Like many great ideas, this one came from necessity. After struggling to stop Baylor’s offense throughout the first half, McCallie’s basketball team had barely stepped inside the visiting locker room before being ordered out by coach John Shulman.
The frustrated Shulman led the team down a long hallway to one of Baylor’s practice gyms and began reminding the Blue Tornado of the defensive lessons he had tried to get through to them before the game.
Although lasting only a few intense minutes, the impromptu practice session paid off as McCallie held rival Baylor scoreless for more than seven minutes to begin the third quarter, allowed just five points in a nearly 15-minute stretch and earned a 66-48 Division II-AA East/Middle win.
“We did a much better job defending what they had whipped us on offensively in the second half, and that was the difference,” Shulman said. “You don’t win on talent as much as you do grit and effort, and we were much better at that in the second half.
“Their offensive execution in the first half was much better than our defensive execution, and that’s why they were whipping us. We were able to make a few shots, and that’s the only reason we were ahead.”