All's Fair (Lauren/You)

Chapter 45

Y/N'S POV

"Ladies and gentlemen! The moment you've all been waiting for. The tipoff to signal the start of the regional finals!" The crowd was like nothing I have ever seen before. There was so many people that there's not even enough seats to sit all of them. People lined the walls of the gym, not a space left for anyone else to fit.

"Your Miami High School faces off against Seminole Ridge High School for the regional title. The winning team will go on to play for the national title next."

"You nervous?" Taylor came up behind me, throwing her arm over my shoulders. "Because I am. I feel like I'm going to throw up."

"Yeah I am." I covered my mouth with my hands and breathed into them deeply. The announcer was introducing the other team as we sat down. When it was our turn, the gym was so loud I couldn't hear anything except the high-pitched ringing in my ears. He introduced us one at a time.

After we were all introduced and ready to go, we stepped up to the tip-off circle. When the whistle blew, the ball was thrown up into the air and I jumped as high as I could in order to reach it. My fingertips barely grazed the ball but it was hit out of my hand by the other girl, her team effectively scooping up the ball and passing it forward so quickly that we didn't have time to get back before they were already up two to nothing.

Dinah passed the ball in to Alyssa as the rest of us got back on offense. All of the sudden, the other team rushed up to Alyssa and stole the ball, making it four to nothing now. I groaned to myself and came up to get the ball, deciding to handle it myself. Two defenders tried to double-team me so I threw the ball to Dinah, immediately getting it back once I was open again.

I dribbled down the court since it was three on three now, but I did a spin-move making it three on two. I drove to the basket and as I jumped up to try and get a layup, a defender was right on me the whole time.

While I was still in the air, I rolled the ball off my fingertips to pass it to Taylor who was right under the basket waiting for the rebound. She easily caught it and went up, making the basket and also getting a foul out of it. I gave her a high five and went to my spot in the free throw line-up.

I crouched down and as soon as the ball left Taylor's hands, I spun across the defender's back and got the ball as it missed, putting it back in to tie the score. The crowd cheered loudly and our student section went crazy, screaming our school cheer at the top of their lungs. "Eleven!" I called out.

Lily and Alyssa stayed on top, one in front of the other as the team brought down the ball. Dinah, Taylor, and I stayed in our line of three formation on the bottom. I jumped in anticipation as the other team just passed the ball around the three point line. Then all of the sudden they started cutting at different times, moving us around until finally one of the girls got a three point shot up.

It went in effortlessly, drawing a groan from me.  I got the ball and threw it in to Lily so she could start our offense. She called out circle and we all spread out around the three point line. She was in the middle as Dinah and I were on one side, Alyssa and Taylor on the other. Lily passed it to Alyssa and came to set a pick for Dinah and I. Dinah went first and cut down to the key. I noticed that when it was my turn, my defender tried to jump the screen, leaving me wide open for a pull-up jumper.

We were down by one now, four minutes left in the first quarter. This is going to be a long game.

+~+~+~+~