Switched Up

11-II: 3... 2... 1... Begin!

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Basketball Shooting Event: Each person in the event will have to shoot basketballs into the net for a total time of 5 minutes. The goal is to get as many points as possible (volunteering teachers will be recording the points scored at each station). Anywhere within the half-court is appropriate to shoot from; 2 and 3 points shots count, however, the individual must stand at least 15 feet away (free throw line distance) from the hoop. There are 8 half-court stations (#1, #3, #5, #7 are the red team and #2, #4, #6, #8 are the blue team). Each person is only allowed to have one ball, so they have to keep receiving it to keep shooting.
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Everyone started heading to the location of their first events. Sam, Oliver, Aaron, Zane, and Charlie walked with the group of people traveling to the basketball courts. They saw a big, white poster with all the names of the students who were participating in the Shooting event.

"Hmmm... Looks like Zane, Charlie, and I are on the courts at the other side of the gym. I guess we'll see you guys later," said Aaron.

"For sure. We can meet up before the group event and plan out some plays," said Sam giving them all high-fives before they left.

Sam and Oliver then waved bye to them and headed to their courts.

While the two of them were doing some light stretching, they heard a voice call to them, "Hey guys!"

They looked over to see Ricky galloping over to them with Opal, Honey, and Jack not too far behind.

"Are you on this side of the court too, Ricky?" asked Sam.

"Yup! I'm going 10th on court #2. How 'bout you guys?"

"First on #3," said Oliver.

"5th on #1," said Sam.

"Looks like we are pretty spread out, huh?" said Ricky.

"Yeah, it gives us a chance to cheer for each other," added Sam.

"Attention Shooting event participants. The event is going to start in two minutes. Anyone who is not in the event, please head up to the bleachers," boomed the announcers voice over the speakers.

"We'll be cheering for you guys," said Jack as he started walking off the court.

Opal lightly touched Ricky's arm and said with a soft smile, "Good luck."

"T-Thanks," he stuttered.

After Opal had finished giving her good luck high-fives to Sam and Oliver, Honey called, "Good luck Sam! Good luck Ricky! Good luck Ollie!" while climbing the bleachers behind Opal.

"Thanks guys!" said Sam, waving to them.

When she turned around she found Ricky hiding his red face in his hands and Oliver frozen with a goofy smile.

With a laugh, she jumped and wrapped her arms around both of them, almost knocking them over. With a simultaneous "Whoa!" Ricky and Oliver snapped out of their fantasies and came back to reality.

"First participants, please step onto your court," called the announcer.

"Oh, that's me!" said Oliver, still stuck between Sam's arm.

Sam released the boys and Oliver strolled over to his spot.

"Let's go Oliver!" cheered Sam.

"Miss all your shots!" taunted Ricky.

Sam laughed and nudged Ricky with her elbow while Oliver shot him a fierce glare.

The gym started to get rowdy as the students' cheers bounced off the walls. The announcer had trouble getting everyone to settle down.

"Alright. We are about to officially begin the Sports Fest!" said the announcer.

Another round of cheers filled the gym.

"Take your positions everyone. 3... 2... 1... Begin!"

A loud buzzer went off to signal the students to start shooting.

Oliver made his first shot a little bit outside the free throw line and watched it bounce off the backboard into the basket. He zoomed over to the ball and went back to his original spot. Sam could tell that Oliver was having fun, especially since his speed helped him go back and forth so fast.

Oliver finally made a shot that missed. Though, it didn't bounce off the rim. Instead, the ball got lodged between the backboard and the rim of the basket. A wave of "Awh!" and "Oh no!" cheers swept over the red team members in response to Oliver's shot. Oliver looked at Sam with sad, sulky eyes. She held in her laughter and yelled, "GET THE BALL, OLIVER!!!" not sure how he would receive it, but wanted to encourage him anyway.

Oliver perked up and smirked while he took off towards the basket. Once he was right under the net, he wound up for a jump and sprung up. He latched onto the net with his hand and dangled from the basket while he wiggled the ball free with his other arm. Then, he casually took the ball and dropped it through the net.

The gym went completely silent; even the other participants whose turn it was stopped shooting. The only thing that could be heard was Oliver's shoes landing back on the floor when he let go. He glanced around the gym at everyone's dumbfounded faces.

Suddenly, the gym exploded in cheers and Oliver jumped from the sudden eruption. His head swung back and forth while he looked around trying to make sense of what was happening. He glanced towards Sam and saw that she had a huge grin on her face.

"Oliver! What the hell, man! That was INSANE!" she shouted while running towards him.

"What did I do?! I honestly have no idea!"

"You grabbed onto the basket rim! And you don't even play basketball! Like, holy shit! That was so DOPE" she said shaking his shoulders back and forth.

"Errrrm... Attention students," interrupted the announcer, "that basket did not count because he scored from within the 'no point zone'".

The audience sighed in disappointment, but gave a round of applause anyway.

Sam smacked Oliver's arm and said, "That sucks that it didn't count, but keep going! You still have 2:10 left on the clock and we need those points!"

Oliver smiled and held up his fist to Sam.

"You got it! I'll finish this off on a good note."

Sam smiled back and gave him a fist bump. Then, they both returned to their spots.

Sam and Ricky continued cheering for their friends and teammates as the time ran down. Oliver ended up missing a few more shots, but he did incredibly well for someone who didn't play basketball. When the buzzer went off, Oliver strolled over to Sam and Ricky and high fived them as they both held out their hands to him.

The three of them ran around to the other side of the court while the announcer called the next group of participants up. They wanted to cheer for Aaron since he was supposed to be in the 2nd group.

Time flew by while everyone cheered and chatted. Before they knew it, it was Sam's turn to go.

"Can I have group 5 come onto the court please," said the announcer.

"Ah damn, that's my cue! Here I go guys!" said Sam.

To be continued...