Nike Camp Notebook: Day 1
Surrounded by a throng of orange-clad frenzies with single index fingers raised in the air, Guy Hardaker stood and stewed.
His Edmond Santa Fe boys basketball team had just lost its third game in four days. And, just like every other loss, the Wolves had a fourth-quarter lead and a golden opportunity to put a win on ice, before the ice shattered beneath their feet.
What made Tuesday night’s 55-52 defeat at No. 2 Putnam City so much worse, though — aside from the simple fact it was to the rival Pirates — was the way it happened. After leading by 13 points midway through the third, Santa Fe still held a 10-point advantage in the final minute of the period when the wheels came completely off.
Putnam City trailed 42-32 with about 30 seconds remaining in the quarter, before the Pirates took the ball, marched down the court, and scored a touchdown. Yeah, that’s right — seven points in one possession.
Involved in the possession were a pair of technical fouls called on Santa Fe. They were the Wolves’ second and third technicals of the game. The final one was called on Hardaker himself, as he was arguing the second technical.
Instead of being up 10 going into the fourth, it was 42-39. A fourth-quarter rally later, and Santa Fe was in a nail-biter.
Which is why Hardaker was so despondent, following the final buzzer. Because, in the game of basketball, jumpers and fastbreaks may break bones, but your own words should never hurt you.
“It was the dumbest T in the history of T’s,” Hardaker said. “Our team is the one who is supposed to always do things right, but we kind of lost our heads tonight.”
Well, hold on a second.
That’s a good comment by a great coach, but it’s absent of something very important. You know it as the silver lining.
Hardaker is going to look back over that tape this week and, as a coach, will be sick about the three technicals his team was called for in a three-point game. But a layman who has been following this rivalry and the rest of 6A basketball for years may simply have watched that game and thought: finally.
Finally, someone is standing up to Putnam City.
For years, that brick building at 5200 NW 50th has swallowed up basketball teams like the Bermuda Triangle. Opponents enter with heads held high, then get one whiff of the Pirates’ harassment and maniacal crowd, and they simply disappear.
The Wolves, of course, have not been immune. Those school-record breaking teams with Trey Rachal and Brian Rowland never won there. Santa Fe’s first-ever state tournament qualifier lost there. In fact, Obi Muonelo and Co. have won a state championship, yet still haven’t beaten the Pirates on their home court.
Putnam City, of course, has had some great players and many state-title-contending teams. But lots of the reason for their long-standing dominance comes down to simple intimidation.
Which brings us back to Tuesday night. Santa Fe’s first technical was called on Muonelo when he dunked on Putnam City freshman phenom Xavier Henry, then flexed at him. The second technical was assessed to Chance Hardaker, who shoved a Pirate in retaliation of being shoved. The third was coach Hardaker arguing that call.
That doesn’t sound like puppies with their tails tucked between their legs. More like a team on a mission.
Sure, the Wolves may have gone too far with it Tuesday night. But their fight-not-flight attitude means they’re on the right track. It’s means they’re the ones out to do the intimidating.
Come March, that’s all that’s going to matter.
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