Re-Loving The Game

Chapter 1

The Finals
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Zeke POV:

My heart is pounding.
Fans crowding around the stands of the court were screaming.
I cant catch my breath.
The coach was talking.
Thunder and lightning can be heard and seen every now and then.

As I looked out of the big window that built in by the hall's walls, it was raining cats and dogs. Instead, even worse.

Beads of perspiration dripped down from my forehead and onto the floor. As my eyes turned to the drawing board of my coach's game plan for the last possession, i clutched onto my towel and cleaned of my sweat and sweaty palms off.

I hate it when im having sweaty palms. Nerves simply get into my head. Too easily.

Other than the other four of my teammates sitting on the bench, the rest of my team all stood around coach as he continued to draw out the gameplay.

This was it huh. All our trainings. All our laughter and tears. All our fights. All our wins and losses. Brought us till here.

The Finals

And it all comes down to this very last possession. All eyes are on me. Even the coach plan for our last possession is for me. Everyone from the crowd is standing on their feet. Some were even chanting my name by the stands but I did not let that get into my head. I had to stay focused for this very last possession.

"Beep Beep" the referee blew the whistle, signaling the end of the timeout called by our coach.

"So let's get out there and show to them why we are here for the finals. Let's Go! 1, 2, 3... Diamonds!"

As we motivated ourselves, our school, Diamond Secondary High, cheered with their loudest voices. That was not simply cheering, it was putting our school's victory on the line.

And I am taking the last shot.

I turned my head to look at the score board. 83-81. Down by two. 18 seconds left. Time is our enemy. This was it...it's my time.

"Its time to be a hero or a zero!"

"Beep!" the referee whistled to start the last 18 seconds as he passed the ball to my teammate for an inbound pass.

We ran out the play coach drew during the timeout and soon the ball was in my hands.

Taking a deep breath and holding my ground. Did not bother if i have sweaty palms or not. Did not bother if the crowd was calling upon my name. It simply comes down to me and the basket hoop.

Time starts to tick down as I held onto the ball awaiting for the time to be down till 10 seconds or less before attacking. It gives the opponent a less possible chance of them scoring if we score the last basket as time will be limited to them.

As the crowd counted down the seconds left, I knew, it's now or never.

10 : I passed the ball to the side.
9 : I ran across to the side.
8 : Time is running out. Better hurry!
7 : Awaited at my spot for a double screen to be set for me to run across to get an open shot.
6 : Looked at the crowd and my team's emotions and knew how important this shot will be.
5 : Took a hard solid screen from my teammate and ran down the baseline for an open shot.
4 : As my teammate faked a pass to the other side leaving my side wide open as the defense collapsed.
3 : Excellent Direct pass made straight to my chest as I took a deep breath preparing for a shot.
2 : I jumped up as my hands were perfectly in a 90 degrees angle making a perfect elevation.
1 : The fate of our victory lies within the shot as we prayed for it to go in.

"Beep!"

All eyes wide open. All hearts completely went dead for a moment just for that shot. All hands were crossed for my shot to go in.

"Swish!"

Dead silence kicks in as the drop of the ball bouncing onto the floor was heard.

"We did it! Oh My God!" We jumped up with joy as all of my teammates jumped and smashed onto me. Everyone from Diamond High ran out of the stands to cheer with us. I did it. I made the shot. And WE won!

Having to scream and shout with tears of joy in the hall of the court, there were also tears of sadness to lose the game.

I walked up to the captain of their team, Hyru, and smiled and said, "That feel, we all felt before. But what it takes is what we got. All we need to do now is to get up and improve. Get back at us next time ya? Although we won't give it to you too!"

Hyru smiled back and thanked us for the intensifying game. Also promised me with the team to play ball soon someday. He promised to get back at us soon.

What A Gentleman Sport Liked Game!

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#Re-Loving #TheGame #R-LTG

hey guys hope you enjoyed this first chapter of "Re-Loving The Game"

read more as i will update on the second chapter where how happiness can change in a blink of an eye as Zeke experiences his first setback in the story right after the win.

-Travis (aka Late Highlighter) 😊