Behind The Scenes At State: Sportsmanship, Heartbreak And Smiles

3/16/2019

The state basketball tournaments are always held under bright lights and in front of a statewide television audience that extends around the world thanks to KSTC Channel 45andapos;s streaming service, prep45.com.

Basketball is a sport played with no helmets and no facemasks, and the emotions of the players can be seen pretty clearly on television and in person at the venues. This weekandapos;s girls state basketball tournament, with televised semifinals and championship games at Williams Arena, has offered high emotions of champions and lows of teams that fell short, and it all was on display under the bright lights of The Barn.

There are, however, scenes that play out in quieter settings with almost no one watching. And they can be just as special as the things that take place in front of the TV cameras.

A couple hours after Fridayandapos;s Class 1A semifinal game between Goodhue and Menahga, I received an email from Goodhue coach Josh Wieme, whose team had won a very narrow four-point victory. Heandapos;s as high-quality a person as I know, and the subject of his email didnandapos;t surprise me. He wanted to tell me about a great act of sportsmanship. Hereandapos;s his email'

John-


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