you who are frequent readers of HoosierAuthority.com know I spent nearly 20 years coaching basketball in Indiana. What fewer people know is that I have a three-year-old daughter, and a wife who travels a great deal for business. 

All of those factors mingled Nov. 21 to create one of those days that parents remember for a lifetime.

I planned to cover the Ben Davis Shootout on Saturday evening. The girls basketball doubleheader featured four of the state’s best teams – Class 4A top-ranked defending state champion Ben Davis hosting 3A top-ranked defending state champ Fort Wayne Elmhurst, 4A third-ranked Mooresville tackling 1A top-ranked defending state champion Fort Wayne Canterbury.

My wife informed me Saturday morning, however, that she, nor anyone else, could watch the daughter that evening. I faced a significant dilemma: I could pass on covering the event, or I could take my daughter with me to the games. 

I quickly retooled my thinking and decided this was a great opportunity for my daughter to view her first real basketball game. That, of course, is a big highlight for a dad who spent most of his life involved in the game. 

But it was going to play havoc with my ability to cover the games from a reporting standpoint. 

There was no way my little girl was going to remain interested for two full games, nor was she likely to stay quiet when I tried to do video interviews after the games. So, I decided I would arrive for the second half of the first game and stay through the first half of the second. 

This meant I couldn’t write the stories I wanted, but I could shoot highlight videos. And you folks like those at least as much, anyway.

I spent most of the afternoon building up the adventure to my daughter. Just before we left, I gave her the stern, lengthy lecture about behaving because Daddy was going to be working. We then departed for Ben Davis.

As they say, so much for the best-laid plans of mice and men. When we arrived at the gymnasium, I turned to find that I had been so wrapped up in lecturing the girl on her expected behavior that I left the house with neither my video camera nor my reporter’s notebook. 

Obviously, Daddy wasn’t going to be covering anything at these games. Still, it was an opportunity to start my daughter’s love affair with basketball, and I wasn’t about to miss that. We headed into the gym.

After passing through admission thanks to the very sweet nature of the ticket taker, we immediately headed for the … popcorn stand. It seemed the smell got to the girl very quickly! Of course, popcorn turned into popcorn, coke, and some candy. 

Nonetheless, we eventually headed into the upper level of the arena.

Once seated, I began to explain all of the things she was seeing. I explained how the players were trying to put the ball through the ring on that thing hanging from the ceiling, and how they did that by “shooting” the ball. I also explained how when one player threw the ball to another, it was called a “pass.” 

I explained defense, rebounding, officials, coaches, and anything else I could simplify to the level of a three-year-old. It all fell on the deafest of ears.

Instead, we went through the phase of her putting her hands over her ears every time the horn sounded because it was too loud. Then we went through the phase of her doing it just because she thought it was cute. 

We also went through the “I am only interested in the cheerleaders” phase, the “I want to climb up the bleachers” phase, the “I want to climb down the bleachers” phase, and every other phase that kept her from paying any attention to what was happening on the court.

By the end of the third quarter, I was becoming quite disappointed. By early in the fourth, I gave up any notion that she was going to pay any attention to the game. By midway through the final quarter, I had struck up a conversation with a guy sitting a couple of rows up and was just making sure she didn’t get lost before it was time to go home. 

It was a crushing blow for a father who had hoped to baptize his daughter in the holy waters of basketball.

Then it happened. With less than a minute to play, one of the teams grabbed a rebound and ran a picture-perfect fast break culminating in a layup at the other end. I turned to my daughter to tell her to put on her jacket, only to see her bright blue eyes shining up at me. 

“Daddy, that was a really good pass.”

There has never been a more perfect day.

In 4A No. 1 Ben Davis’ 73-38 victory over 3A No. 1 Fort Wayne Elmhurst, the host Giants (3-0) raced out to a 33-9 halftime advantage and made 29 field goals to only 10 for the Trojans (2-1). Dee Dee Williams led Ben Davis with 17 points and was joined in double figures by Bria Goss and Jazmine Windham (11 each).

In 3A No. 3 Mooresville’s 61-51 against 1A No. 1 Fort Wayne Canterbury, the victorious Pioneers (4-0) enjoyed a similar field goal edge at 25-13. Meagan Callaway led all scorers with 26 points and was joined in double digits by Jama Sharp (12), while Tabitha Gerardot had 21 for the Cavaliers (1-1).