ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270037
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
WHAT A moment.
The Lord Botetourt High School girl's basketball team had just won its second Group AA championship in a row.
Its two star seniors, Sarah Hicks and Sara Moore, had racked up more points between them than the entire opposing team had managed to score. Now pregame tears over the final competition in a memorable year turned to smiles as the two girls hugged.
Endings are always bittersweet, but there was little of the bitter and much sweetness in this one.
Coach David Wheat's championship Cavaliers are that kind of team.
It would be condescending to suggest that the Lord Botetourt girls' most important achievement is the grace and good sportsmanship with which they have played.
They won the state title. They are fine athletes - tough, aggressive. They played intensely and intelligently, with heart and discipline. They gave the crowd a good basketball game.
What a delight it is, though, to read about champs who not only play to win, but play in such a way that previously vanquished rivals root for their victory; with such a team spirit that the only senior on last year's team, on a nine-hour trip home from college, comes to support their efforts and share their exhilaration.
The promise of school sports competition is that kids not only will hone their athletic abilities and keep fit - both worthy goals - but also will learn effective teamwork, self-discipline, good sportsmanship, confidence, a healthy competitiveness and mature attitudes about winning and losing.
In a win-at-any-cost culture, the promise of such lofty purposes may seem like spun sugar - looks pretty, tastes sweet, dissolves instantly with every bite.
That's not the case with Lord Botetourt's Cavaliers. They have won the old-fashioned way, playing hard, working together and, along the way, having lots of fun.
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB