Oof. Thank goodness that wasn’t our Final Four. With an average margin of victory of 15 points you’d think it was the Division III committee that put the brackets together.

I’ll take our Final Four any day. The sum total of our four games’ margin of victory (12 points) was better than the closest game in the D-I showcase (14). And it’s not like the D-I games were close games that got away with free throws and the like down the stretch.

At least it gave me some time to work on other things.

… and they had athletic careers and the like, for the most part. As proof of that fact, here’s a piece from Maine’s Brunswick Times Record, detailing one official’s path to calling a Final Four game. Great piece, worth a read.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

-excerpt from Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”

I couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to open with my thoughts from Springfield than that. For those who don’t get the connection, read Mark Simon’s article on Hope College on the D3hoops.com main page.

What a wonderful weekend of basketball in Springfield at Blake Arena. The “Birthplace of Basketball” saw Hope defeat Southern Maine 69-56 for their second NCAA Division III women’s basketball championship. The Flying Dutch are based out of Holland, Michigan, but they operated like something out of a factory assembly line in Detroit.

Bria Ebels with her quickness, tenacity and big shot making capability would be the foreperson. Going down the assembly line, there’s someone for each aspect of winning a basketball game. Julie Henderson electrified the Hope contingent with her defense and speed in transition. Linda Ebels, Ellen Wood and Lindsay Lange provided the size and muscle on the block. The three did a magnificent job on First Team All-American Ashley Marble, limiting her to eight points. And each time Hope went down low, one of the three was there to grab an offensive rebound, or put the ball in the basket. The assembly line turned out to be a well-oiled machine that took the title.

You have to feel for the Huskies fans. Southern Maine under Gary Fifield has been so close to winning the national championship. The Huskies have been to the title game three times and the national semifinals five times. Meghan Myles tried to put the team on her back for a second straight day, but on Saturday it wasn’t meant to be. Interesting decision for Ashley Marble as Mark Simon, Gordon Mann and I talked about on the broadcast. Marble academically is a senior, but has one year left of athletic eligibility. Does she come back for one more run at the title? Even though they don’t have a national champion, USM still is one of the most dominant women’s basketball programs in the country. They’ve won 20 or more games a NCAA record 26 times in a row.

Nice to see the University of Scranton finally win the National Third Place Game. Southern Maine won the consolation game last year and road that into this year all the way to the title game. Scranton does graduate two seniors, but brings back Taryn Mellody and Allison Matt. Plus, Tiffany Williams is only going to get better. Under Mike Strong, Scranton’s been a powerhouse in the Middle Atlantic, I think that will continue into next year. The Lady Royals put Friday night’s disappointment behind them, and played very well on Saturday afternoon.

For Hardin-Simmons, a tough weekend on the scoreboard, but just the fact that they made it to Springfield is remarkable. Their starting point guard Sara Hauk went down late in the season and the Cowgirls lost three of their final four with Rachel Cisneros running the point. HSU got the ball in the NCAA tournament and ran with it. Coach Briggs has already gathered 100 victories in four years. The future looks bright for the Cowgirls. Remember, like Hope, they won four games away from their home floor to make it to the National semifinals.

I’ll take a lot of memories away from Springfield. The atmosphere as I wrote about in the game-day blog was through the roof. On Saturday, there was a crowd of over 2,000 people jammed in for the title game. In the eight seasons I’ve been broadcasting women’s basketball, that’s the most electric setting I’ve seen. Kudos to all of the fans that trekked into Western Mass this weekend. Springfield College and AD Cathie Schweitzer did a tremendous job hosting. Gordon Mann will write about that later in the week.

Thank you to everyone this weekend who either listened or watch coverage from Springfield. We hope you’ll join us at the Blake Arena next year.

So that’s it. Done for another year.

And while we’re thankful for the rest after an incredibly full four weeks, we know that once we’re fresh we’ll be winsomely looking at the schedules, wishing we had some place to go this weekend.

Perhaps we can stave off the post postseason blahs by sharing some of our thoughts on the 2005-2006 campaign.

Here are my two-cents (plink, plink)…

– Mmm…crow: Since I was in Springfield for those festivities, please allow me to publicly eat my crow here regarding Virginia Wesleyan’s run.

Last week on Hoopsville Dave McHugh asked me how I felt about the Mid Atlantic and Atlantic regions’ showing in the tournament. Pretty good provided Virginia Wesleyan doesn’t get skunked by IWU, I said.

In my mind the Marlins validated more than themselves with their incredible run. They gave other teams outside the touted Great Lakes region and CCIW a reason to feel good about 2005-2006.

Consider that Virginia Wesleyan’s smallest margin of victory in this run was a one-point come-from-behind victory over Lincoln (Mid-Atlantic). Or that SUNY-Farmingdale (Atlantic) went down to Virginia Beach on short rest and gave the Marlins all they could handle.

That certainly says something about the Marlins who thrived under pressure. As Pat Coleman commented on the message board, Ton Ton Balenga is Mr. March and the finned champs were incredibly clutch.

But seeing Virginia Wesleyan topple the CCIW’s best and one of the elite Great Lakes teams made me realize the difference between the best teams there and everywhere else was not as stark as thought. Amherst (Northeast) pushed Wittenberg to the end. Wooster got dumped by upstart Transylvania. The CCIW’s other tournament teams lost to west reps St. Thomas and Puget Sound.

I still think the CCIW was the toughest conference to win and the Great Lakes Region was the deepest. But, in retrospect, Virginia Wes’ run showed that the rest of the country was much more than also-rans.

– The Flying Dutchwoman: Bria Ebels’ run through the women’s side was something to behold. She zipped past opposing guards like they were stuck in mud. Her three-point range gave the Flying Dutch a big lead early against Wash U and put the game away against Southern Maine. And she was a fantastic rebounder.

How good? With a lot of talented rebounders at his disposal, Coach Brian Morehouse put 5-foot-7 Ebels down low to rebound opponents’ missed free throws. The first time I noticed it I thought it was a mistake. It caught the eye of a couple veteran coaches at Springfield too. Then I saw her leap up and snatch the ball away from the taller forwards. It was like something out of the Matrix.

Three separate observers told me how impressed they were with Ebels play, comparing her to Division I talent and the fastest guards Division III has tried to glimpse as they blow past you to the rim.

Hope’s strength was in its balance. But Bria was the cornerstone of that championship castle.

– Indelible images: A few images that will comfort me during the slow summer days ahead. Steve King Senior (Calvin College alum) proudly screaming “That’s my son” to the crowd after Steve Junior’s shot put Messiah in the NCAA tournament.

Morehouse wrapping Ebels in a bear hug and carrying her to the end of the bench as she left the court one last time.

The animated expressions and inspired play of Lincoln’s Kyle Myrick and Southern Maine’s Ashley Marble – two players whose joy for the game shone brightly on Division III’s biggest stage.

And I’m sure you have your own memories, whichever teams you follow.

So what were they?

Blog from the men’s championship starts here…VaWes and Wittenberg being introduced right now.