From 1961-1998, I regularly would watch The Wide World of Sports on ABC. Jim McKay was the host and the show’s introductory video and catchphrase was “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. Those words were spoken over a celebration of a great win followed by a ski jumper severely crashing during a competition. The pictures and the phrase became ingrained into the psyche of every regular viewer.
That phrase came back to me this past week while broadcasting the two Emmaus state basketball games.
Let’s start with the “thrill of victory”. Emmaus had beaten Cheltenham 68-67 the previous Saturday to advance to the PIAA State second round. They were the only AAAAAA boys’ team left from the Lehigh Valley because both Allen and Parkland had already been beaten. The irony of their participation is that up until this year when the PIAA added six classifications, Emmaus would not have even gotten into the state playoffs. With the additional classes, four teams were eligible and Emmaus was the fourth.
That set up a one day snow-delayed matchup with the Harrisburg Cougars, the #1 team out of a very strong District 3 at Reading High School. Harrisburg had beaten Reading in their District playoffs and they were now considered the favorite to make it to the state championship game. In a thrilling game with a nail-biting finish, Emmaus won 64-61 and, for the first time in school history, would move on to play in the state quarterfinals. They would be part of, in NCAA March Madness lingo, the Elite Eight! The celebration that followed was the definition of “the thrill of victory”.
That set up a return trip to Reading for Emmaus as they would take on the Carlisle Thundering Herd for a place in the state semi-finals. Harrisburg had beaten Carlisle twice and they were in the same district as the Cougars. They entered the playoffs as the #5 team in District 3. Emmaus certainly could enter this game knowing they were every bit as good as their opponent. And they were.
Emmaus led by six at the end of one period and by ten at the half. They still led by ten with just 3:05 to go in the game. But… Carlisle waged a comeback. Emmaus still could clinch the win as they led 62-59 with 7.9 seconds to go. Emmaus’ all-time leading scorer, David Kachelries, a 76% free-throw shooter, went to the line to shoot one free throw (he had made his first six of the game, but missed his previous three). Make it and the Hornets are in the state semi-final; miss it and the Herd still needed to make a three-point shot to send the game into overtime. He missed and Ben Milligan made a three at the buzzer to tie the game at 62. “Thrill” and “agony” by anyone would be delayed.
Emmaus needed three free throws on one trip to the foul line by David’s twin brother, Matt Kachelries, to send the game into a second overtime. He calmly went to the foul line and made all three. The first overtime ended 69-69.
But the second overtime period ended with Carlisle controlling the scoreboard and the Thundering Herd galloped to a 78-74 win. The Emmaus season was over. The Kachelries twins had scored an amazing 57 points in the game and that was still not enough.
David ended his career with 1,910 points and Matt finished with 1,027. Matt had missed two-thirds of his sophomore year due to injury or his total would have been much higher. Emmaus finished with one their greatest and most memorable seasons ever.
None of that mattered though at @ 6:30pm on Saturday night as the Green Hornets and Coach Steve Yoder walked off the floor in Reading. Much like the skier in the Wide World of Sports intro, they were severely suffering from “the agony of defeat”.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- The Bethlehem Catholic AAAA girls’ basketball team is the last team standing from the Lehigh Valley. As I write this, they are preparing to play Gwyned Mercy in the PIAA semifinals. A win would get them into the state championship game. Congratulations to Coach Medina and the girls. Go Hawks!!
- How are you doing on your NCAA bracket? I assume many of you had Villanova and Duke to go far into the tournament and even winning it all. I had Duke making it to the Final Four. I still have Arizona, Kansas, and North Carolina alive to make the Final Four. I heard a lot of moans and groans this past weekend.
- It is hard to imagine that the next Eastern Pennsylvania Conference basketball season could match this one. Losing so many stars like Sam Iorio, Kevin Wagner, the Kachelries twins, Tyrese Martin, Talek Williams, etc. will be hard to duplicate for a very long time.
- He gets a mention every week – Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman of Central Catholic is still playing in the NCAA tournament. Muhhammad starts and plays as many minutes as anyone for Michigan. He scored 16 against Oklahoma State and some vital points down the stretch against Louisville as his team moved on to the Sweet Sixteen.
- My usual reaction at the end of the basketball season is how fast winter flew by. Except this year, the season has come to a close and winter continues to rear its ugly head. C’mon! What’s a golfer to do?
