The Westside High School girl’s basketball team made it to the Championship game. With a record of 12-1, they were the best team to walk the halls at Westside. The team and their coach, Ryan Hayes, were all dreading their final game as a team together. They knew they wanted to end the season well, but were nervous that their sadness would be a distraction. As they played their final game together, they looked like a true team. With the crowd going crazy as the Westside Wolves took on the Wayside Wildcats, the final score was 87 for the Wolves and 79 for the Wildcats. The game was neck and neck until the last quarter where the Wolves came out and proved that they truly were the better team. Before the game started, Coach Hayes gave a good pep talk, explaining how much the team met to them.

Coach Hayes:
“You guys might not know this but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one man wolfpack. But when my sister brought Doug home I knew he was one of my own. And my wolfpack, it grew by one. So there were two of us in the wolfpack.” I’m just kidding, I just wanted to make you all laugh before I got to the mushy gushy stuff.
These past four years have been the best years of my life; and I am so sad to see them go. Win or lose, I have always had an amazing time coaching you. Each one of you brought something important to this team. You all came out with the best attitude and smiles on your face. Even if I was in a bad mood when I walked into a game or practice, I would walk out with a smile on my face. Each and every one of you will always have a special place in my heart and I will never forget this team. You helped me become a better coach because not only was I teaching you, but you were teaching me in return. Teams that follow yours will strive to be as amazing as you.
I hope that you, girls, will never regret being a part of this team; and I hope that you will continue to be great friends and stay in touch later in life. In addition, I wish you all the best of luck in the many adventures you are about to experience in this next chapter of your lives. Also, if you are going on to continue with playing this amazing sport, tell me and I will try to make it to support you at a few of your games. I know that I will never be able to forget you girls, nor the things that I have learned through you; I wish that you would not forget me, or the many life lessons I taught you. (If you listened enough to remember them, at least.) Next year, use your time wisely, and play a little basketball from time to time so that you can think about all of the amazing memories that we have a team have all contributed too. You are all so talented and I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your lives!
This is the end, girls. All the hard work that you have put into your basketball career here comes down to this game. You have worked long and hard to get to this Championship game and we are going to win! It’s about time that we show these wildcats how the wolves howl. When you walk on that court for the final time, work as the team I know you can be. Work together and have fun, win or lose we are the best. No one can beat the Wolves. Last time together…
The whole team:
“LET’S GO WOLVES!”