Chapter 3
Early that Saturday morning, Trey and Pete met at a local park. They often did, to challenge other guys to two-on-two games. Just like at the family reunion, they rarely lost.
Pete was on the court, shooting free throws, when Trey walked up. “Hey, cuz,” Trey said.
Pete spun around and smiled. “Think fast,” he said.
He passed the ball to Trey. It moved like a rocket, but Trey was quick. He caught the pass, and the ball made a loud slap as it hit his palms.
Trey smiled back, then glanced at the hoop. He raised the ball, drew it back, and shot.
Swish!
“For three!” Trey said. He jogged over to the basket and grabbed the ball.
Pete held up his hands for a pass. “Give it here,” he said. “Still too early for two-on-two, I guess.”
“Yeah,” Trey said. “No one else is around.”
Trey passed the ball to Pete. “We can just shoot around until some other people show up,” Trey said.
Pete took a shot from the baseline for two. “Swish!” he called as the ball fell. “I have a better idea.”
Trey grabbed the rebound and dribbled up to the foul line. “What?” he asked. Then he made a perfect free throw.
“Let’s play some one-on-one,” Pete said. He jogged to the basket and picked up the ball before it rolled onto the grass around the court. “It will be like a sneak preview for next week’s game.”
Trey narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “That could be fun,” he said. “You can start, since I have the advantage in, let’s see . . .” Trey counted off on his fingers, “Height, age, skill, good looks . . .”
“Ha ha,” Pete replied. He dribbled up the foul line. “You ready?”
Trey smiled and nodded. “Bring it, young fella,” he said.
Pete faked a shot, but didn’t fool Trey at all. Then Pete started to his left and went right.
That didn’t fool Trey either. He knew Pete so well, he knew there was no way Pete was going left. Pete was always much faster moving to his right.
Trey stayed with him to the basket, but Pete managed to sink the layup.
“Good D, cuz,” Pete said.
Trey grabbed the ball and took it to the line.
“Not good enough, though,” Pete added with a smirk.
Trey grunted. “Just watch this,” he said.
The two boys played one-on-one all morning. Even when some other guys showed up for two-on-two, Trey and Pete didn’t stop their tournament. They played game after game to 21 points, and neither of them ever won by much.
The boys decided to play one more game before lunch. Soon, the score was 20 to 20. It was Trey’s possession.
Trey glanced at the basket, faked a shot, and then went to his left. But Pete was quick. He knocked the ball out of Trey’s hand.
Before Trey could react, Pete had grabbed the ball and was running toward the hoop. He made the layup easily and won the game.
“Ha!” Pete shouted.
All the guys watching were laughing and hooting and hollering.
“I won!” Pete yelled. “I beat Trey, one-on-one.”
Pete grabbed the ball and dribbled it over to Trey. He was really showing off, doing tricks like dribbling between his legs.
“Whatever,” Trey said. He took a swig from his water bottle. “We’ve been playing all morning.”
Pete laughed. “So?” he said.
Trey turned to the other guys watching. “We both won some, we both lost some,” he said. “So what if he won that game, right? Just one game.”
Pete came running over. “That was the last game,” Pete said. “So that’s the one that matters.”
Trey turned to his cousin. “Oh yeah?” he said. “Let’s see how it goes next week. Westfield will destroy Eastlake.”
“Oooh,” said a few of the guys watching.
Pete glared at his cousin. “We’ll see,” he said.
“Right, we will,” Trey replied. Then he turned and walked off. “I’m going home.”