All or Nothing

Chapter 1:

"Whoop," the buzzer sounded, signalling a time-out. I jogged over to the teams bench, grabbed my water bottle and squirted water hungrily into my dry mouth. Placing the bottle down I spun towards Coach Ryans and listened intentively. "Alright, 3 minutes on the clock of the Season Championship, we're down by 4. 71 to us, 74 to them. We aren't in foul trouble, but they're on four. Use that against them. Girls, we cannot let them think we're weak, tired and giving up or they'll take advantage of that. They're hungry for the ball, they want this title bad, but we aren't going down without a fight. We want that ball as much as them, heck, we want it more. You girls, have put hours of hard work into training and games to get to where we are today. We have a home-court advantage, you know the crowd, the court and the backboard is you friend. You know the speed of which you have to shoot, the angle at which you shoot and the softness of the shot. That board is your ticket to your win. Don't let their size dicourage you. We don't all have their height but as a team we have skill and talent. Our teamwork is whats going to get us this win..."

She pauses for a brief second and continues her pep-talk.

"Haleigh and Maddie are our wall, they hold the defence back so that Skye, our messenger, can fake and reieve the ball from Jessie at the sidelines. Skye is in charge of holding the ball so our guard, Jay can bring up the ball while the other post up." I perk up at my name. Girls, I believe in you, we can win this championship, the scouts will be impressed, you all can have a chance at scolarships in big schools. All of that is made possible if we give it our all and show these guys, that we're not ameturs, we are champions that can play like pros. We aren't against NSW by chance we're up against them as youth because we deserve it." The butterflies in my stomach floated away and were instantly replaced by lions itching to get out and play the ball. I watched as the referees blew their whistle motioning for the teams to place their hands in. I waited for Ryans to tell the team the game plan but suprised us when all she said was, "Follow your instincts, use your talent and skills, work as a team and communicate." I looked at the girls who were about to battle our war, with a determined look I placed my hand in the middle of our circle. I screamed and the girls followed. "1...2...3...QLD SPIRIT!!!!"

The crowd roared as we took our places on the court.
Come on Jaycee, get your head in the game, show them what you can do. Yeah, Cougars, your going down. I was phyched, my mind was in the right frame of mind, my arms and legs were pumped and i was gonna fight.

"Go Jay," I look up and see my friends and family furiously waving at me, I give them a thumbs up and nod laughing at their support. They're almost as pumped as me, but that's not possible as I'm on fire and this is our year.

"Jaycee," I looked toward the coach, "your the guard, if you lead the game, the others will follow, start talking."

Alright.

"Jessie, Skye!" I yell. I look at them and they nod. We start with the usually fake and pass up the middle. I dribble up the court towards our hoop and pull up, making my defender lose her balance. Haleigh, and Maddie post up on the blocks with their hands up as a target. In my peripheral vision, Skye and Jessie sit on the wings either side of me. I make a quick but firm chest fast to Jessie on my right, who dishes it off to Maddie. Maddie pumps the wall to the ground and takes a step forward, driving to the basket, and swiftly places the ball in the ring.

Yes!! Two points down.

Giving Maddie a quick high-five we back down the court for a zone defence. Miranda, the Cougars guard, brings the ball just above the three piont line. She moves the ball around the outside of the keyway between her team.

"Spirit... left...right...positions...right...centre positions!" I yell directions to my team as we follow their every movement. Miranda couragesly drives through the key and lays the ball up in a perfect motion.