CHAPTER 7
Brandon was right. His dad had heard what Jeff said on the phone, and as a result, Brandon spent the rest of the weekend grounded. And as if that punishment wasn’t bad enough, on Monday he had to confess to Coach Hanson that he’d lied to him, too.
“I can’t say I’m happy about you lying to me, Brandon,” Coach Hanson said when Brandon told him the truth. “You’re a part of this team, and that rule applies all the time. You don’t get to pick and choose when you want to play. We needed you Friday.”
“I’m sorry, Coach,” Brandon said. “I was just trying to do what was best for the team. I didn’t want to drag everyone down with my bad luck during the big game.”
Coach Hanson shook his head. “Brandon, the only thing that’s going to bring us down is poor playing,” he said. “Bad luck has nothing to do with it.”
“Does that mean I can come to practice today?” Brandon asked.
“Of course,” Coach said. “As long as you come ready to play. And, Brandon? I’m glad you told me the truth.”
* * *
When Brandon arrived at practice that afternoon, none of his teammates said anything about him missing Friday’s game. It seemed like the only ones who knew the truth about why he’d skipped were Jeff and Coach Hanson.
During practice, the Chesterfield Clovers were like a completely different team. They were more alert and had more energy than ever before. It was like their win on Friday had shot new life back into the team.
No one mentioned the bad-luck business. Even Kevin kept quiet about it. When Brandon hit a sweet jump shot, Kevin came over and slapped him on the back.
“Nice shot, B!” Kevin said.
It’s good to be back, Brandon thought, smiling. The energy in the gym was electric. It felt like the bad luck was gone for good, and Brandon couldn’t have been happier.
All week long, the Clovers played like a team. Everyone hustled big time during drills, running as hard and as fast as they could. They all concentrated and listened as Coach made suggestions and tweaks to the team’s lineup and defensive strategy.
By the time they finished practice on Thursday, the Clovers felt ready for their first big play-off game the next night.
Before they left, Coach gathered the team around the bench. “Bring it in, guys,” he said. “I just want to say, you’re all looking great out there. Last week we proved how badly we wanted this spot in the play-offs. This week, you’re showing me that making the play-offs isn’t enough. You want to win this thing.”
The Clovers whooped and hollered with excitement.
“Here’s the thing, guys,” Coach said. “Spring Hill isn’t expecting Chesterfield to be much of a challenge tomorrow night. We’re smaller, and they think we’re an easy win for them. They’re just expecting us to show up.”
“Oh, we’ll show up all right,” Jeff said. “You can count on that!” Tony and Drew both grinned and high fived him.
“That’s what I like to hear, boys,” Coach said. “Let’s use their low expectations to our advantage. We’ve got a rough road ahead of us, but if you guys keep the same intensity and spirit that you’ve shown over the past week, they’ll never know what hit ’em!”