Four Years Fly By So Fast

I don't know what Creed Flood is going to do when he grows up, but I bet he'll be good at it. He's the kind of guy everybody likes. He's respectful, honest, a hard worker, and just an all around nice guy. He's also a heckuva basketball player.

Friday night, he took off his Prairie Home Panthers #11 jersey for the last time. Do you remember the last time you got to wear your high school basketball jersey? Do you remember how hard it was to take it off for the last time?

I remember mine... we were sitting in the locker room at Oran High School, where we had just lost to the Richland Rebels in the district championship game. Richland finished that year 31-2 and cruised to a state championship. That was the last night I got to wear that Orange and Black jersey with BRAVES written across on my chest.

The end comes so fast. You work, and you work, and you put in all this time to a game that you get to play with your friends. Then one night in late February or early March, just like that, it's over. No more practices where it feels like the line drills will never end. No more long bus rides. No more post game speeches. It's just over.

Back to Creed, when I got hired to be the superintendent at Prairie Home, Creed Flood was the first person I met in the entire school. Sort of...

I was living in Florida, and my brother Toby sent me a text one day. He just asked "what kind of school are you going to work at?" Toby was poking fun at me, because that's what siblings do. He sent me a link about the Prairie Home girls winning a game where they finished with only 4 players. "What kind of school plays with 4 players?" he asked me.

Prairie Home's 5th starter, Josie Flood, was out for the year with a torn ACL. So she started each game on the floor (MSHSAA rules say you have to start the game with 5 players). Josie just stood there, and then at the first dead ball, she went to sit on the bench. The team finished the game with the remaining four players. They usually won. Those girls were really good.

Back to Creed again, Josie's little brother... In the same article, the Prairie Home Boys won, with Creed Flood having a really good game.

So Toby gave me some advice. He said,"When you get to Prairie Home, the first thing you do is find the Flood family. Because any family that names their kids 'Josie' and 'Creed' have to be good people." And then he said something like, "With a name like Creed Flood, I bet that kid is a dang good player."

Toby was right. Creed is a good player. You have to admit, it's a really cool name.

So for the last two years, it's been a running joke with myself, my brother Toby, and Creed Flood (who I have told this story to).

The timeline over two years went something like this... Hey Toby, I met Creed Flood today. And you called it. This kid is a good player. And he's an awesome kid... Bad news, Creed broke his leg in team camp today. It was a bad break... Creed is back at practice, not 100%, but he's back out there... Creed is getting his groove back, had a good game tonight... Going into his senior year, Creed looks like he is finally back at 100%... Creed had 41 points tonight and a triple double... Creed just TOOK OVER the 4th quarter tonight, what a player... Creed just checked out for the last time and got a standing ovation.

After our team's last game tonight, against our rival Jamestown, as is often the case when your season ends with a loss, there were a lot of tears in that locker room. Then there were a lot of "bro hugs." Then there were a lot of fans waiting in the lobby. There were a whole lot of pictures taken and a whole lot of "Thank You's" said.

This is what high school basketball is all about. Every team can't finish their season holding up that 1st Place trophy. Every team can't make it to the Final Four. But it takes zero talent to carry yourself the way that Creed Flood (and Sage Eichenburch, our other senior) have carried themselves throughout their high school career. It takes zero talent to be nice, to be respectful, to play hard, and to make your entire hometown proud.

So again, I have no idea what Creed Flood is going to do when he grows up, but I bet he'll be good at it. And I know I sure have enjoyed watching him play these last two years and watching him represent our school in a way that made our fans proud.

Four years go by so fast. Taking off that jersey for the last time is never easy, but the memories we make along the way... this is what makes high school basketball so great.

Thanks for reading. #JWT