The Photograph (Eastbrook 1)

Chapter 5

The Eastbrook High School girls’ basketball team opened the season against Normandy High School every year on Thanksgiving weekend. Eastbrook and Normandy shared a history of basketball success with both the boys’ and girls’ programs; often the schools met in the district championship game.   

Normandy’s team was led by Jayne Hillis, a 6’3” post player. Jayne was a Division I college recruit. She was tall and strong; her athleticism was unparalleled in northeast Ohio for a girl her size. Hillis was next to impossible to stop if she caught the ball down low around the blocks. It was even rumored she could dunk in the open court. 

Eastbrook’s squad lacked the star power of Hillis and a player to match up to her height. But the team was experienced and balanced on the court. They returned four starters: Shaina, Kelly, Nadia, and Taylor. Each of the starters had averaged six to twelve points a game last year, but on any given night, each girl had the talent and capacity to erupt for twenty-plus points. 

The Eastbrook team walked out of the locker room, which cued the warm-up music. With the music pumping through the gym speakers, Rachel started the jog around the outside of the court; her teammates followed behind. They circled into a lay-up drill; Rachel’s heart rate increased with every dribble. 

After cycling through the warm-up drills, Rachel took four shots during the shootaround: a lay-up, a pull-up jumper, a three-pointer, and a free throw. She hit all four baskets on the first attempt. While the rest of the team continued to shoot for the last three minutes until game time, she took a seat on the bench. She tuned out the world. 

Rachel had started playing in basketball leagues at age ten. Papa coached her for the first two years; he taught his players to set goals before each game. Hundreds of games later, Rachel continued to set goals. Tonight, she’d decided on two goals while in the locker room before her game. The first was to score two baskets; the second was to commit only four turnovers during the game.

The buzzer sounded; Rachel’s teammates joined her on the sidelines. The starters took seats in the middle of the bench while the rest of the team created a tunnel perpendicular to the bench for the announcement of the starting lineups 

Rachel’s name was announced first. She jogged through the line of high fives to the three-point line. Her teammates followed and lined up behind her. The families and students gathered in the stands rose to their feet. Rachel’s adrenaline was pumping as the national anthem played through the speakers. It was game time. 

On the opening tip, the Normandy point guard grabbed the ball, dribbled up the floor, and found Jayne Hillis open and slicing through the lane. Hillis converted the lay-up, and Normandy jumped to a 2–0 lead. Rachel took the inbound pass and dribbled over half court. She called a play to get an open three for Shaina, Eastbrook’s senior shooting guard. She didn’t want her team to fall behind early. Shaina shook off her defender on Nadia’s screen. Rachel faked right and passed left. Shaina caught the ball and released the shot in one fluid motion. As the crowd cheered, the Badgers took the lead with the three-pointer. Rachel gave her teammate a high five on the way down the court. 

After the opening basket, Eastbrook never relinquished the lead, and they won the game by double digits. Their talent and balance were too much for Normandy, even with Hillis scoring double-digit points by halftime. Rachel played the point guard spot well, spreading the floor and distributing the ball to her teammates. She finished the game with six points, six assists, and six turnovers. She found herself passing up opportunities to shoot or score in favor of passing to her teammates, but she felt good about the win. That was the most important part of the game: they won.  

The locker room was full of positive energy after the game. The girls were excited to start the season with a big victory against a quality opponent. Coach Davis and Coach Myers joined the celebration to commend the girls on a great first game. The post-game speech was unusually short—the coaches merely commended the team on a fantastic all-around effort.