Grow As We Go

Moving On Isn't Easy To Do

I could eat that girl for lunch
Yeah, she dances on my tongue
Tastes like she might be the one
And I could never get enough
I could buy her so much stuff
It's a craving, not a crush, huh

Hunched over, tired from all out effort that coach was requiring from them in the drill, Paige looked over at Azzi to see that she was just as exhausted as she was. With the season growing closer, within a matter of a week or two, practices had become more intense than they were typically used to. Drawing upon Paige and Azzi's competitive spirit, Geno made it a point to at some point put the two against each other. Geno knew that if the team was going to reach the championship game, he needed both girls to have the same killer instincts while the other wasn't there. Calling for the ball at half court, Geno cut their break short as both scrimmage teams prepared for the next set to be called.

"Alright, break time is over" Geno told the girls as he motioned for Paige to come over towards where he stood before handing the basketball off to her. "Whomever scores first, they don't run suicides" he said as the girls groaned at the idea of having to still do conditioning if they were on the losing team. "Team Pagie, you have the ball first. Azzi call your set for defense" he instructed as Azzi took on the challenge to guard Paige.

"Man!!!" Azzi called out as she got in a defensive stance to take on the blonde.

"You sure you want to go man with Aaliyah on the block?" Paige asked as she began to dribble.

"Shut up and make your move" Azzi told her as Paige dribbled between her legs.

"Alright, you're suicides to run" Paige told her before Aaliyah came up to set the pick on Azzi. Driving hard to basket, Paige had a clear shot to the basket, half of the team groaning as they could feel the pain of having to run suicides. Preparing to lay the ball in the basket, Paige was caught off guard by the swat at the ball, knocking it out of her hand and out of bounds. Running out of bounds, Paige looked over to see that Azzi made a defensive recovery to stop her from scoring.

"...you get to green coming off the pick, that's why I went man" Azzi told her as Paige looked at her in confusion as to what she was talking about. "Ball up top" she said calling for the ball as she went to half court.

"It's our ball, it was out on Azzi!?!" Paige exclaimed as she refuted the call.

"Came of your leg" CD told Paige as she shook her head in disbelief with the call.

"Move on to the next play Bueckers, call out your defense!" Geno told her.

"You know you got away with a bullshit call, right?" Paige said as she took on the challenge of guarding Azzi.

"Yeah, yeah. Call your set" Azzi told her as she didn't pay attention to her, her only desire was to come away victorious.

"Box and 1!!!" Paige called out as she guarded Azzi close, giving her little room to operate.

"That's a dumbass call" Azzi told her as dribbled, getting pushed by Paige at every movement she made.

"You're not getting a lay in" Paige told her as she crowded her space.

"Who says I want the lay in" Azzi told her as she passed the ball off to Aubrey before making a quick cut to the basket, then making a quick cut back out for the ball. Caught off guard by her sudden change in direction, Paige ran out to contest the three that Azzi was soon firing off. Unable to make it to her, Azzi nailed the basket to get the winning goal for her team.

"And the foul, you got her on the arm Paige" Geno said as Paige shook her head.

"That's bullshit, I didn't foul her, if anything she pushed off" Paige said as she walked off the fact that she was pissed that she lost. Enjoying the fact that she beat Paige, Azzi smiled all the way to the bench as her team got the rest.