Won it by One

How much impact can a point have in a final score? Does it really make a difference?

I have to say that until this past Saturday afternoon, I thought it couldn’t have any impact whatsoever in a final score, that one single point couldn’t change anything, especially in sports like basketball, volleyball, tennis, and many more where the final scores are quite high. 

This past weekend, we had a basketball tournament at another international school here in Caracas. We didn’t have the best start; we lost our first game by ten points. However, the team was able to overcome that loss and manage to win the next four games, including the final. You might be wondering right now, what's this whole impact of a point got to do with the tournament right?

Well, you see, we had a very dramatic final, on the last couple of minutes of the last quarter, we were winning by one, the next second they were winning by two, and then we were tied and so on. Only a minute and a half left on the clock. They get two free throws. He takes the ball, shoots it, and it’s out. You could see the signs of hope in the team when the ball didn’t cross the rim. Takes the ball again, shoots it, and it’s in. The score was now 35 - 34 to them. We take the ball and score a basket. 36 - 35 to us. Only around forty seconds on the clock; ball is at their possession again.  They got another free throw with only twenty seconds on the clock. They score, 36 -36. With only ten seconds on the clock, we take the ball down the court and luckily get a free throw. If we scored, we would be winning by one. He took the ball, focused, shot it, and scored. 37 - 36 to us. With only four seconds on the clock, there was nothing they could do. The whistle was blown and we had gone by one point.

One of the most dramatic finals I've had the chance to be in. VANAS is coming up in a couple of weeks, I'm hoping we’ll play our best and come home with the trophy. I'll let you all know what happened.