Airball

Chapter 26 - I Get Caught

February 24, 2020.

I sprinted down the court, dribbling the ball in front of me while I ran. Seeing an opening, I lobbed it to Xavier. Xavier went up but, despite being the tallest player on the JV team, couldn't find an opening. He sent a bounce pass back my way and I picked it up while in motion laying it up nicely at just the right time before I ran out of bounds. I smiled as Wesley clapped me on the back, Xavier pumped his chest, and the crowd cheered, all while I backed my way up back down the court.

It was game 24 against McArthur, and it was looking good. The score was 63-43 and we were in the second half of the fourth quarter, meaning we had practically won the game. I wasn't ready to celebrate yet, though. I was going to see this game through until the buzzer sounded, and that wouldn't been too soon.

This was apparent as the McArthur player passed the ball to a teammate in the paint, who pulled up with Cam with him. The whistle blew as the shot went in. 2 points and a free throw for their team. They made the free throw, of course, and so it was our possession again.

Jackson inbounded the ball to me, and I dribbled it up the court before returning it to him. He passed it into Cam, who gave it to me after not finding a shot. I hauled it to Wesley, who was on the whole other side of the three point line and he caught it. His defender had been caught off guard, as the ball had been on the other side of the court a second prior, and so Wesley scored some easy three points for the team.

"Great pass," Jackson said to me. He turned to Wesley. "And great shot, too."

"Hustle, hustle!" I heared Hendrix yelling at us. "Down the court!"

We made it down the court in time to prevent what happened before. I saw the point guard attempting the same pass as he had last possession and jumped in front of the teammate that the pass was being sent to. Before the point guard could react, he let go of the ball and sent it right into my hands. I passed it to Jackson who hurled it down the court to an open Cam, giving him an easy layup.

I glanced up at the score while the ball was being inbounded. 68-46. The point guard passed it off before making it the whole way down the court this time, and the recipient was able to get off an easy jump shot. Xavier grabbed the ball and threw it to Jackson while I found my position on our side of the court. I looked over at Jackson and he nodded at me as we thought of the same thing. I immediately left my position, cutting through the court and coming out on the other side. While the man who was supposed to be guarding me looking for where I'd gotten to, I released the ball, which swooshed nicely in the net.

The clock was running down now so McArthur tried a hasty inbound, only to have it snatched out of the air by Cam. Cam tossed it to me and I glanced at the clock once more before deciding to hold the ball. A couple seconds later the buzzer sounded, and we had won the game—70-48.

The crowd got to their feet and cheered while our team huddled up.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Coach Hendrix exclaimed. "Great work, all of you. I'll see you in practice tomorrow, have a good night. Great work, all of you!"

As I broke off from the huddle, Maia ran up to me. "18 points! You scored 18 points, that was amazing! Plus the rebounds and the interceptions and assists and steals and..."

"Thanks, Maia," I said, grinning.

"That was insane!" Austin said as he joined us. "You're finally back!"

"You were great," said Wesley as he joined us.

"You were too," I told him, and then I noticed that Jackson, Cam, Nathan, Max, and even Xavier were coming over too. "You all were great," I extended the compliment to them all. "This is what the Cobras can really do!"