******** vs. Rosemary [Dorian], Kansas:

 We drove in a large PAL club van from Indy to Kansas. The nine players, Lymon Battles, myself, and the chaperone (Karen Woodard's mother).

We had a first-round bye that allowed us to watch some games in the tournament before our game day. The bye meant we only had to win our first game advance to the semi-final round, which was. Our opponents would be the winner of a qualifying round for local teams, which meant they would already have a game under their belt. In contrast, we hadn't played anything other than scrimmages since the Parks Department Tournament three months earlier. There were some impressive teams in the tournament's two age brackets. The favorites in our division (18 and under) were the Pecks All-Stars and the French Junior National Team.  

Then we drew Rosemary [Dorian], Kansas, for our first game. They were made up of all high school players and had three Kansas all-staters. They were comparable to us in height except for Karen, they had a six-footer, but there were a couple of 5'10s like us after that. It was a pretty even game until midway through the third quarter where we took a small lead for good and eventually won by seven points.

During the postgame handshakes, the opposing coach informed the referees and me that he was lodging an official protest over a series of events that occurred when we had taken the lead for good in the second half. The WBAA policy was to hold a hearing within 24 hours. Our hearing would be held the next day, which otherwise was a day off for us.

As it turned out, the hearing lasted just long enough to reject the protest officially. The referees couldn't remember the events in question, and the scorebook showed that none of our players shot two free-throws in the third quarter. This meant we would continue to advance and face the French Junior National Team and Peck's All-Stars game-winner, who was playing that evening. Unfortunately, we lost almost the whole day dealing with the process.

When we returned to the hotel, we were unloading the van's equipment when suddenly I noticed I was by myself. I inquired with one of the bellhops if he had seen where the girls had gone. He informed me that he had told one of the girls about Rick James being on the floor below us and that all the girls took off for the elevator. I may have been considered 'square,' but I knew who Rick James was.

So I threw all the equipment back in the van and went up to the floor below our rooms. The 'entourage' had reserved the whole floor, but it wasn't hard to find the girls or Rick James. I reminded the girls that they had to unload the van and that we were having a team meeting in ten minutes and that I expected them all there. 'Mr.' James informed me that he offered to leave the girls backstage passes at the will call window for their concert that night and that they were checking out of the hotel room in a few hours and leaving town after the concert. I told him I would get back to him and left. All in all, he was polite and didn't outwardly fit his image, which would become raunchier over time. Who knew.

I told the girls that I was returning to the tournament site to scout the game between French Junior National Team and Peck's All-Stars and that they should consider attending. If anyone didn't want to scout the game, they needed to inform the chaperone and remain with her the rest of the evening. It was up to her what they would do concerning the concert. 

I was surprised to be informed that they felt the scouting was more important than the concert. I was even more surprised when everyone was ready on time to go to the tournament site. Everybody went, including Mrs. Woodard. 

When these girls practiced, they practiced hard, but they always played around the rest of the time—running around, never on time, and driving me crazy. Nothing terrible, just teenage girls being teenage girls. Every rest stop on the trip to Kansas, every place we visited, getting them into their rooms at night, loading and unloading the van, changing before and after games, and starting team meetings were all like herding cats. I had a wife and daughter and thought I knew what I was getting into, but this was non-stop pandemonium.

Until then, I don't know if it was the win over a highly-touted older team or their contempt for the bush league protest of that team's coach. Maybe Mrs. Woodard talked with them, I'm not sure, but they were about winning this tournament from then on. The transformation was apparent. Yes, they still played around and joked but getting their attention was easy, and their focus was evident. What made it most impressive is that we didn't have the depth, size, or experience to win that first game on paper or in reality. 

In every game, we went all the way down our bench. Everyone played, everyone contributed, and no one had an embarrassing moment or series of mistakes. Canada and Miranda were always calm and smooth. Monique always had a look during a game that could bust down walls, and Karen, well, she just played. And that was impressive. The original Northeast girls never played in front of more than ten people. Now they were playing in front of full gyms with hostile crowds, and once again, they were not intimidated. I believed they loved every minute of it.