Don't Let Me Fall

Chapter 6: Just Me and the Three

                                                                         Chapter 6 

 "One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.”  -Kareem Abdul-Jabbar~

                                   Game day. It wasn't just any old game though. It was a home game, and the first one of the year. Home games are the absolute best, especially against a rival team like tonight against Scotland. It seemed like everyone in the highschool went to rival games. There is a student section. The band sits there and of course all the students. The section is only supposed to be half of a side, but the students fill up a whole side. With the students, and the other Schuyler spectators, there really wasn't  room for the opposing team to sit. They had to sit where they could. For being such a small team, there were a lot of people that show up. What could I say? Schuyler people like their basketball.

                    The game tonight was important. It was a confrence game. It doesn't only go against your normal record, but your confrence record, which seeds you in tournements, and decides if you win a confrence title or not.

                     So far we've played five games, and are undefeated. Brookfield, Knox, Moulton, Clark, and Milan are the teams we've played. The only one that has been anywhere near close was the Brookfield, the others we played we beat by a landslide.

                   The boys are undefeated to. They are 4-0. They are good this year, but probably wouldn't be able to go that way all season.

I slammed my locker shut, then slipped my ball bag strap over my shoulder. As I began to make my way down the hallway I spotted Haley and Megan,getting ready to go into the gym.

"Guys!" I shouted at them down the empty hallway.

They turned around. I began jogging towards them.

"Are you staying until the game?" Haley asked me.

I shook my head.

"No, Madison and Morgan are over, so I just want to stop by and say hi."

"Aren't they going to the game?"

"Of course, I want to see them before though."

"Oh, do they know about your parents getting a divorce?" Megan questioned.

"Are you kidding me?" I said, my voice sounding hoarse. I coughed.

"They would be absolutely crushed, it would just break their hearts. My parents are like  their second set of parents." I said.

It was true. They were over at our house all the time, and they went to every single game of mine. They were like my sisters.

"Their 2, and 6 I don't think they'd really know the difference." Haley pointed out.

I let out a laugh.

"Yes they would, they're nosy, they could figure out anything they wanted."

"Then why haven't they in the past 4 months?"

"They've living in Minnesota for the past 6 months, I haven't seen them at all."

"Doing what?" Megan questioned.

"Michael took a job at the Mayo Clinic, but he hated it so they are moving back."

Michael is my dad's brother. He is a doctor like my dad, except that he is a heart surgeon. His wife Sarah's a nurse.  Michael's a lot younger than my dad. Michael is 26, and my dad is 48, which is a 22 year difference.

Jake is my other uncle, except he's a basketball coach in Jacksonville. They have different dad's, so they're not as close as Michael and dad.

I looked down at my phone. It was 3:55. I had to go home and take a shower, say hello to my cousins, and finish a Spanish assignment.

"I've got to go, are we still going to Buddy's?"

"Are you crazy, why wouldn't we, it tradition." I smiled.

Buddy's Place is this bar that the girls and guys teams go to after every home game. They don't serve us alcohol, but it is a restraunt to. They have the best fried pickles in the world. Sounds discusting, but they are delicious.

"See you in a little bit." I waved as I turned to go to the parking lot.

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                         The whistle blew, and the ref threw ball into the air. Megan  got the tip and tipped it to me. I dribbled once, then decided to pull up for a three.

Swish.

3 points.

                         They were short, even shorter than us, which was pretty short. In past years, they had always been one of our toughest opponet. They had a girl that graduated last year that was 6'1. They're offense was basically just feeding her the ball. Katie Shipley now plays basketball for Missouri State. The tallest people for them last year graduated, and there weren't any tall freshman. This year there tallest person was a 5'7 senior. She was chubby, like she probably weighed 175 pounds.

                        The tigers set up there press breaker. The guard taking the ball out wasn't going to handle Hannah's ball pressure. She was going to chuck it down the court. Soon enough she did. It was a rainbow pass and I intercepted it about half court. Hannah called for the ball underneath the hoop. I threw an over the head pass. She shot the ball almost as soon as it touched her hands.

"Nice job girls!" Coach Finch yelled out.

                       It was now 5 to nothing. They quickly in bounded it. This time they got it across half court. The guard tried to penetrate in the lane, but we stopped her.Once she realized she wasn't going to be able to penetrate she passed the ball to a wing. She shot the ball, just a little outside the three point line. It bounced off the rim, straight back to her. Before it could reach her I left my defender and got there to grab the pass before she got it. I caught the ball and sprinted it up the court. I checked to see if any of my teammates were ahead of me. I pulled up for a three again.

Swish.

6 points.

The coach for Scotland yelled timeout. I grabbed the ball and gave it to the ref. I quickly ran over to our bench where the team had already began setting up a game plan.

"Alright, Sam youve already scored 6 points and it hasn't even been a minute, expect a double team . Hannah, good job. Now I want you to go into your motion offense, they're going to man up." He directed us.

The ref blew his whistle for us to go back onto the court.

"1, 2, 3 Team!" We shouted.

Sure enough when we went back onto the court they were calling out numbers. Even though they had the ball, they were already setting up their defensive plan.

The point guard came up the middle of the court. She made a pass to the  5'7  girl. It bounced off of her fingers, and was rolling loose on the floor. I ran and dove for it. The chubby girl began running towards me in hopes of getting a jump ball. As she grabbed the ball she stepped on my bent fingers. I could hear them crunching as I immediatley felt the pain rush over them.

                                                                      Author's Note

Hello! I finally got a chapter up! Sorry for the wait. But the next chapter will be action packed! Hope you guys enjoy this. It took me a while to write. Please comment, vote, and keep reading! I really want to hear your guy's oppinions.

                               - Maddie