Castle High

45. Alley Brawl

“And 30!”

Andrew cried, as he hurled the basket-ball from the edge of the left wing and hit the target. He darted towards the falling ball, and plucked it in the air before making a swift swirl and dunking it once more into the net.

The big game.

The big game was going to start in some hours and he had fortuitously made the starting line-up. He was the only 10th grader on the team, and a lot of pressure was on him to perform. He knew that no matter how well he played today, the majority were still going to refer to him as the weak link on the entire team. It was only logical to do so. If he was a spectator today also, he would have done the same. The line-up consisted of three seniors, one junior and him – a 10th grader.

It wasn’t like he was the coach’s favorite or something, no it was far from that. The board were ensuring that the concentration of the coach wasn’t fully on the seniors whom were going to leave the school in a few weeks time. He was implored to adapt a long-term strategy, in fact he was convinced that if Jake had been in school for the past few months – he would have probably earned a place on the bench.

He knew he was making the upcoming game a bigger deal than it was, but he couldn’t afford to flop when the whole world was watching. Basket-ball was a volatile sport. Just because one prepared like hell during practice don’t mean they’d find their rhythm during the game or vice-versa. It wasn’t that simple. And he didn’t want to find himself in a position whereby his hard-work and sweat wouldn’t pay.

But he couldn’t exactly do anything about it.

His parents’ recent financial turmoil did nothing to buoy his spirits, either. Every day he wore a façade, put on an act and lived like nothing was bothering him on the inside. But at least things had gotten better lately, and were shaping up nicely – on the other hand, such notion that things would get better was always recurring until it all went to smithereens once more.

No, you can’t go there.

He knew if the worst happened, his mom would have no choice than to loop his grand-dad into it. His grand-dad wasn’t a bad man really, but dad just didn’t like his help. Grand-dad was a billionaire and a very influential figure in the state, and dad hated been indebted to such people, even if they were family because according to him – a day would come when they would make an inordinate request. His mom on the other hand saw no wrong in seeking her dad’s help when trouble came knocking.

He just prayed they sorted everything out until the problem escalated out of control. He had to take his mind back to the upcoming final of the HBC. It was the 20th anniversary, so it was going to be quite the ceremony. Ever since the exams wrapped up, the administration had started pumping in numerous resources towards hosting the big final.

Asides from the fact that it was the 20th anniversary, and the fact that Castle was hosting it whilst making it into the final also – the Panthers were facing off against their arch-rivals – Brent-ford’s high – Falcons. The final was billed to be the greatest ever in history. Both teams were the most successful in the HBC so far, each clinching a total of five trophies making whomever who came out victorious at the end of today – the first team in history to attain the feat of six HBC’s.

The Falcons were the favorites in today’s game. They had been dominating the championship right from the onset, and every team that had crossed path with them had not just fallen but taken a severe beating while at it. In the semi-finals, they dominated the entire game all through with a 25-point margin. Whilst the Panthers on the other hand put up an impressive performance against their opponents also, but had only managed a 10-point lead.