*** THE HALFTIME BREAK ***
Miss Edwards: sorry, but I can't let you continue.
Me: I'm sorry too ma, but with all due respect I don't feel like I need your permission right now. I'm raring to go.
Coach John: How bad is it Treasure?.
Miss Edwards: It's bad. Adding to his list of injuries in the past couple of days, i don't know if his body can take anymore. He's still bleeding from his head and it might lead to more issues if we let him continue.
Me: please then, just bandage me up. Make me a mummy if you may. This match is important to us, to me. I can't sit back. At least not now.
Miss Edwards: I'm telling you this for your own good.
Me: I know. But please I need this. Coach, please let her know.
Coach John: This is really important Treasure. This match is really important to us.
Miss Edwards: Even more than the life of your player?
Coach John: No. of course not. But you can see he's eager to continue. Can't something be done?
Miss Edwards: [sighs] you're being too reckless John, I can patch him up and give him something to help. But try to not overexert your body.
Me: not planning to.
Duhhhh, of course I'm planning to, how else are we gonna win this match if I don't.
Jace: You really are a tough roach.
Me: please compare me to a tiger or a lion, or a wolf. what the fuck is a roach?. why a roach?
Jensen: Foolish idiot. it's cause they never die.
Me: I know that much geez. Call me something else, that is my point.
Jace: can you two idiots get your heads in the game. They are about to kickoff.
*** THIRD QUARTER ***
If there's any team who could complete this comeback, it's ours. Paul, their center kicked things off for Jarquin, and the next thing any of us saw was a dash. And I'm not even exarggerating, one second, we were all waiting for a play, the next second, something had moved pass us, and that something was one on one with matt. That something wasn't with the ball, no he wasn't. But he was somehow, a bigger threat than King who was with the ball. Before a reaction could come from any of us, king made the long pass to that something who without any hesitation, sat matt down and made the easiest two point of its life. Starling 40-43 Jarquin. The whole jarquin crowd went nuts and started a chant.
"PRAISE!, PRAISE!!, PRAISE!!!, PRAISE!!!!"
This something had a name, this something was called PRAISE TITO. Or as they dubbed him, "THE BOLT". [Gosh, so fucking cool]. Now, why was there a new player here without any of us realising?. They made the sub when I was receiving treatment. And none of my teammates noticed, like what the fuck do they use their eyes for?.
Jensen: The fuck kinda pace was that?
Me: The type i think we're gonna have to deal with.
James: How?. We were worried about king, now we have to deal with the flash too?.
Me: [Chuckle] I see what you did there.
James: I wasn't trying to be funny.
Me: Sheesh. I know.
Referee: Timeout. Starling Strike.
Thank you so much coach.
Coach John: Gather around everyone. Things are about to get serious. Who remembers 'Follow the bait'.
Matt: we all do.
Coach John: Good, cause it seems like we've been had.
Me: What do you mean Coach?
Coach John: Praise Tito, King, Sopuru and paul. These are four keys figures for Jarquin. But, three of them had freak accidents from last month which left them unable to play, and which also put them unavailable for this match, so I made my plans without adding any of them into the picture. For that I apologise for my shortsightedness.
James: so you're saying they had their own unholy trinity or whatever?.
Coach John: yes. Paul whom you're all familiar with. King who's a demon at 1v1 situations, reports said he was out with a Fifth Metatarsal Fracture.
Me: the hell is that?.
Coach John: an injury that shouldn't be healed in less than a month. Then they have Praise whose game was built on his explosive speed, they say he could go from 0 to 100 in two seconds. And reports said he was out with a grade 3 ankle sprain.
Jensen: exactly what we gave you right?.
Me: i think.
Jace: what about the last guy?.
Coach John: sopuru. The captain of the team. The highest scorer for the eastern division. According to reports he's their best player and he's out with an ACL tear
Jensen: so there's a chance that one more threat will make an entrance
Coach John: probably around the fourth quarter when you're all drained.
Me: i don't know if you noticed coach. But we all, are drained.
Coach John: I'm sorry for my shortsightedness.
Jace: we're past that coach. What we need now is idea. We're three points behind. We need to complete the comeback this quarter before another variable pops up.
Coach John: I know, I know. Now listen. For our attacking play we'll be relying heavily on Jace and Jensen. The both of you will be our two keys attackers. I know we're tired right now so we'll stop matching their energy and start forcing them to ours. I need smart, slow, controlled game from this moment. Every pass should be made with utmost certainty and assurance. They have a speedster?, what's the point of his speed if he can't attack. We slow the game to the slowest we can. Keima, I'm putting a restriction on you. You're already banged up, your whole body is probably screaming at you right now, and even though I want to play one of my best player. I know that at the end of the day you're still a kid with a bright future so no need risking things now. You'll be playing 2 minutes with a 1 minute break. Am I understood?.
Me: yes coach.
Coach John: In those two minutes, you'll be the one controlling the tempo. I need you to make the correct plays. You'll dictate the pace we attack and defend with. Is that clear?.
Me: completely.
Coach John: Our defensive play will be the same. We move in accord. When Praise is free, either you double team him or you heavily shade him. Where can he run to if there's no path?. Make king work for every dribble, make legal bumps, do anything, just don't give him an easy lane. And matt and James, I need you to rotate big on Paul. Wear him down. He might be part of their unholy trinity, but to us he's probably the least to worry about. They've made our journey to the east a terrible memory. They tried to ruin the fun of ball for us. They tried to mentally, physically and emotionally break us. We're not going to take that. We're winning this match. Am I understood?
Team: yes coach!!!
Coach John: that wasn't fucking loud enough. I said, AM I UNDERSTOOD!!!!!
Team: YES COACH!!!
Coach John: Get your ass in there. We're winning today.
Damn. That was some talk no jutsu from coach, I feel motivated all of a sudden. I mean, I get it, they're good and all. But it's just three points. And honestly, that's dissapointing. For a team that's been cheating since we got here, all they have over us is three points. Waste of sin I tell you.
Matt kicked things off and made the pass to me. I hate slowing things down. But I am good at slowing things down [i dont know if you got that]. Jensen drifted left dragging agent 0 with him, and Jace did the opposite moving right. Paul sensing Jace threat when alone moved to cover him. For the first time since this evening, I wasn't in any haste. King came in to cover and I just did nothing but bounce the ball, waiting for something. Something best known to me. James immediately ran towards me stretching his hands out for a pass and cheluchi rushed to cover. James double backed dragging cheluchi with him thereby giving me space to push from his side. Slow. I made a pass to matt who didn't rush the attack but also bid his time before returning the ball back to me. If we were already tired, I figured we should drain their energy too. We've been chasing all game, it's high time they do too. After almost twenty seconds of passing the ball around, their defense structure had become a mess. Paul who was normally around the paint had already been pulled away by Jace. Jensen waved and I strung a pass straight at him, cheluchi tried to recover but taking out a man is way too easy for Jensen. 42-43, one Jace and we'd take the lead. I liked that they got desperate cause Agent 0 immediately threw a pass to paul who without wasting a second made another to king. Praise sensing a pass from king vanished into thin air, literally. One second matt had his eyes on him, the next he was already around our paint. This is gonna sound like I'm just describing fiction but I'm deadass when I say I went into some kind of zone. I was all the way at the left side of our arc and praise was already one on one with matt. I trust matt believe me, I do. But this is Praise. King attempted to make the pass and everything just went slow in my eyes, how I predicted the route the ball would take?, that i don't know. But i did. One second I was at the left and the next i was already intercepting the ball from mid-air at the center of the court. James immediately ran ahead of me and I made the pass to him while following tight. Cheluchi made to cover. His mistake, James already know how I move, so what'd he do?. Body feinted cheluchi who still tried to recover. What he didn't know was that James was no longer with the ball. I was. The fastest, most powerful chest pass I've ever made to a Jensen who was being covered by paul.
That showoff didn't even look at the rim. He knew exactly where the puzzle pieces were moving and executed a cold, spinning bounce pass right through Paul's outstretched arms. The ball found Jace precisely at the left wing. Wide open. King was still staggering back from the paint, his whole attacking play failing him. Jace didn't even dip the ball. He just caught, elevated, and released.
Swish. Give us those three fucking points!. Starling 45 - 43 Jarquin. We took the lead, and the look on king's face was absolutely priceless. If looks could kill, my entire family line would be extinct right now. Comeback almost done. The last thing we need right now is to come back and go back.
But remember my restriction?. The referee's annoying buzzer sounded right on cue. 2 minutes were up.
Referee: Substitution!. Number 10, out!
Me: (groaning, clutching my ribs) ahh shit. And I was just getting in the zone.
Coach John: (pulling me by my jersey) Sit your ass down, Keima. John, Keep the tempo slow!
I slumped onto the bench next to Miss Edwards, who immediately threw a cold pack onto my bloodied forehead.
Miss Edwards: Of everyone in Starling, you give me the most headache.
Me: (wincing) Awwn, you're so romantic.
Miss Edwards: how's John been dealing with you guys?
Me: (laughing) I wonder too.
With me on the bench for my designated sixty-second prison sentence, my eyes went straight to work. Jarquin players looked completely pissed, and the next thing i saw was King moving with absolute fluid violence. No signs of a fractured foot anywhere. He crossed up John so hard it almost sent our dear substitute into the front row, forcing Jensen to rotate late. King whipped a pass to Praise Tito, who exploded baseline. James tried to shade him, but even with an 'ankle sprain', Praise's first step was still pure gas. He pulled up and dropped a fierce mid-range jumper. Starling 45 - 45 Jarquin. These are who you call roaches, why can't they just lay down for heavens sake?.
Our guys stayed disciplined with the slow pace, though. Jensen managed to answer by drawing a heavy bump from Paul, executing a tough, circus-shot layup over the giant. Of course, no whistle came from our favorite hungry referee. On the next trip down, King collapsed our defense with a heavy isolation drive, kicking it out to Beluolisa, who was patiently waiting in one of his 100% assured corner spots. He drained the three. By the time the buzzer sounded for my return, the scoreboard read Starling 49 - 52 Jarquin. What pissed me off the most was that the ref made me stay out for almost 3 minutes.
Referee: Substitution!
Me: (jumping up, ripping the cold pack off) Finally. Let me out of this cage.
Jensen: (panting heavily as he ran past the bench) Got a plan?.
Me: I don't plan on calling it a plan yet.
Back on the court. 2 minutes on the clock for me. Time to dictate.
Me: Jensen, Jace, don't let King choose his spots. Shade him left, force him toward the help lane!. If he wants to dribble, he should do that out of bounds
Jace: got that.
Jensen: (whispering) this part of the plan?.
Me: it's not yet one, remember ?
Matt made the inbound pass to me as usual and my eyes kicked off in the search for my receiver. Following my normal pattern i started with bouncing the ball and that was a fatal mistake. We've returned back to the part of the court we started with and i forgot about that crack on the court. The ball bounced out of play. My bad, advantage to Jarquin.
King received the inbound pass from Paul, smirking like he already won a medal. He came straight at me, dropping a heavy double-crossover. I didn't bite on the fake, keeping my feet planted despite my ribs aggressively screaming at me. He tried to explode past my hip, but Jensen was already there to wall him off. King had to pivot hard and force a risky bounce pass to Agent 0.
Again, I read the passing lane like an open book. I lunged out, bringing forth my inner Cheluchi, and snatched that shit right out of the air.
Me: Fast break!. Move!
I didn't even try to sprint, my chest strictly forbade it, but I launched a beautiful, full-court overhead pass to Jace on the right flank. Praise Tito tried to chase him down like a literal bullet, but Jace was already set. He hit Praise with a beautiful ball-fake, letting the speedster's insane momentum carry him completely past the baseline into the team chairs, then stepped back and released.
Smoosh. 3 points!. Starling 52 - 52 Jarquin. Back on level terms!.
King: (screaming at Praise as he dragged himself out of the chairs) Secure the perimeter, how are you been sent to the shops?. Are you a freaking dullard?.
Praise: (glaring back, chest heaving) Why don't you just shut the fuck up and defend your own man!.
Ohhhh, this is beautiful. Their chemistry is beautifully toxic, please kill yourselves. Wait, that's too dark. But in my defence, they were practically tearing each other apart verbally, which was great for us, they're way too dangerous if they work together.
On the next play, Agent 0 drove down the middle. James stood perfectly still, feet completely set, legal vertical contact. A textbook charge.
TWEEEEET!
Referee 1: Blocking foul!. Number 5, white! Two shots!
James: (throwing his hands up) How?!. I was a fucking statue
Me: (walking past the ref, clapping sarcastically) Beautiful call, sir. Truly inspirational. James dont let this get you down, I'm sure someone's bank account loved that call.
Referee 1: (pointing a finger right at my face) One more word kid, i dare you.
I'm not that stupid, sorry. Agent 0 stepped to the line and effortlessly buried both free throws. Starling 52 - 54 Jarquin. Things have been crazy this quarter and i also informed coach I wouldn't be leaving cause the ref was just gonna lock me out again, I'm surprised he agreed. The next minutes were burnt on nothing but to and fro from both teams, they began focusing on defence more limiting their attacks and we focused on slowing things down to make a space to penetrate. The only point came from a single free throw awarded for a foul on Jensen.
With one minute left in the quarter, my body was absolutely spent. Matt made the inbound to me. I slowed it down to a absolute crawl, executing Coach's blueprint to perfection, letting the seconds bleed away. I passed to Jensen, who drove left, dragging Cheluchi with him. He dropped a slick no-look bounce pass back to me at the top of the arc.
King rushed in to contest, but I hit him with a hard shot-fake, swung left, peeked the basket, and took my shot.
Swish. Starling 55 - 54 Jarquin. We took the lead right back.
But the final thirty seconds of the third quarter turned into a total disaster. Seeing that i was literally gasping for air. Coach made the decision to pull me out to at least gwt some ounce of strength for the fourth quarter. Without a central tempo controller on the floor, Jarquin's fully healthy threats capitalized instantly.
Praise received a quick ground pass, pointed at the hardwood, and completely left Matt in the dust with his deceptive pace before dropping a pass to Beluolisa, who drained a corner three. Starling 55 - 57 Jarquin.
Then, with just 4 seconds left on the clock, Jensen tried to answer with a driving layup, but Paul completely hacked his arm down. Still no whistle. King grabbed the loose ball, sprinted past the timeline, and launched a desperate, high-arching heave right as the buzzer sounded.
The ball hit the backboard and bounced straight through the net. A miraculous, lucky-ass three pointer.
The Jarquin crowd erupted into an absolute frenzy, screaming and mocking us. I looked up at the scoreboard, my heart sinking into my chest as the third quarter officially came to an end.
*** STARLING 57 - 60 JARQUIN ***
Three points gap. It was getting harder to breathe, my head was thumping, and the grueling fourth-quarter collapse was staring us right in the face.
Jensen: (walking to the bench, kicking a water bottle) You have got to be kidding me. A buzzer-beating half-court shot?!!
Jensen looks beat. Jace is gassed. Coach is looking lost and i dont even wanna talk about me. I don't mean to sound negative, but I'm scared we might actually lose this