Second Overtime | JENSOO & CHAELISA

Chapter LXV

By the fourth quarter, no one in the stadium was sitting anymore.

The scoreboard burned through the heat haze: 

YG BLACK MAMBAS — 61, ADOR TIGERS — 64

Ten minutes remained. Ador had come hungry, fast, disciplined, mean in the way championship teams needed to be. Their point guard, Haerin, played with hands quick enough to make the ball disappear. Hanni could score from anywhere. Danielle controlled the paint like she owned it.

Jisoo stood near the scorer's table while Coach Minzy drew the final adjustment. Sweat rolled from her temple and slipped along the pale scar hidden beneath her hair.

"They're shading toward Jisoo before she even touches the ball," Coach Minzy said. "Use it."

Lisa bent forward, hands braced against her thighs. "You mean exploit our beloved National MVP as bait?"

"Exactly."

Jisoo looked offended. "I have feelings."

"No one has time for them," Jeongyeon said.

Coach Minzy pointed toward the court. "Move the ball. Trust each other. Stop trying to win the entire game in one possession." Her gaze settled on Jisoo, a look that held more weight than the words themselves. Months earlier, the warning would have burrowed beneath Jisoo's skin like a splinter. Now she heard instruction. Now she heard trust.

"One possession at a time."

The buzzer called them back. The crowd rose in waves of black and gold on one side, orange and white on the other. Drums thundered from the student sections. Camera flashes burst beneath the rafters.

The fourth quarter became a fistfight conducted under basketball rules. Bodies hit the floor and rose again. Ahyeon stripped the ball and hit the ground with Hanni, both sliding beneath the scorer's table. Chiquita converted a fast break and screamed toward the student section. Danielle took an offensive rebound away from three Black Mambas. Lisa hit a three from the corner. Haerin answered with a floater.

With two minutes remaining, the score stood at 75–73, Ador.

Coach Minzy called timeout. Jisoo dropped onto the bench, her jersey soaked through, her lungs dragging air. She pressed both palms against her thighs.

"How is it?" Coach Minzy asked.

The old answer came first. Fine. Jisoo caught it. "Fatigued. No pain."

"Any looseness?"

"No. It's solid."

"You tell me the second that changes."

"I will."

Coach Minzy held her gaze, then nodded. "Ador is switching everything. Stop waiting for the perfect matchup. Create it. Move without the ball. Trust the pass."

When the buzzer sounded, Jisoo rose. Her knee held steady beneath her. Jennie stood above the tunnel, exactly where she had been the entire game. Jisoo jogged back onto the court.

The play began with Lisa dribbling across the top while Jisoo moved toward the left wing. Jeongyeon planted a screen. Jisoo cut hard toward the basket. Both defenders collapsed on her exactly as Coach Minzy had drawn it. Jisoo caught and immediately sent the ball behind her without looking. Ahyeon waited at the free-throw line. She shot. The ball bounced, climbed, and dropped.

75–75.

Ador called nothing. Haerin raced the ball up the opposite side, forcing Jisoo to sprint. Thirty-eight seconds. Haerin drove into the lane and released a high floater over Jeongyeon. The ball dropped. 77–75.