JJ SAYS: Every player should have a title game

Doug Johnson, who knows a thing or two about championship games, was watching the Petaluma boys play in what amounted to their first championship game in more than a decade Friday night when he shared a bit of his high school sports philosophy. I won’t put it in quotes because I’m not sure of his exact phrasing, but what he said was that every high school athlete should have a chance to play in a championship game - not necessarily win - but play in a championship game.

Of course, not every player can have that experience. It takes talent. hard work, teamwork and a few breaks to earn that opportunity.

A huge part of the sports experience is the bonding between players. It is believing what the coaches always teach - that the team is bigger than any individual, and to be successful every individual has to do his/her job. It is understanding that the player who sets the pick and the one who makes the pass is every bit as important as the player that makes ?the basket. All that is magnified in a championship ?game.

When it all comes together, when the hard work pays a big dividend, when the game arrives and the fans go bonkers, stomachs churn and you can hear your heart thump, it is a feeling that lasts forever.

Johnson is right, it is a feeling every player should experience.

It was an experience that was a long time coming for the Petaluma basketball boys. You have to go back to the 2004-2005 season to find a Petaluma boys team with a winning record.

That the Petaluma boys were in a position to play in one of those special games was not an accident. The Trojans, especially the seniors, have paid their dues. They suffered through some painful growing pains over the last two years when they were 4-20 in 2013-14 and 5-18 in 2014-15.

But each season they were learning. John Behrs started the process and when he switched places with son Scott Behrs and became an assistant this year, the foundation had been laid.

Scott has built on what his father started, but make no mistake, the Trojans who are 7-3 in the Sonoma County League, are his team. He has brought new ideas, a youthful enthusiasm and a belief to the Trojans. They still have some growing to do, and there will be some ups and downs along the way, but Petaluma basketball is back.

To say Scott Behrs was disappointed after Friday’s loss to Analy would be the understatement of the year.

“I am proud of this team he said. I am proud of their effort and their heart.”

Then came the key to his feelings: “It has been a great season for us. This is hard, because I wanted it so badly for them it hurts.”

Years from now, the Trojans players won’t remember the hurt. They will remember the game, what it was like to play together for something that, to them, meant more than a Super bowl.

It is an experience I ?wish every player could ?have.

(Contact John Jackson at johnie.jackson@arguscourier.com)