2015 Girls State Basketball Tournament

The state tournament brings a lot of joy and a lot of tears. For this year's edition, I covered one Thursday night game for the Beatrice Daily Sun, two Friday games for Callam and the final three championship games on Saturday also for Callam. 

Those last five games for Callam are always interesting. Of course some of the pros of the Callam coverage are not having to caption photos, not having deadlines and getting to shoot all teams. But sometimes I wonder if the quantity of trying to get solid photos of every single player effects the quality of photos I can get from one of my favorite events of the year.

Beyond the action photos, shooting for Callam also includes taking photos of all medal ceremonies and team photos. That means this year, I didn't see a single championship trophy presentation. I was already back in the rooms under the PBA stands getting ready for team the runner-up and championship team photos. 

This of course presents one of my least favorite moments of the year -- watching the second-place team react to just coming up short in the championship game. You do learn a lot about some teams & coaches. Even when the lowest seed of the tournament (basically the biggest underdog that could possibly win it) loses in that championship game, there are still plenty of disappointed players. 

There comes a time when a coach, sometimes just an assistant, says some pretty amazing words to these young students. I wish everyone could hear those speeches. And on Saturday, there is less than a minute that passes between that runner-up team leaving that room and championship team joyously running in for their photo. It is really a roller coaster. We finish the championship photo and then it's back to the court for the next game. 

To the players, the coaches and the fans, I sure hope you enjoyed the ride!