to get the ball from the ref the Grizzlies fans in the crowd began to stomp their feet on the wooden bleachers A low rumble resonated throughout the gymnasium The ref passed Carl the ball He dribbled twice spun the ball in his hand and shot The ball rattled around the rim and then dropped in Down by two points Ben thought He hoped the home crowd would rattle Carl on his next attempt Carl received the ball again He took a deep breath went through his routine and shot This time the ball bounced high off the rim and fell toward a mass of leaping bodies and outstretched arms Ty came down with the rebound
0 13 0 12 0 11 Ty found Nick open at midcourt and slung a pass up to him Ben ran as hard as he could along the far side of the court His team didn't have much time to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded 0 08 0 07 0 06 Nick caught the pass at midcourt and spun There was an open player near the top of the 3 point line Nick passed the ball and it was deflected by a Gladiator defender The ball bounced back toward Ben 0 04 0 03 0 02 Ben quickly snatched up the ball He was steps from the 3 point line There was no time to set up As a Gladiator defender rushed toward him Ben leaped up and shot the ball in a high beautiful arc The defender
tried to swat away the shot but he missed by inches As Ben watched the ball sail toward the hoop the buzzer echoed across the gym The crowd held its collective breath The ball hit the front of the rim bounced high ricocheted off the backboard rattled around the rim and then dropped right through the hoop Yes Ben pumped a fist in the air as the other Grizzlies swarmed around him The crowd jumped from their seats and went wild Ben smiled wide as he took it all in He'd done it He'd won the game
CHAPTER 2 EXCITING NEWS The following afternoon as practice was about to start the Grizzlies were still riding high on their exciting last second win Some of the players stood in a circle and passed a ball to one another while chatting about Ben's game winning shot A few were running sprints back and forth across the gym their feet slapping and squeaking against the wood floor Ben and Logan were among some players practicing free throws Coach Horton was still in the locker room
