DELHI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — It came down to the last minute of the last game.
“I’ve been waiting to do that all season,” said Sara Meyer.
The eighth-grader and basketball player at Delhi Middle School had been hoping for a chance to score her first points.
Just when it looked like the clock would run out on her, a team effort and an assist of sportsmanship from Delhi’s opponent gave her that chance and helped Sara and her teammates learn a valuable lesson.
Delhi’s coach, Tony Fuller, said the season was full of learning lessons for his players.
“It didn’t go as planned, but that’s life,” Fuller said. “They learned a lot. They grew. Became family."
That included Sara, who sat on the bench and watched almost to the end.
“Three minutes to go in the game, put her in. Tried to get her to shoot the ball earlier,” Fuller said.
“It was good to run up and down the court,” Sara said about getting into Wednesday’s game against Middletown Middle.
Sara shot twice but missed.
Now, the clock was running down toward 00:00 and Middletown had the ball.
That’s when a Middletown player passed the ball to Sara.
She had just enough time to throw the ball off the backboard and beat the buzzer.
“I just remember making it in before the buzzer went off,” Sara said. “And my team congratulating me.”
Fuller was grateful to the Middletown player.
“That’s class. They’re a good ball team. They showed good sportsmanship. I appreciate it,” he said.
And what did the coach think of Sara’s buzzer beater?
“Amazing. Amazing to see her make it,” said Fuller. “I told her all year she’s going to score. You have to score. When it went in, the buzzer went off, it was like a dream. Like a story. It was perfect.”
Fuller said he hoped it would remind his players that "basketball is just a game."
"Life is bigger than basketball. That’s what I want our team to learn from that," he said. "I think they have.”
