Mercedes stared at the game clock telling her she had only one minute left to make two three-pointers. She didn’t want to look at the nervous faces of her father and Jade in the stands, or the scowls of the opposing Huffman squad who’d hacked her hands like machetes. It’s one thing to lose, Mercedes thought, but another to get blown out and have a record set against you. She wondered if she’d play—or foul—the same if she was on the other side of the court.
“Look, we’ve got this game,” Halle said. “This is for Mercedes.”
“This is for Callie,” Cheryl added. Coach sat the other starters, but Halle and Cheryl insisted on coming in the last quarter because both could easily feed Mercedes the ball.
“Thanks,” Mercedes said, bumping fists with her teammates as she headed out to the court. Like before a big fight at school, Mercedes felt the temperature and the tension in the building rise.
Lydia, the back-up forward, inbounded the ball to Cheryl. Cheryl quickly raced down court and found Halle open at the top of the key. Halle shot the ball out to Mercedes, who passed it right back. Halle looked confused as Mercedes cut toward the baseline. The Huffman guard pushed Mercedes hard, almost sending her out of bounds. The ref didn’t call it. Mercedes moved quickly, gathered in a pass from Lydia, then used the pick set by Halle to get free. The ball sailed from her hands and bounced off the backboard and into the net to tie the record.
The home crowd exploded. Rather than getting back, North used a full-court press as Coach had instructed, even in the closing seconds, as if the score mattered. The score did not, but the scorer did. Cheryl cut off the inbound pass. A layup was hers, but she passed the ball to Lydia, who rushed it to Mercedes. The defense converged, forcing a pass to Cheryl. Cheryl tossed to Halle, who moved toward the basket, drawing in the defense. Halle passed back to Mercedes. But one second later, the ball swished through the net and fell softly back into Halle’s hands.