ONEONE Ic Cold Relax I told myself We’ve still got a chance I took a quick glance at the scoreboard We trailed 43 38 Nineteen seconds remained It could still happen A bucket a steal a buzzer-beating three-pointer Overtime The inbounds pass smacked into my hands and I sprinted up the court Miles Robertson met me just past the midcourt line forcing me wide The Central point guard had frustrated me all night But this game wasn’t over yet Big Alan Mitchell rushed to the foul line and set a hard screen for me I sliced past but Robertson fought through The guy is impossible to shake I drove toward the hoop I could hear the crowd yelling 4
Use that backboard I thought as I lofted the ball in a high arc Not high enough Robertson leaped and stretched Thwack I winced as the ball flew upcourt Robertson had blocked the shot Central was already on a fast break I watched in frustration as the score turned to 45 38 The final buzzer went off seconds later I hadn’t even moved Nice game Santana Robertson said sticking out his hand I shook it weakly Robertson ran off to join his celebrating teammates I walked off slowly Coach Mancini’s postgame talk was a blur I just stared at my locker The sweat on my back turned ice cold We’ll get back on track tomorrow Be on the court ready to roll at three fifteen Coach ended 5
I peeled my sweat-soaked BETHUNE jersey over my head and untied my sneakers I was wiped out Guarding Robertson had drained every ounce of energy A poke to the arm made me look up Marcus was next to me on the bench He leaned in Ouch Marcus said softly You got schooled out there Torry I tried to scowl at him but I couldn’t keep from breaking into a smile instead Marcus always finds a way to make me laugh even when I’m down Robertson is good Marcus said He made all the difference tonight Just what I wanted to hear I covered Robertson the whole game I was responsible for all of his points those assists those steals And that last minute block That was all on me Marcus took off his orange jersey with the blue number 5 and folded it neatly Clean and dry he said with a smirk All set for the next game 6
You’ve still got your goggles on I said You didn’t even play I look like I played Marcus replied He took off the sports goggles and put on his regular glasses then changed out of his huge sneakers Marcus has big feet even though he’s my height When he grows into those feet he’ll tower over me Just four of us seventh graders made the Bethune Middle School Badgers I’m the only starter and the only one who played tonight After a five-win start to the season we’d expected to keep the momentum going before a packed house at home But Central had clearly been the better team Did you see the stat sheet Marcus asked Robertson had twenty-one points I kicked off my sneakers I didn’t need to see the statistics I knew how many points I’d scored Same number as my jersey 3 All on free throws Worst game of my life 7
