Air Ball

The King Tiger

The King Tiger

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3...

2...

1...

*Buzzer*

"And your UAAP Season 76 Men's Basketball Champions, the De La Salle Green Archers!"

Party poppers here and there, "D-L-S-U, Animo La Salle!" cheer throughout the Mall of Asia Arena. It's over, the season is finally over. My collegiate basketball career is over and I've failed yet again to lead the team to victory.

My whole world began to slow down while I was watching my last desperate shot attempt. I would have traded anything for that shot to go in. It didn't. I could hear the cheering growing louder and louder but as I looked on at the yellow crowd, they were silent, or to be more precise, heartbroken.

It was as if the exhaustion I felt for running around the court, shooting twos and threes, and jumping for the rebounds caught up on me. I didn't even have the energy to stop the tears from flowing. I promised the Thomasian community a championship and yet the best I could give them was a 2-point difference between us and the champions. The team fell short, I fell short. Hearing them chant "Go USTe!" made it harder for me to face them. "I'm sorry, UST. I failed you."

As we were going back to the dugout, I don't know why I suddenly looked up to the lower box section of the Arena. There I saw a girl wearing a black sleeveless Kevin Ferrer shirt, denim shorts, and black Chuck Taylors taking photos with her Canon DSLR. She must have seen through her lens that I was looking at her because she lowered her camera to show her face. Her eyes were a bit teary which made me blame myself more but then she smiled a simple smile and made a saluting gesture at me. It was a cute gesture, enough to make me smile a bit and return the salute.

We were silent in the dugout with tears streaming down our faces. "You played well, boys." coach Pido said with a soft voice. Everyone could tell he was stopping himself from crying. After a brief silence he spoke again, "maybe this is year is not our year, but next year it will be." Next year. It was mine and Tata's last game for our collegiate career. "The Thomasian community is very proud of each one of you." It was assistant coach Estong who spoke this time. "But we failed them, we didn't get the win." I told him. "You played your heart out in that game. The Thomasians see it, that's why until the end they cheered for you. And if I'm not mistaken, until now they are still cheering for you. Now let's go out there and thank our sixth man for their unending support." assistant coach Estong replied.

When we got back to the court, the Green Archers have just finished singing their school hymn. It took me a while to compose myself and join my teammates. As I raised my right hand to sing the UST hymn for the last time in my UAAP career, I looked around the yellow crowd. I could never thank them enough for the support they gave the team even when we were on our lowest points. When we felt tired, they didn't. They inspired us to work harder and be confident because we know that they got our backs. Then my eyes wandered again to the same lower box section. She had a sad smile but nevertheless she sang the UST hymn when the Yellow Jackets started the beat.

As the UST hymn ended, the yellow crowd started to cheer "Go USTe! Go USTe! Go USTe! Go! Go! Go! Go!" I will definitely miss this. What's even more surprising and heartwarming is that the green crowd also joined in. This is what true sportsmanship is all about. We may get heated at games but at the end of the day, we respect each other.

My brother made his way to me and hugged me. "Ahia, it was one of the best games I played in my whole life. Thank you, for giving your all. You deserve to be the Finals MVP" he told me. I hugged him back and said "Congratulations bro. You willed your team to victory, you deserve it too." I replied. With that, he took my hand and raised it. It was a bittersweet moment - I am a heartbroken captain but I am one proud brother of the Finals MVP.

The team went back to the side of our bench to face the yellow crowd. At our highest points, they cheered. At our lowest, they cheered harder. We bowed before them as a sign of deep gratitude and great respect. The girl in the lower box section was taking pictures again - of us, the crowd, and the different happenings on the court. While were going out of the court, I stole one last glance at her but unfortunately, she was busy looking at her shots. Will I see her again? I hope so.

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A/N This is just a fan fiction. This is a product of my emotions from the UAAP Finals. LOL. Win or lose, we still growl loud and proud. Go USTe! ♥