Fielder's Choice

The basketball season didn’t end the way I wanted.

For the first time in a long time, I won’t be making the trip down I-55 to Jackson.

I spent time on the phone Sunday afternoon with James Sales, head coach of the H.W. Byers Lions. His team came oh so close to knocking off Ingomar, the defending Class 1A state champion, in its own house Saturday night.

He was disappointed, naturally. But he also took time to reflect on the entire season and the grit of his kids.

In fact, that’s what made the season rewarding ­ for all the area teams. These young people showed tremendous determination.

COVID-19 made things topsy-turvy, to say the least.

They missed summer practice and scrimmages, and they missed practice and games during the regular season.

Scheduling was basically out the window.

As a newspaper guy, who enjoys following all the teams, it was hard to keep up.

A regular text weekly or sometimes twice a week was — “Is the game on tonight” or “Has the scheduled changed any for this week?”

Some played around 20 games. Others barely got 10.

And then there was the Byhalia Lady Indians who played with five or six players the entire season. They deserve a gold star in my book.

We measure success on wins. We measure success on championships. That’s a given, but often it goes deeper.

I saw major accomplishments from all our local teams in 2020-21. They faced a season like no other before them, and they all rose to the occasion ­ win or lose.

Thursday night of last week, I made the trip to see the Holly Springs Hawks take on Houston in round two of the 3A playoffs.

Coach Andre Jones’ Hawks gave it everything they had in a tough road environment but came up short.

I saw a lot of this team’s games during the course of the season. In Jones’ first year at the helm, the Hawks kept improving and coming together. They bonded. And they represented our city well.

They, too, like the Lions, have a lot to be proud of.

And that holds true for the other state playoff teams, the Holly Springs Lady Hawks, the Byhalia Indians, the Potts Camp Cardinals, the Marshall Academy Patriots, the Hickory Flat Rebels, the Hickory Flat Lady Rebels and the Ashland Lady Blue Devils.

Gordie Howe was a Canadien professional hockey player. He played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League and six seasons in the World Hockey Association. Nicknamed “Mr. Hockey,” he is often considered the most complete player to ever play the game and one of the greatest of all time.

I’ve always liked one of his quotes.

“You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest, when you know that it was a 100 percent effort that you gave — win or lose.”

— Gordie Howe

This 2020-2012 basketball season, from this editor’s perspective, included a ton of 100 percent efforts. So players and coaches, rest easy.