Keeping cool after tough loss

Terrance Harris had a right to be really upset Wednesday night. But he wasn't.

Well, I wasn't with the Mission Prep boys basketball coach all night. Maybe he went home after the Royals were upset 64-62 by Bakersfield Christian in the semifinals of the CIF-Central Section Division V playoffs and broke a stack of concrete blocks with a head butt like those karate guys on TV.

But whatever frustrations Harris might have had after a loss that, let's be honest, nobody saw coming — he kept them inside.

Seconds after the final buzzer sounded and the Royals had ended their first post-Tom-Mott-era playoff run with a disappointing loss, Harris calmly walked over and did a radio interview. Then he talked to me (which, I admit, isn't always THAT fun.)

In journalism school, at least mine, they tell you to give coaches and players a 10-minute period to get over the game. But Harris took no cool down time, no time to gather his emotions. Just, hey, let's do this. And it was a classy and respectable thing to do.

Mission Prep lost. And it was a bad loss. One they should have won had they come out a little more focused. Plus, the Royals were getting handcuffed by the referees.

I've seen plenty of other coaches from high school to college turn around after a game like that and blast the officiating, completely duck interviews or fire off "no comments."

Publicly, Harris stood tall, was accountable and made no excuses. That attitude was certainly refreshing.

If you see him around town with a Band-Aid on his head, though, give my condolences to the concrete blocks.