Chapter 4
The rest of the weekend went by quickly. Soon Trey was back at basketball practice with the Wildcats. As shooting guard, it was often Trey’s job to get the ball in the hoop. Most plays meant Isaac Roth, the starting point guard, would look for Trey.
That afternoon, Trey, Isaac, and some of the guys from the B team were running drills against the rest of the starters and some other B team players.
Coach T blew his whistle to start the drill. Isaac and Trey and their teammates jogged up the court.
Isaac stopped at the top of the key and Trey cut around to the right. He faked out his defender at the three-point line and caught a perfect pass.
He spun, faked a drive, and shot. Three points!
“Nice shot, Trey,” Coach T said. “And nice moves. You really left Dwayne in the dust with that fake.”
Dwayne shook his head. “Aw, come on, Coach!” Dwayne said. “I’ll get him next time.”
The others laughed. Coach T glanced at his watch, and then at the clock over the doors. Then he blew his whistle again.
“That’s it for today, gentlemen,” he called out. “Hit the showers. Except you, Trey.”
“Ooh,” a few of the other players said. “Trey’s in trouble!”
“You getting cut, Trey?” Isaac joked. He hit Trey on the back as he walked past.
“Right,” Trey said. “I’m the captain, remember? He just wants to talk to me about how to make sure you don’t blow the game for us this week.”
Isaac laughed and headed into the locker room. The coach walked over to Trey, carrying his clipboard and flipping through some papers.
“So, this week we play Eastlake,” Coach Turnbull said. “Any thoughts about the game?”
Trey scratched his head. “Last year we handled them easily,” Trey said. “They probably have some good new players, but Joey Hotchsin is in high school now, and so is Paul Birk. Those two were their best players by far.”
The coach nodded. “That’s true,” he said. “But I’m hearing an awful lot about this talented sixth grader named Pete Smith. Ever heard of him?”
“Yes,” Trey said quietly. “He’s my cousin. My dad’s brother’s son.”
“I thought so,” Coach T replied. “Are you two close?”
Trey shrugged. “We play a lot of two-on-two,” he said. “Or we used to, anyway. This weekend we played one-on-one, against each other.”
“Is Pete a good player?” the coach asked.
Trey shrugged again. “He’s all right,” he said. For some reason, he didn’t feel like bragging about his cousin. He would have a week before, though. He used to be proud of how good his little cousin was with the ball.
“All right, thanks,” the coach said. “And hey, will it be weird playing against him? He’s a starter, so you’ll be guarding him. And he’ll be guarding you.”
Trey waved the coach off as he walked toward the locker room. “No worries,” Trey assured him. “It will be just like any other game.”