Hoops

Chapter 5: Zero Mercy

1:54 PM, December 5, 2020 Hoops City, Stockton, CA

Pain 1993 - Drake

Coach excitedly smacked his hands together. 

"THAT, gentlemen, is SKULLS BASKETBALL!" We all clapped.

"Now, it's not a blowout, but you know the drill. If we get up by 20, starters can expect to see a decrease in minutes." Coach looked at me and the other starters around the locker room.

"Let's run up the score and get these reserves some play time. Alright?" Coach looked at the Mugweru twins. The Mugweru twins and Timmy Bowman had been designated as our three reserves, meaning they didn't have to travel with the team unless one of our players was hurt. That didn't stop any of them from actually traveling to games with us and soaking up garbage minutes. 

Timmy and Marselo high-fived. Everyone else had gotten minutes except for them and the Mugweru brothers.

"Let's roll back the press, play conservatively and keep this lead. We've still got a half of basketball to play, let's get it done!"

We trotted out of the locker room as more upbeat hip-hop played. A large crowd had gathered to watch what apparently was the closest game today. A girls team was blowing out another girls team 103-2, while an 8-year old game was not looking very hot on the two courts within our view. I started out back on the floor for the first bit, but the coach took me out quickly to give Bryce some minutes. 

By the fourth quarter, the Jackets managed to claw their way back to within 10. This happened promptly after the Mugweru boys began to get significant minutes. I felt bad for them. I liked them, but they just were too young and inexperienced to play at this level without a ton of practice.

Go Stupid - Polo G

"We've got a classic to open the season, coming into the fourth quarter it's Skulls 81, Yellowjackets 76!" The announcer announced. Coach pointed at me.

"Get in there for Alex."

"On it, coach." I said, taking off my jacket and sweatshirt. I wiped my shoes on the sticky mat provided by the scorers table. 

"1 for 2."

Odell and Chris Barthelomew trailed me.

"3 for 22." Odell whispered to the announcer in his ashy voice.

"20 for 35." Chris followed up in his shaky, frail voice. I hadn't paid too much attention to him during practice, but he seemed like a decent backup power forward behind Lamont. He could shoot the ball well, but when it came to rebounding, he was a monster. As the whistle blew and  a player I had yet to see in this game came to the line, the three of us came in.

"Skulls foul on number 35, Lamont Collins. His fifth, team's third. Number 5, Harrison Griffifth at the line for the Yellowjackets, shooting 1 shot."

A buzzer sounded. Odell, Chris and I came in, and Alex and Ethan took a seat. Lamont, visibly frustrated, trotted into the locker room. Having earned his fifth foul, he would banned from returning for the rest of the game.

5 drained his free throw, settling the score at 81 to 77. Chris inbounded to me, and I directed the offense to their spots.

"Hey, 58, 58!" I shouted. Like clockwork, the team shifted into place. I dumped a pass to Odell, then sprinted to Dante and screened him. Dante and I switched places and he recieved the pass from Odell. Dante fired a three from the top of the key. The confused Yellowjackets, who were in man defense and had a hard time covering it, sprinted to defend the shot. They didn't need to, however, as Dante bricked it. 25 snatched the rebound and took the Yellowjackets up the court.

0 decided to be a big bully inside and beat up Diex in the paint, scoring a brutal layup which seemed to him to be a side quest as he was punishing Diex.

"Roquan Blankenship." 81-79.

I took the ball up again. I tried a fancy crossover move on number 5, who had a few inches on me height wise but was not that skilled. 

"Hey, I got a mouse on me!" Chris shouted, pointing to the obvious height difference between him and number 15, a toothpick who hadn't played yet this game. I lobbed it to him inside. 0 came out of nowhere, stuffed Chris while delivering a resounding shout, and deflected the ball to 17 going the other way. 17 dished it down to 13 in the corner, who splashed the three for the lead.

"Austin Spears for 3!" The announcer shouted as the Yellowjackets stands went insane. Spears, now with 30 points, had been pestering me and Bryce all night on offense. The Yellowjackets took the lead for the first time today.

"Timeout!" Coach yelled. Once the ref acknowledged it, we all huddled up.

"Diex, we need you to hold down number 0!" Coach spoke like there was a monster in the house. Truth be told, 0 was. Standing at 6 foot 7 with 170 pounds of muscle at 16 years of age, he was completely yoked, had dunked twice today, and had generally mopped the floor with Diex, Donnie, Lamont, and anyone else we had try to guard him.

"Take some more outside shots. Barthelomew, can I trust you to get on number 0?"

"NO!" Chris shouted, incredulous.

"Relax. Diex will take him when we're on defense. You just need to take him on offense. Lure him out to the arc to guard you so that Diex can score inside on 55. They're gonna want to play man defense here."

"What if they play zone?" Odell asked. "0 would stay inside, and we don't want that."

"Then you and Fletch rain threes like no tomorrow." Coach smiled like an evil genius. Odell cracked a smile too. 

"Now this," Chris grinned. "I'm liking this a lot better."

The tall trio of 30, 99 and 20 came back in the game, a sign that the Yellowjackets were going all in on man defense. A seven-footer would hinder Diex a lot scoring inside, but he still probably would have less trouble than with 0 tenderizing him every possession.

"I got 0!" Chris yelled timidly. 0 smiled and rubbed his hands together. There wasn't any doubt he was thinking about a steak. A lanky, redheaded steak. I pulled up to half court, examining my surroundings. Chris cut outside, trying to lure 0 out. It worked, 0 came out, and I pounded a bounce-pass down low to Diex. Diex drop stepped, pivoted inside on 99, and pounded it off the glass into the cup.

"Diex Inö." I high-fived Diex as the scoreboard flashed 83-82.

13 took the ball up again, directing the other 4 players.

"Hey, spot! Spot!"

The players shuffled into place.

"Bone!" I shouted. We got into 2-3 zone defense.

5 recieved a pass, aggressively driving in on Chris. Chris flopped. No foul was called, much to Chris's dismay. However, when 5 went up for the layup, Diex angrily pinned it to the backboard with a strong hand.

"Argh!" Diex grunted as the ball careened off the board into Odell's hands.

"Go!" Odell shouted to me as I sprinted down the court. He lobbed me a pass that almost hit the scoreboard suspended above the arena. I caught it, dribbled a few, and went up to go for a dunk.

Suddenly, I felt a crunch from behind, and my body went sideways. From 8 feet or so in the air, I plummeted, down. My tailbone hit the ground with a sickening crack.