Coach Rodney nodded at Coach Shabaka. “The two new guys worked that pick and roll to perfection. Good teamwork. Not a bad pick-up, Coach.”
Everyone on the Power seemed happy about the score, except for Nigel. He was still upset about not getting to handle the ball for the first play. I could’ve done that, he thought.
The Power players got back on defence quickly. They played their men close and forced the Gryphons to put up a difficult shot, which Amen rebounded and tossed ahead to Denham, who was breaking to the basket. Two defenders for the Gryphons were already back, so Denham had to pull the ball out and wait for the rest of his team to come up the court. Once everyone was in place, Denham passed the ball to Nigel, who was standing at the top of the three-point line. Denham’s man wasn’t paying attention. So he flashed down the lane, wide open, hands up high, so that Nigel could see him and drop an easy assist for the score. Instead, Nigel hurled a pass to the opposite side where Kash was standing. Kash’s defender was stuck between covering him and Denham, so he left Kash open in case Kash passed it to Denham for the easier score. If the other team knew about the plan, they could’ve left Denham open the whole game. Kash threw up a long-range shot that rattled off the rim.
Coach Shabaka jumped to his feet. “C’mon, boys, pass to the open man! We just lost two points there. C’mon, now!”
The Power boys made the game difficult for themselves by not sharing the ball with Denham. Despite the self-sabotage, the game was still close by the end of the third quarter. The intensity was high, and the game was beginning to get chippy. The teams were arguing, bumping into opposing players after the whistle was blown.
When the game resumed, Kash was dribbling to the rim, thinking he had an open lane to finish with a basket. The defender had baited him, knowing exactly where he was going with the ball. The defender stepped in front of Kash as he leaped off the ground. Instead of flying high, Kash was quickly grounded. The referee blew the whistle again.
“Chaaarge!” he yelled, while making the offensive foul signal. Kash and the defender from the Gryphons, Number 11, were lying side by side on the floor, watching the referee. Number 11 gave a fist pump when he heard the call. His teammates rushed to help him off the ground. Kash, meanwhile, stayed on his back with his hands covering his face.
“Don’t cry, baby,” Number 11 said to Kash as he jumped to his feet.
Kash looked up as three players from the Gryphons stood over him.
“Don’t cry! Poor baby, don’t cry. Ou ou ou,” they wailed, rubbing their eyes like an infant trying to hold back tears. They crowded around Kash, keeping him from rising to his feet. Right away, Denham ran over and started pushing the Gryphon players away from Kash.
“Get off him! Get out of here!” Denham hollered. He stood nose to nose with the Gryphons with his fists clenched, ready to stand up for Kash even if it meant a fight. The Gryphon players were surprised, and a little scared of Denham’s aggression. They ran back to their bench making sobbing noises, “boo woo woo,” still trying to tease Kash.
Denham held out his hand to help Kash off the ground. I hope Kash spits at Denham’s hand, Nigel thought. Kash hesitated, but no other teammates had come to back him up. Not even Nigel, who was watching from a distance.
“Thanks, bruh,” Kash said as they gripped hands.
Denham hoisted him to his feet. “No worries, yo. Those boys are soft. They can’t mess with us. We the Power!” said Denham with passion.
Kash looked at him in shock. Then slowly nodded his head, saying, “Ya. Ya, you know that’s right. We the Power, bruh!”
They pounded fists and ran back to the bench.
The Power were down by one. If they could force the Gryphons to miss, they would have the last shot and a chance to win the game. Coach Shabaka subbed in Omari, because he was the best defender on the team. On the floor to finish the game were Kash, Nigel, Omari, Amen and Denham — good defenders that would give them a chance to stop the Gryphons.
Number 11 for the Gryphons caught the inbound pass on his side of the court and dribbled slowly to the half line, trying to kill time. There were only twenty seconds left on the clock. Coach Shabaka had instructed the boys to stay in the half court and pretend they weren’t ready to play defence until Number 11 dribbled over the half line. As soon as he did, Omari and Denham pounced at the ball, trapping Number 11 in the corner — the half-court trap. Number 11 panicked and tried to dribble out of trouble, but Denham was able to poke the ball away, right into the hands of Omari. Denham took off, sprinting to the basket, looking for the pass, while being chased by Gryphon players. None were in front of him. It would’ve been an easy two points to win the game if Omari pitched the ball up ahead. Instead, he kept it, dribbling to the basket as fast as he could move. With the clock winding down, players and spectators in the gym were screaming the countdown, “Four-three-two-one!”
Omari lobbed the ball forward from the three-point line as the buzzer sounded. SWISH! The ball dropped through the net, not touching any part of the rim. Omari jumped up and punched the air with elation. A three-pointer to win the game.
Nigel was the first to leap on Omari, excited because he didn’t pass the ball to Denham, and kept it from being Denham celebrating the game-winning shot. Nigel was so proud that they had stolen that moment from Denham, the same way Denham had stolen Omari’s number and starting position on the team. The boys were so busy celebrating, they didn’t notice Coach Shabaka arguing with the referee, who was waving his hands, saying, “No good. The basket’s no good. It was too late.”
“Are you sure? It looked like it left his hand on time,” pleaded Coach Shabaka.
“Sorry. He was still holding the ball when the clock hit zero. Sorry. Very sorry. Gryphons win.”