Now More Than Ever, Memories Take Center Court

Arguably, one of most important benefits of amateur athletics is to create memories that last a lifetime. The lens to that memory will differ based on your point of view - an athlete on the court or a supporting fan in the stands. Some memories may be painful, while others may be euphoric, nevertheless, everyone has an opportunity to create and experience one. 

Today, memories are captured through every type of devise imaginable, leaving a digital footprint, becoming shareable, never to be erased but that was not always the case. In some instances, the only memory you have is the one temporarily etched in your mind, and as the years go by those images start to lose shape and fade, as though an eraser is being taken to it. Then there are those memories that are clear and cemented in your mind.  A  moment worth remembering because of its impact on others. 

One of my favorite memories as a basketball fan was during the 1998 Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 4 State Championship game. It was also one of the best basketball games I ever witnessed in-person. This personal memory is written in permanent ink.

As a fan, you could not have planned a better match-up for the final game of the 1997-98 season. On one bench, you had the state's top team, 30-0 unbeaten Liberty Blue Jays, coached by Mark Nusbaum, and led by their all-staters Nick Robinson who had committed to be a Stanford Cardinal following a two-year commitment in Brazil as a Mormon missionary, and Matt Rowan, who would briefly play for the Missouri Tigers.

On the opposite bench was Lafayette (Wildwood), coached by Dave Porter, whose Lancers entered the state championship with a 30-1 record and nationally ranked (24th) by USA Today. Lafayette High School, located thirty miles west of St. Louis, was led by all-staters Scott Brewster and Terry Layne, as well as a 6’11” center transplant from Dunfermline, Scotland named Robert Archibald, who would go on to play college for the Fighting Illini of Illinois and professionally for the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors.

Lafayette looked strong, tall and a team looking to prove a point following their come from behind win in the state semi-finals against powerhouse Vashon, as they had trailed 69-60 at halftime. With a strong third period, the Lancer's Brewster and Layne brought their team back to secure a date with destiny.

Destiny arrived to the Hearnes Center, on the campus of the University of Missouri, in the form of a well conditioned and fundamentally sound team from Liberty, located approximately fifteen miles northeast of Kansas City. Liberty was less than 1 second away from not making the trip to Columbia, Mo. if it wasn't for an offensive rebound put back by Jacob Street with 0.2 second remaining in the sectional game against Raytown South at Lee's Summit. A week later and after having survived another overtime game against Truman, all-stater Nick Robinson scored 22 points in Liberty's state semi-final contest to secure the Blue Jays place in the seasons' final game with a nine point victory over the Jefferson City Jays.

The championship game would be a battle of East versus West - a St. Louis area team versus a Kansas City area team. Bragging rights for their respectable part of the state. A clash to determine who the state's #1 team would be.

Back in 1998, MSHSAA did not stream the games. Spectators were not recording the game and posting it on their YouTube channels for everyone to see. Those platforms didn't exist then. In fact, the only way you could really see the entire games outside of witnessing it first hand was to special order a VHS tape to arrive weeks after the games concluded. Even then, special moments were not always captured on tape.

And that is exactly what happened.

After trailing 41-36 with three minutes left in regulation, most fans in the Hearnes Center thought the game was over, but remember, destiny favored Liberty. The Blue Jays would hold Lafayette scoreless in those final three minutes as Matt Rowan and Nick Robinson took over. Rowan scored on an offensive rebound to cut their deficit by 3 and then with a minute left, Robinson made two free throws to cut the Lancer lead to 1 point. As the clock clicked down under a minute in regulation, Liberty walked the ball up the floor, patiently but with some urgency, trying to put it in the hands of an open scorer. Robinson fought to free himself up from the Lafayette defender. He would exchange passes with Scott Fleming, then take two dribbles to his right, losing his man for just a brief moment but enough to take a sixteen foot jump shot. Robinson later said, "I had an open look...It was a shot that I had hit before and it just happened to be in a big game and I was glad that it went in". The shot put the Blue Jays ahead by 1 point with thirty-two ticks left on the clock but enough time for Lafayette to have one final chance to tie the game or win it in regulation.

Lafayette had two nail biting opportunities - a lane-driving shot with 4 seconds left and then a baseline inbound lob to Archibald cutting to the basket with 0.9 seconds remaining. Neither attempts converted, so at the moment when the clock turned to zeros, the Blue Jays became champions and their fans cheers and yells echoed throughout Hearnes Center. Liberty scored the final six points of the 42-41 game to remain undefeated (31-0) and take with them the title they had worked hard to attain.

The ending was one of those, you had to have been there, did that really happen type of moments. Newspapers can do their best to describe the excitement, intensity and nervousness of those final minutes, but nothing compares to watching the game from the seats in Hearnes Center, especially the first row where fate had set me down for this game.

Nothing beats looking around at the basketball fans who paid an entry fee to watch a competitive game, arriving with no alliances to either team, and reading the lips as they mouth the words, "wow" and "unbelievable".

Nothing beats turning to the stranger next to you and exchanging that look of amazement and a high-five as this game connected thousands even for just a short time, but also forever.

I can only imagine nothing beats walking off the floor as a player, as a champion, one last time. What would you do in this moment? What action would your emotions bring you to take before you leave the arena and the cheer of the fans fade.

It may have been Rowan who was high scorer for the Blue Jays with 14 points, but it was Robinson’s late free throws and short jumper that sealed the coveted state championship for Liberty. It was a perfect ending to a stellar and decorated high school career. The "shot" that Robinson may be best known wouldn't happen for another 6 years at Maples Pavilion when he would get a pivotal steal and hit a 35 foot off-balanced shot at the buzzer to give his #2 ranked Stanford Cardinal team their twentieth consecutive win and a Pac-12 victory against the highly touted #12 ranked Arizona Wildcats. That shot secured Stanford's record remained unblemished.  The following a week, Stanford would rightfully receive the No. 1 ranking in college basketball.

However, it was Robinson's final moment during the state championship victory that I would remember most. A hidden gem that not everyone saw and most likely, no one captured. It was not a long runner to catapult a team to the top of the college ranks, nor a short 16 footer to secure Liberty's legacy in Missouri basketball history. It was another short-lived moment at half court that would be etched in memory and retold throughout the years when the topic of what was you favorite basketball moment topic would be debated.

Robinson's game winning shot

Following the sportsmanship line of exchanged handshakes, "congratulations" and "good game", both teams began to walk towards the sidelines or tunnels leading to their respective locker rooms. I scanned the players but did not see Robinson. At that moment a second wave of cheers could be heard. My attention shifted to center court. Standing in the circle was Robinson, taking a final bow. It was not one of ego but of appreciation. One bow to the Liberty fans that were in a sea of blue throughout the lower section and then bows in the remaining directions to all other basketball fans who had just witnessed something special.

"After such an incredible title game, I was so filled with emotion and gratitude!", Robinson reflected after 22 years. "The bow at half court was something I considered, but didn't really think I'd go through with it. But in the moment, that was my last high school basketball game and I wouldn't play again competitively for another two years - so I went for it"

Robinson's bow was a sincere gesture. Very similar to one you would suspect from a leading actor following a magical theatrical performance. It was so fitting in this moment as Robinson and his career was deserving of a standing ovation and a curtain call.

"All I was thinking about was - THANK YOU - for all the support from the Liberty community to our team and coaches the past two seasons and for enjoying an incredible ride with us to a State Championship", Robinson said.

I write about this moment now because in response to the coronavirus pandemic, MHSHAA announced it has canceled the semifinal and championship boys and girls games for Class 4-5 that were scheduled to be played in Springfield this weekend. This decision came on the heals of the Class 1-3 semifinal and championship rounds being played a week earlier but only in front of 150 fans to limit the risk of exposure of the virus. Both, correct decisions based on the information at the time.

If only the world was healthy enough to allow events to take place across the nation, including state tournaments to be played, more moments would be witnessed and permanently inked inside those watching. I think about those moments that could have connected players, fans, and communities. But, mostly I think about those memories that would have lasted a lifetime.

"My high school career was flooded with great memories, Robinson said,"both in the classroom, on the court and on the field - because of the amazing people I got to be around everyday. Once I got to college, I again was surrounded by incredible people everyday. The lessons I learned in high school from friends, coaches, teachers, administrators allowed me to be myself in college and work towards a championship year in and year out on the court as well as excellence in the classroom."

Fortunately, for Robinson, he continued to create basketball memories that will live on well into the years to come. Following his graduation from Stanford, where he was team captain his junior and senior years, including the 2003-04 season in which his Cardinals went 30–2, Robinson remained connected to basketball through coaching. He was a volunteer high school assistant coach in New Mexico for a season before returning to Stanford to become men's basketball director of operations and then a year later being promoted to an assistant coach. For the 2008–09 season, basketball took Robinson back home to Liberty, Missouri where he was named an assistant at William Jewell College, a NAIA school. Over the next few years, Robinson would lake his talents to LSU where he served as an executive assistant and director of operations before becoming an assistant coach once again. After years of gaining experience, in 2012 Robinson became head coach at Southern Utah but his tenure ended after the season in 2016.

Robinson may have taken that bow at half court twenty-two years ago, as a show of thanks and support for all those that helped him up until that point, but he is not ready for that final curtain call and bow just yet. Ahead of the 2017-18 season, Robinson was hired to be an assistant coach at Seattle University and then in April 2019, he was named as an assistant coach at Brigham Young University.

As Robinson reflected on his basketball career and legacy, he concluded by saying winning a state championship will always be one of his top highlights of his basketball experience.

"The 1998 Liberty State Championship season was awesome and glad we could set the standard for many other teams to follow. It's so hard to accomplish, especially going undefeated that season, for any team. The only comparison I'd make between my high school and some of my college highlights would be: all of the best moments happened with amazing teammates and coaches!"

Don’t let anyone tell you amateur athletics don’t play an important role in the lives of those participating or watching it. Those memories as teammates, coaches, friends and fans stay with you, as well as connect you with others for a lifetime. Next time you are at a game, look around, observe, adjust your personal lens and take in every moment because in a split second, special moments will present themselves, they will take a bow and then walk behind a curtain forever.