Waking up oOn the morning of March 5th, 2016, I woke up a new person. I was no longer the young, 14 year old, I was the day before. I was finally 15 years old, but I did not consider that day, “Taylor's birthday.” March 5th, 2016 was “the day we have a shot at winning the state championship basketball game.” That day was the day all of our blood, sweat and tears would pay off.
          

It started out as a normal day in the Jones family house hold. *Ding* The sound toaster goes off as I prepare to eat my eEggo's, like I do every day.
           

“Taylor are you sure you don't want to go get donuts, you know it's your birthday?”
           

“No dad, I've eaten eggo’s every day this season and look at how far I've gotten. I can't change one thing about my day or we could lose the state championship game.” I refused to change my daily routine, even if it was my birthday.  I was very superstitious. In my mind, if I changed my routine we would lose the state championship game, so I made sure everything about that day was just the same as the day before.
           

The day before was March 4th;, it was also our semi-final game. That morning I did my daily routine, and we won the semi-final game. I did not want to lose the state championship game because I changed my daily routine.
           

After I had eaten breakfast, I started to realize what was ahead of me. It felt like a thousand butterflies were dancing in my stomach. Knowing all the hard work we had put in this season could have been for nothing made me cringe. Trying to not think about the nerves flooding my body, I got dressed. As I slid on my shorts, and laced up my shoes, I realized that I would not be putting on my uniform for a while after that moment. Now that I had on my uniform, it was time to do my hair. Wearing the same hairstyle and headband I wore the day before, I knew we could get a win. Sliding my headband on brought me confidence in what was ahead of me. I knew deep in my heart we could win the state championship.
           

“Are y’all ready to go?” My dad yelled from across the house.
           

“Yes” I said as I scrambled to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. We rushed out of the house, hoping that the next time we would walk through the door, we would be state champions. We were heading to school where my basketball team was meeting so we can all make the long treck to Mansfield together. The ride from my house to DC was filled with many silent prayers, and listening to my music. Trying not to think about the task that lies ahead, the song “Lose Yourself” by Macklemore came on shuffle. Not knowing the song, I embraced the lyrics. The song was motivation to my ears. I felt as if Macklemore wrote the song for me. The lyrics “You only get one shot do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime” directly applied to my situation. This moment only came once in a lifetime, so I needed to make the most of it.
           

When the whole team arrived to DC I could feel the nerves in the air. No one would admit that they were nervous, but I could definitely see it on everyone's face. Cracking jokes, laughing, and being our normal selves shook some of the nerves away that were lingering over the cCox. Before we knew it, it was time to load the bus. Riding on the bus felt like a normal bus ride, cracking jokes, not thinking about what was ahead of us. When I was done eating my lunch, we were already at Mansfield lLegacy, the place we were playing at.
           

When we walked in we noticed our opponents were already preparing to play us. The team we were playing was named Houston Westbury. (Earlier in the year we played them. Only beating them by 5, we knew this was going to be a tough game, but we also knew we could beat them because we had done it before.)
           

In the locker room we put on our jerseys, cheered some cheers, danced some dances and prayed some prayers. The butterflies had almost gone away, until my coach, cCoach sSouthers, gave us a pep talk. I had never seen Coach Southers nervous until the day of March 5th 2016. I could hear the nerves following his every word.
           

“Ladies, tonight is the night we have prepared for all year. Go out there and play like you've never played before. Just remember who you're playing for, and without God we would not be here right now.” When coach southers said those words, my whole perspective of the game changed. I realized that God would not put my team in a situation we could not handle. All of the gut cringing thoughts of not being able to win, and not being good enough to overcome this amazing team on the other side of the court disappeared. God was going to be right beside us helping us fight this battle. I was now ready to play.
           

Confidence filled my body as the referee threw the ball in the air for the tip off. Right off the bat, Westbury scored thirteen points in a row. The crowd was screaming but not for us, they were cheering for Westbury. My confidence started to plummet, and it was going down fast. Thoughts of not succeeding were appearing in my mind. Coach Southers called a timeout, we rushed to the sidelines with fear in our eyes. Panic rushed through my veins like a mighty rushing wind. Thinking that this could be it, all of our hard work is slipping out of our fingers, I prayed. I prayed that God would calm us, and give us the strength to come back. When we walked out of that huddle, and we were more than ready to play, we were ready to bury Westbury.
           

When I looked up, it was already towards the end of the second quarter but we were still down by ten. There were no longer nerves in my body; there was only adrenaline. We whittled  the score down to a five point difference. The crowd sounded like airplane jets, but this time for DC, not Westbury.
          

It was halftime and I could feel my nerves starting to pile back on like bricks. Talking strategies and game plans, Coach Southers scrambled to explain how we could come out of this game with a win.
           

He then ended his speech with “Just go out and have fun, it doesn't matter what the score is. Play the game y'all know how to play.” When he said that, a wave of adrenaline rushed through my body. I knew from then on, we were strong enough to overcome Westbury. The moment that whistle blew, another team appeared on the court. We were no longer the shy, timid team we were in the first half. Right off the bat we scored eight points in a row, and Westbury hurried to call a timeout. All I could remember was the crowd roaring, coach Southers screaming, and my mind bouncing off the walls.
         

When we stepped back on the court, I was prepared for a fight. I knew Westbury was not going to give up a state title that easily. Westbury came out and scored four points, making us down by one point. Before I knew it, it was already the fourth quarter. This was crunch time. All of our hard work was being put to the test in this final quarter of regulation. Westbury was up by five coming into the fourth quarter, but I knew when that buzzer goes off, we would no longer be down. There was no doubt in my mind that we were not going to be victorious.
          

The second the referee handed the ball to us, we took off. Scoring the first layup of the quarter, Ashlan Miles drew the foul. Making the free throw, the game was tied. Adrenaline was running through my veins as I sprinted up the court to play defense. Westbury then came with the fire, scoring six points in a row, coach Southers called a timeout. Calming us down, Coach Southers explained what we would have to do to win. He said we would have to work as a team, and finish our shots.
            

Right as we stepped on the court, Kaylee Rasbury gracefully kissed the glass with a beautiful layup, drawing the foul, and making the free throw. There was three minutes left in regulation as Westbury attempted to pass the ball in. Not being able to make it past our unbreakable defense, Tiffany VanLoon stole the ball, passing it out to Kaylee Rasbury who shot the a beautiful three pointer. Sinking the ball in the hoop caused the game to be tied with only a minute and a half left. When Westbury got the ball, they scrambled to try and make a basket but failed. Trying to get the last shot, we stalled. Whittling the time down to eight seconds left, Ashlan Miles attempted a layup but missed. The crowd sounded like a freight train as I leaped for the rebound. When I had the ball, I noticed Maddie England was open for a three point shot. Rushing her shot, she was able to get it off but not able to put the ball in the basket. The buzzer rang, and the game was tied. We were going into overtime.
           

I could feel the nerves floating in the air. All I could remember was Coach Southers using all his strength to yell over the erupting crowd. I tried to focus but my mind was everywhere, my nerves were everywhere, but I knew I my heart was on that court. It was my job to come out and play the best I have ever played before. I did not want to win for me, I wanted to win for our school, I wanted to win for our team, but most importantly I wanted to win so we could prove all the people who doubted us wrong, and the only way we could do that is if we played together. We knew this was going to be the last quarter of the season, so we knew we were going to have to make it the best one yet.
           

Over time was only four minute long, but it felt like a lifetime. When the clock started, I was focused on the game. I did not hear the crowd, I only heard the pounding in my chest and the little voice in my mind saying that we were going to win. Westbury scored the first points in overtime, but not long after that did we score too. The game was tied when Westbury missed a wide open layup. Jumping for the rebound, I could feel the nerves crawling through my body. Using our old technique, we held the ball. There was only eight seconds left in overtime as Ashlan Miles went up for a layup. Shooting over the 6 foot 5 inch Westbury player, she banks it off the backboard and into the hoop, helping us take the lead by two points. The crowd sounded like a jet plane taking off. Excitement filled my body when I witnessed the shot gracefully landing in the goal. There was five second left in the state championship game, and our crowd was cheering like we had already won. When we stepped back on the court, the ball was thrown in. Then the unthinkable happened, the Westbury player double dribbled. We had the ball with only one second left in the game. There was one second until we were state champions, all we had to do was catch the ball. My whole body was shaking, nerves were running through my body faster than light.
           

Shaking, panicking, praying, before the ball was thrown in was what all five of us on the court were doing. The ball was handed to Maddie, searching for someone who was open, she noticed Ashlan was. When Ashlan caught the ball and the buzzer went off, tears started flowing from my eyes. All of our hard work payed off. All I could remember was being bombarded by my team, and being overwhelmed with joy. As we ran into the huddle, we ran in as state champions. Looking up in the stands and seeing all the people I love just made that day even sweeter. It had completely slipped my mind that it was my birthday until Diana Pangle said to me,
           

“What a birthday present.” When she said that, I realized that March 5th 2016 was one of the best days of my life.

After shaking Westbury's hands, they called each one of us on the court to give us our medals. This was the moment I had dreamed about for years. So, when coach Southers finally put the beautiful, shiny medal around my neck, it felt as if everything in the world had fallen in place. I was on cloud-nine. When I saw the trophy being walked out to us, I didn't see just a piece of metdal. I saw all of our hard work wrapped in one amazing, beautiful piece of art.
           

Hearing the words, “Your Chargers are your 2016 TAPPS 4A state champions” sounded like angels singing from above. We were finally state champions.
           

Waking up he next morning, felt as if I was waking up from a dream. I still was blown away that we had finished the fight. We had one goal in mind since the first day we laced up our shoes together and nothing was in our way from reaching that goal. We had many bumps in the road but we did not let those things slow us down. Not only did the name of our team change to ‘State Champions’ my view of basketball changed. I no longer saw anything I could not do. Since we won, I have set many goals in my mind because now I know I can achieve anything I put my mind too.
           

We had many people whispering behind us saying “You guys couldn't win, even if y’all tried.” or “Y'all's team isn't even good.” But we did not let those words get in our heads. We knew we could overcome anyone or anything as long as we worked together and had God by our side.
          

The day of March 5th 2016 was by one of the most important days of my life. My team achieved the our biggest dream we could have even imagined, and it happened to be on my birthday. I also gained a very important message from that day. I realized that I can achieve anything as long as I know I can, and as long had I have God walking alongside of me.