Savage Words: Inspiring moments in a difficult locker room

Post-game locker rooms can be tough after a loss, obviously.

I’ve been in my fair share. I’ve worked for several professional and college basketball teams over the years. Hard losses, upset losses, are emotional. They’re a struggle. I’ve never played the game at that level, but I’ve been in the locker room as a team executive, and … they’re tough.

They can be exponentially difficult after a championship game, much like the Brandon Valley girls endured Saturday night after an undefeated season, and their first state title since 2019 slipped away.

I talked with Brandon Valley head coach Mike Zerr on Sunday, about 15 hours after the final buzzer sounded in Rapid City.

We went through the routine of normal questions about the game. O’Gorman’s defense, their ability to shut down Liv Padgett, the runs, the missed opportunities, the fight, the perseverance to stay in the game – all that stuff that gets asked after every game, no matter the sport.

Then I asked him a tough one, and I told him ahead of time that it was a tough one. And to be honest, I don’t really like asking it, but I think anyone who consumes sports through newsprint likes to peek behind the curtain a bit.

“What was that locker room like post-game,” I asked.

Then, a long pause.

“In one word,” he said. “Incredible.”

That was absolutely not what I was expecting.

See, the thing about sports is that it’s an incredibly emotional business. This is high school, so I don’t like using the word ‘business,’ but it’s as close as you’re going to get at that level.

And it’s emotional. For fans, coaches, and obviously players.

I’m sure there were tears, and hugs, and hanging heads in that locker room. But I don’t know, because Mike didn’t tell me – nor should he have.

“I’ll keep exactly what was said there, because those are special moments,” he said, and I told him that I absolutely understood that.

But he did tell me some things about this group, things that are inspiring, things that the Brandon Valley community should know.

“They leave their hearts on their sleeve. That’s why this group is special. Just the leadership, the camaraderie they have,” he said. “But I would just say, they understood the whole picture. Their perspective was incredible. Kids young and old talked about what each other means to one another. It was very much bigger than basketball. I’m extremely proud of how they responded. Everybody on the team stayed together last night. Nobody checked out. Nobody got away. They all stayed together.”

Again, some of that I’d never heard before. The “camaraderie,” “leaving their hearts on their sleeve,” “leadership” – those things I’d absolutely heard in a post-game losing locker room. But “understanding the whole picture,” and “bigger than basketball,” and “nobody got away,” – those were new, those caught my attention.

Oftentimes its lip service, when a coach speaks to a media member. I get that, they get that. But, and I’m not just saying this because the game is emotional even for a sportswriter who covers a team all season, I truly believe Mike’s words are true, sincere, and he’s not just regurgitating “coach speak.”

“It’s a credit to those eight seniors and the tremendous people that they are,” he said. “Their legacy on the court – they’ve changed the standard for what Brandon Valley girls basketball can continue to strive for every day on the floor. But off the floor, who they are is much more important than what they do. Thankfully they understand that. It stings, it hurts, and it will for a while, but the further they get away from it, the more they will understand that what they did was special, and who they are is very special.”

The entire inspirational post game locker room moment actually began a few minutes before. Just seconds after losing the title game, a live microphone on the South Dakota Public Broadcasting telecast caught Mike, talking to his players after they received their runner up medals.

He encouraged his players to stand in line, and clap for the O’Gorman players as they got their championship medals. The live microphone was faint, but I picked up on it. It’s a difficult spot, having just seen your undefeated season, and hope for a title, come to an end.

“When you compete, it’s important to honor competition,” Mike told me on Sunday when I told him about the live microphone. “Both teams are trying to win. I’ve never been to a basketball game where there’s a tie. Unfortunately, we didn’t win last night. But just like when we were up 30 this year, we need to honor competition and show respect to the game. Our kids stood arm-in-arm while O’Gorman got their awards, and I love that. We respect O’Gorman. As disappointed as we were, it’s important in that moment to let them have theirs as well.”

The night before the championship game, I sent Mike a text to see if he had a second to chat about a question I had for a story. I’d talked to him hours before on the phone after their win over Aberdeen Central in the semifinals, and I really, really hated to bother him the night before the championship game, but I shot him a text anyway, just to see if he’d reply.

It was 10:30 Brandon time, and within minutes, he called me. We spoke briefly, and what was even more impressive is that they were about to go into a team meeting, yet he took time to call me.

“Thanks for all you do highlighting our kids,” he said at the end of the conversation. “Hopefully we’ll give you some more highlights tomorrow.”

And they did, they gave me so many highlights to talk about – even in a loss.