To the Woden Lady Eagles – Thanks for the Wonderful Ride

It hurts.

The Woden Lady Eagles and their vast network of wonderful fans are hurting right now.   The tears, the what-ifs, the hard realization that there is not another game in a day or two…it hurts.  And, the well-intended phrases directed towards the players such as ‘great season’, ‘look how far you made it’, and ‘we are still so proud of you’, will not penetrate the numbness that currently exists.

That’s all natural.  It’s sports. It’s competition.  Losing isn’t supposed to feel good.  Right now, the wounds are fresh, but, they will heal. Time does that, and, when they do, that’s when the enormity of the accomplishments of this season will truly begin to sink in.

203.

That’s the number of 2A basketball schools in the state of Texas.  199 of those did not make it to the ultimate stage in high school basketball. Being in the top 2% in the state is pretty dang awesome.  12 counties comprise what is considered Deep East Texas.  Woden is the ONLY team out of that area to make it to San Antonio—not just Class 2A, no girl’s team regardless of classification made it to the Alamodome, except for the Gold and Black of the Lady Eagles.

Ladies, you rallied the East Texas community behind you.  That certainly includes Woden, but we’re talking about something that goes well beyond those city limit signs.  You represented the Pineywoods and we couldn’t be prouder of you.  If you don’t believe that, take a look at the social media circles.  You couldn’t scroll Facebook or Twitter and other media without seeing stories and pictures about you guys.  Facebook basically became a Woden Lady Eagles scrapbook.

7 seniors played their final game in a Woden basketball uniform.  To Marin Kennedy, Alyssa Loudenslager, Samantha Lowery, Alanna Fontenot, Shelby Sturgis, Kori Harvey, and Madyson Smithart, words cannot express our thanks for your sacrifices through the years, but your job is not quite over.  You have experienced something in the past few hours and days that your other teammates cannot fully grasp…finality.

Seniors, explain to those coming back to play in the next season, especially the juniors, that when the final seconds tick off their senior season, the last thing you want to do is to have left anything in the reserve tank.  Play every game, every possession, every instance like they are the final seconds of the state championship game.  Get out of any comfort zone you may have and raise the bar to a level you never thought possible.

The Woden Lady Eagles.

District 22-2A Co-Champs.

Region 3 Champions.

Class 2A State of Texas Semi-finalist.

Thanks for the ride.  We will never forget and we can’t wait for what lies ahead for the next season.