[Mark Padgett]

Went to watch my 12 year old granddaughter play in her first rec league playoff game yesterday morning. It's 7th grade. Her team was down 16-4 at halftime. As the girls left the court to go to their benches, I noticed there were some girls on the other team saying things to her team. It appeared as though they were "rubbing it in". I don't know what my granddaughter's coach said to his team at halftime, but it sure worked. They came back out and outscored the other team 23-0 in the second half! And no - I'm not making this up. The other team not only missed all their shots from the field, they missed all 8 of their free throws.

My granddaughter was ecstatic. This is her first year playing basketball and she's having a great time. She had 6 points, including being 2 for 2 from the line.

After the game, I spoke with the refs, since I know both of them. They both said it was the biggest comeback they've ever worked. They said they were incredibly surprised that the losing coach never complained about any of the calls in the second half. I guess he was too busy yelling at his team.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay and watch her next game later that afternoon because I had to go work my own games, but I spoke with her on the phone in the evening. They lost their next game by almost 20 to a team made up of, as my granddaughter described them, "gi-normous girls". She had a good time, though, and that's what's important.