The Saint Xavier basketball team played in a state championship game at Rupp Arena for the first time in 64 years. Even though the Tigers came up short, they had a spectacular season battling all the way until the very last seconds in overtime against George Rogers Clark High School.
Playing at Rupp Arena was an amazing feat and something not everyone got to experience. It was a very long and challenging journey with lots of unseen, hardworking hours filled with sweat, laughs, and tears. There were plenty of videos of highlights and coverage of the games, but not everyone knew what happened behind the scenes and within our journey.
Our first day started in Coach Klein’s office, where we watched film on Covington Catholic and went over the scouting report before we departed for Lexington. We stopped at a local high school to have a short and intense practice to get everything right before our first game. After practice, we headed to our hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. We had a good dinner at Harry’s, then went back to the hotel. Each night we turned our phones in to a coach at 10:45 p.m. to get our minds right and to make sure we got good sleep.
Wednesday morning, game day, we woke up bright and early at 7:10 a.m. and ate breakfast at 7:30. We ate the hotel’s breakfast in the lobby along with Chick-fil-A biscuits to make sure we were as fueled up as possible. We left for Rupp at 9:10 and arrived around 9:30. We were the first game of the tournament, and we weren’t allowed to go out on the court until thirty minutes before tip. Some players sat in their lockers listening to music and getting their mind right, while others walked up and down the halls ready to play. It was finally time for tipoff. The stadium was packed with roaring fans, and everyone was anxious and ready to play. The Tigers won comfortably and moved on to Friday for the second round.
After the game, we stayed and watched the first half of North Laurel vs. Warren Central because we played the winner on Friday morning. After that, we went to get lunch at Chipotle and then chilled at the hotel until dinner. Downtime at the hotel usually consisted of playing pool in the lobby, watching film on other teams, or just relaxing in your room. We then went to dinner at a local restaurant and called it a night after that.
We didn’t have a game on Thursday, so we started our day off a little differently. We woke up later around 8:30 and ate breakfast in the lobby around 9. We then went to have a short practice. After practice, we ate at a local gem, The Big Kahuna. This was a team favorite and had awesome Hawaiian cuisine. We headed back to the hotel, where we rested before going to Rupp to watch another game. We watched about three-quarters of the North Oldham vs. Lyon County game and then went back to the hotel to eat pizza, watch some film on North Laurel, and then went to bed at 10:45 p.m.
Friday morning, the Elite Eight, we copied the same routine as Wednesday morning. We were the first game again, and tipoff was at 11 a.m. North Laurel put up a pretty good fight, but we won in the end. After the game, we stayed and watched Grayson County vs. Great Crossing, who we would play the winner of Saturday morning. We left around halftime and got Chipotle again for lunch. After chilling in the hotel for a little bit, we went back out to watch the North Oldham vs. Butler game. We stayed until about halftime and then headed back to the hotel to eat pasta for dinner and watch film over Grayson County.
Saturday morning, championship day, we followed the same routine as Wednesday and Friday. We played at 11 a.m. again, which was an advantage for us because we were used to it. Grayson County’s fan base brought the whole county and was roaring loudly. We weren’t distracted. We put them away pretty easily and moved on to the final round.
We left immediately after the game to go get some rest. We had already checked out of the hotel, so we stayed with one of our coach’s families. We rested, showered, ate, and watched some March Madness before our final game. George Rogers Clark upset North Oldham and moved on to the final round to play us. We watched film on them and went over a scouting report right before we left for Rupp.
The game started at 7:30 p.m., and the stadium was the most packed it had been all tournament. Before the game started, they did introductions of all players and staff. The game was back and forth the whole time until the very last seconds in overtime. George Rogers Clark came out on top in the end.
Our locker room was full of sadness and disbelief. Nobody knew what to do or how to react. Through all of this sadness, there was also joy in an outstanding season that we had. We were greeted with great support and love as we exited the arena. Even though we lost, we all knew we had accomplished something great.
I wouldn’t have wanted to experience it with any other group of men.
