As Nigel walked in with his father, the gym was lively with the sound of sneakers screeching on the floor. Referee whistles chirped, basketballs pounded and the applause from the bleachers was loud as families cheered for their boys. All four basketball courts had league games going.
Coach Shabaka and Nigel’s father shook hands, while Nigel tossed his gym bag to the floor and began to dribble the ball between his legs. Denham, his mother, his brothers and his sister were next to appear. Coach Shabaka waved his hand high so they could see him through all the commotion in the gym.
“Hey, Coach,” Denham said, dapping Coach Shabaka’s fist.
“Hey, Denham. Good to see you guys. Why don’t you warm up with Nigel? Do some chest passes.” Denham dropped his bag, ball and water bottle against the wall then stood at a distance, facing Nigel. The boys nodded at each other as Coach Shabaka turned his attention to Denham’s mother.
These are the only passes he gonna see from me today, Nigel thought. He put a little extra push on his chest pass, making Denham stumble backward a little when he caught it.
“I hope it’s not a problem that I can’t stay today,” Denham’s mother said. “I have some errands.”
“Oh, that’s no issue at all,” said Coach Shabaka. “Do what you need to do. He’s in good hands.”
Strange, all the other kids’ parents stay during their games, Nigel thought. Some even brought other relatives and friends to watch their kids play. This was the first time he had seen a kid not have someone in the stands cheering for them. His parents probably don’t like him either, Nigel thought as he caught the pass back from Denham.
Denham’s mother bent down to give him a hug and kiss. “Now you make sure you don’t give Coach any trouble, all right? I’ll see you later. Have a great game, honey!”
Nigel hurled a hard pass toward Denham as he was waving at his mother and not fully paying attention. The speeding ball grazed Denham’s shoulder and nearly hit him in the head. “Whoa! That was a close one,” Denham said, laughing as he ran to retrieve the ball.
Not close enough, Nigel thought.
Before long, all of the Power players were warming up around the coach — dribbling, passing balls, some just chit-chatting. They looked like a red, black and green army in their uniforms.
Once their court was free, Coach Shabaka gathered the boys together. “We’re on court number four, boys. Follow me.”
He led the boys through the waiting area like Moses parting the Red Sea as other coaches and players were still waiting for their court to be free.
“All right, boys,” he said. “Take the far bench, drop your belongings there and begin our warm-up routine on the opposite basket. Let’s go!”
The boys ran to the bench and began their warm-up, jogging in single file behind Nigel. They ran three laps around the half court, then split into two lines at the three-point line to run the layup drill. One line had balls to take shots while the other line rebounded and passed the ball back to the next player in line.
“C’mon, faster, let’s go! Game speed,” hollered Coach Rodney. Coach Shabaka was at the scoring table passing on the lineups to the high-school student volunteer scorekeepers. The opposing team entered a little later and began their warm-ups on the other basket. The Gryphons’ uniforms were royal blue with white lettering, white numbers and a white picture of a gryphon — body of a lion, and head and wings of an eagle — on the chest.
After the buzzer, the boys huddled around the coaches on the bench, sipping on their water bottles. They were all excited, hoping to hear their names in the starting lineup.
“Boys, this is the real deal,” said Coach Shabaka. “It’s not practice anymore. This game counts, so let’s do it the way we practised. I want to see strong defence. Stay low, move your feet quickly and stay in front of your man. Keep your arms up so you can deflect any passes they make. On offence, let’s move the ball around. Let everyone get a touch. Be assertive, drive the ball to hole and find the open man if you don’t have an easy shot. Okay. Starting the game will be Kash, Nigel, Asim, Amen and . . .”
Nigel knew Omari was hoping to hear his name next, but he knew what was about to happen. Omari had started for the Power ever since he joined the squad, but Nigel had a feeling that was about to end today. He was right.
“. . . and we’ll have Denham join those four as the fifth starter,” finished Coach Shabaka.
Nigel gave Omari a look that said, Don’t worry, we going to handle him for you. He wasn’t going to let Denham steal Omari’s spot.
“You got that, boys! Let’s go out there and win one. Hands in. Who got the Power?!”
The boys were so hyped they were springing on their toes. They crammed their hands to the middle then screamed, “I’ve got the POWER!” Jumping up and down, the starters headed to centre court for the jump ball while everyone else bounced to the bench.
The referees took their spots on the court, one on the sideline and the other holding the ball at mid-court for the jump. The boys all froze in place, waiting for the referee’s signal. Amen was taking the jump for the Power.
TWEET! The referee blew the whistle and lobbed the ball above the boys’ heads to start the game. Amen leaped as high as he could, just outstretching the reach of the Gryphons centre to win the tip and tap the ball back into the hands of Denham. When Nigel saw the ball go toward Denham, he ran over, clapping his hands, and said, “Okay, I got it from here. Give it to me. I’ll set up the play.”
Denham waved him off saying, “No worries, bruh, I got it.”
Nigel wasn’t about to let Denham take over his position too. Reluctantly, he took his stance on the left wing near the three-point line as Denham guided the offence from the top of the key. Amen darted to the top of the key to set a pick on Denham’s man. Denham crossed his man over, right into the chest of Amen, and dribbled toward the basket as Amen’s defender tried to cut off Denham’s path to the basket. Seeing this, Amen quickly rolled toward the rim, creating a two-on-one, just like the drills they did in training. Denham spied Amen coming opposite the defender and tossed a one-handed bounce pass between the defender’s legs to Amen, who caught the ball in stride for an open layup. The boys on the bench for the Power all jumped up, clapping their hands, excited that they were the first to score.