The Wolves cheered for themselves as loud as they ever had.
They were all together in a raucous scrum near the spot where Ryan had blocked Corey’s shot, jumping up and down, some of them hugging each other, some of them pounding each other on the back, some of them just throwing their heads back and yelling to the top of the gym.
When Lucas finally broke away from the celebration, he walked over to where Gramps had been quietly watching them from in front of their bench, the Santa Claus smile finally back on his face, as if this were the Christmas he had missed this year.
“Like I told you,” Gramps said to Lucas. “Everybody needs a helping hand sometimes.”
A few minutes later, after it was announced by Mr. Dichard that Lucas and Ryan had been named co-MVPs of the championship game, they were standing on either side of Gramps at mid court, and Gramps said, “Little help here,” one last time.
Then the three of them held up the championship trophy together.