The Nationals tried hard to recover the lost ground. The final result, however, was the success of the Forest Citys by a score of 29 to 23 in a nine innings game, twice interrupted by rain.

However many points we have to score to win a game, then we have to do that. Our job is to score more points than the other team. Period.

We've lost the last two years in that game to get to the Final Four. To finally get over that, I think we'll be more relaxed once we start playing again.

This game, with its twists and turns, could have gone either way for the whole nine innings. It could have turned on a dime.

That was a lot closer game than the final score would indicate, and with a new coach (Jim Goff) who was successful at Archbishop Williams and several returning players, they should be tough again.

They score in bunches. It was a four-point game and the next thing you know it's a nine-point game.