Chapter 2
The tryouts were held the next Monday, right after the last class of the day. Isaac got changed into his shorts and last year’s jersey in the locker room. Then he jogged out to the court.
“Hey, Isaac,” PJ Harris said. PJ was the tallest member of the team. In fact, he was the tallest student at Westfield Middle School. If one player had the height to go pro one day, it was PJ.
“Ready for tryouts?” PJ asked. He held out his hand for a high five.
Isaac slapped his friend’s hand. “Of course,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be starting this season. You will too. No doubt.”
“Of course,” PJ said. The two boys turned as the locker room door swung open and Dwayne Illy strode in.
“There’s my competition,” Isaac said.
“Are you hoping for power forward this season?” PJ asked. “Huh.”
“What do you mean, ‘huh’?” Isaac said.
PJ put his hands up and smiled. “Nothing, nothing,” he said. “Dwayne is just really good at getting to the hoop. He’s amazing from the foul line, too.”
“I have a great free throw,” Isaac said. “You know that. Better than yours!”
PJ laughed. “Man, my grandma’s free throw is better than mine,” he said.
Suddenly a whistle blew. PJ and Isaac turned and saw Coach Turnbull at the center of the court. All of the guys who were trying out gathered around him in a circle.
“All right, welcome to tryouts, everyone,” Coach Turnbull said. “We’re going to run drills and play a few short scrimmage games so I can get a good idea of what everyone can do out there.”
Isaac glanced at Dwayne Illy. Dwayne was smiling. He’s so confident, Isaac thought. He wished he felt as sure of himself as Dwayne did.
Coach T opened a big equipment bag at his feet and pulled out a bunch of red and yellow scrimmage jerseys. Each one was numbered.
“I’m going to call out numbers while you play,” the coach said. “If I call your number, call back with your name so I know who you are. If you were on the team last year, I already know who you are.”
Each of the players grabbed a jersey. Isaac and PJ both grabbed red jerseys. Dwayne picked up a yellow one.
Before the scrimmage, Coach Turnbull wanted the players to start with a layup drill. “Perfect,” Isaac said to PJ as they lined up. “Dwayne’s on the other team. This way I can show him up during the scrimmage. Steal off him, block his shots — really give him a hard time.”
PJ shook his head. “You’re fast, Isaac,” he said. “And you know all of Coach T’s plays better than anyone.”
“What’s your point?” Isaac asked. It was his turn to take a layup. He jogged up, caught his pass, and laid up the basketball. It went in off the backboard.
PJ jogged up next. “My point,” he said as he shot his own layup, “is that you’re a born point guard.”
“Yeah, everyone keeps saying that,” Isaac said. “But I don’t want to play point guard.”
After drills, Coach T called everyone to the middle to start the first scrimmage. Isaac and PJ were on a team with Trey Smith, a great shooter they both knew from seventh grade.
“Hey, Trey,” Isaac said, calling him over.
Trey jogged over to PJ and Isaac. “What’s up?” he said.
“You take the ball up, okay?” Isaac said.
Trey looked surprised. “Me?” he said. “You want me to play point?”
Isaac nodded, and Trey shrugged. “All right, I’ll give it a shot,” he said.
Isaac gave him a high five and the coach blew his whistle to start the scrimmage.
“No jump, Coach T?” PJ asked.
“Let’s just say red ball to start,” the coach said, smiling. “I think we all know PJ Harris would win a jump against anyone else in this gym.”
Everyone laughed.
Isaac threw in to Trey to start play.
Isaac moved quickly down the court. He called out to Trey, “I’m open!”
Trey launched a pass to him, and Isaac barely got it. It was far off to the left. Isaac was able to spin through the yellow team’s defense. He shot a quick layup.
“Yes!” he said as the ball fell in for two points.
“Nice recovery, Isaac,” Coach T called out.
On defense, Isaac stayed close to Dwayne Illy. When a pass came to Dwayne on the yellow team’s first play, Isaac managed to knock it out of bounds. Dwayne glared at him.
“What?” Isaac said, but Dwayne just turned away.
The next time up the court, Trey had trouble finding an open man. Isaac finally came to the top of the key and behind Trey.
“Give it here,” Isaac said. Trey tossed him the ball, then moved toward the hoop. Isaac passed him the ball on one bounce. Trey shot and scored two points.
“Nice shot, Trey,” the coach said. “And nice assist, Isaac. Way to take charge out there.”
Isaac gritted his teeth. Coach T was already talking to him like he was a point guard.
This time on defense, Isaac was playing Dwayne even tighter. Dwayne caught a pass and tried to fake out Isaac, but Isaac wasn’t fooled. He tapped the ball out of Dwayne’s hands and grabbed it.
Then Isaac took off on a fast break.
“Great steal, Isaac!” PJ shouted, clapping.
Isaac reached the hoop and laid it up easily. Two more points.
PJ came jogging up the court. He gave Isaac a high five.
“I’ve got this in the bag,” Isaac said. “Did you see me show up Dwayne? I’ll be the next Wildcats forward for sure.”
The whistle blew. “Okay, Isaac, take a seat for a little while,” the coach said. “Let’s see how these other boys do without you, okay?”
Isaac smiled and dropped onto the bench. This is a cinch, he thought. I’ll definitely be the starting power forward.