Hustle Vs Muscle

Chapter 26: The Last Game Part I

This is the last game I will ever play for this school. I know this as I step out on the court. We're playing against Westbrook High School again. They'll have probably learned that I'm a threat to them and will watching out for me. But at least nobody on the team or on the Westbrook team will underestimate me.

D'amato wins the jump ball and tips it to Aiden. Aiden passes to me and I dribble down the court. As soon as I see the Westbrook boy coming to guard me, I pass to D'amato, who shoots it up. It's nothing but net.
We have the lead.

We're on defense. I guard the ball, setting up a pick. I slap the ball out of the Westbrook boy's hands but he steals it back. I slap the ball out of his hands again and it rolls along the floor. I dive for it. The problem: So do nine other boys. My arms are wrapped tightly around the ball, holding onto it, protecting it from the arms trying to wrest the ball from my grip. The ref blows his whistle. It's Westbrook's ball.

The Westbrook boy passes to their tallest player. The boy shoots right over Christian and makes it. Even worse, the ref blows his whistle. "Shooting foul." he says. "Two shots."
Free throws are rare. No free throws were awarded the last three games. If the Westbrook boy makes it, Westbrook High School will be ahead of us.

He makes the free throw on the first try. When I hear the swishing sound the ball makes as it goes through the net, it feels like a shot through my heart. The score is three to two. We will score. We have to score. I dribble down the court, my heart racing. I pass to Chase. All the Westbrook boys are on him, forgetting that there are four other people Chase can pass to. Chase passes to me. I make the shot. The score is now four to three.

D'amato, Chase and I make a three pointer, a free throw and a layup respectively. At the end of the first quarter, the score is ten to three. I sit on the bench, watching the bench players play. The bench players are good at shooting, defense and passing, but some of them aren't very good at dribbling and getting rebounds. One of them shoots a lucky three pointer.
But then a Westbrook boy gets fouled making a three pointer and makes the free throw too. At halftime, they are ahead of us. The score is eighteen to thirteen.

I know it's just a game and it's not the end of the world if I lose, but I don't want the last game I play here to be a losing game. I need to use my speed and get the ball. Because if I don't, if I give up now, the game's over.