himself I need to be better from the line than Dwayne Daniel released the ball Swish He jogged to the basket and grabbed the ball as it dropped from the hoop Quickly he jumped up and went for a layup The ball hit the corner of the rim and the backboard and fell back to the blacktop Daniel's shoulders sagged Aw who am I kidding Daniel muttered Coach T will never start me not with Dwayne Illy on the team Dejected he put the ball under his arm and headed home to shower before school
Chapter 2 BRICK Later that week Daniel sat on the bench as the Wildcats played the Hornets from Josette Junior High The first half had been very close so Coach T started the five top players in the second too That meant not Daniel Dwayne Illy drove hard to the basket and was fouled From the line he got two points The second half was starting just how the coach wanted On the next drive Isaac Roth starting point guard stopped at the top of the key
He pumped once to fake a shot The Hornets defender was totally fooled and Isaac got a clear pass to Dwayne as he drove the lane Dwayne caught the pass and laid up the ball in one motion It was smooth All five starters high fived and cheered Daniel did his best to cheer too but it was hard to be excited when he was spending the whole game on the bench The rest of the second half went just as well Dwayne Illy got sixteen more points from the line and six from the floor With two minutes left in the game the Westfield Wildcats were up by twenty points All right you guys Coach T said to the five players on the bench including Daniel Here's your chance to shine
The five starters took a seat on the bench and the five second string players took the court Daniel could tell that the other guys weren't very excited They all knew the coach only played them when the Wildcats had the game in the bag Guys Daniel said to the other second stringers Let's make the most of this What do you mean asked Sam Yohai the point guard All we have to do is wind the clock down right Daniel asked Well I think we should put a few points up there Let's show Coach T that we're as good as those starters Sam looked at Daniel and the other second stringers But he said slowly we're not Daniel rolled his eyes Listen he said just get me the ball one time so I can drive You'll see
