Team Manager CHAMP!
Chapter 20
TORI AVOIDED BRANDON most of the week. They had one class together, but she escaped before he got a chance to talk to her. Thursday, he was waiting for her after practice.
“Hey, Tori. I was wondering if you’d like to go out again Saturday. I really enjoyed myself last weekend,” he said.
“I don’t know.”
“Um… If I ask you a question, would you please not answer, ‘Nothing’,” he said. She turned and glared at him, daring him to speak. “What’s the problem between us? I thought we both had a good time.”
“Noth… All right,” she said, still glaring at him. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“I absolutely promise that I didn’t tell anyone about our date or what we did,” he immediately defended himself. “I’m not the kind of guy who brags about who he’s dating or what they did. I would sure never trash the reputation of a girl I really like!”
“My reputation is fine. My friends have been hurt.”
“What? Who? Please tell me what has happened. I don’t have, like, a big network of friends who keep me informed about what’s going on. I’m still new here,” he pled.
“I told you about having been one of Dennis’s girlfriends and how a lot of the girls on the team were girlfriends. The next thing we know, the District Fucking Attorney is in front of the school board threatening to bring charges against a coach who was allegedly having sex with his team members. I told you because we were sharing our history and you blabbed to someone who was willing to bring charges!” she shouted. She’d been holding it in all week and it just boiled over.
“I didn’t do anything. I thought it was weird, but it’s not my business. You’re the only Angeline I’m interested in,” Brandon said.
“I want to believe you, but you’re the only person who hasn’t known about it all along. Who else would go and take it to the county for prosecution?” she demanded.
“Tori, I swear to you that I never said anything and would never betray a confidence between us. I absolutely promise,” Brandon said. “If you don’t believe me and want to stop seeing me… It’s too soon to even call it breaking up. If you just don’t want to see me again, fine. Just say so. But don’t go trashing my reputation, because I didn’t do anything.”
He turned to walk away and Tori caught hold of his sleeve. He turned to face her again.
“Do you promise, Brandon? I really liked being with you. I don’t want to break up. I just am so… fucked up.”
He heaved a big sigh and wrapped his arms around her.
“I don’t know what all happened, but I promise you I didn’t and would never lie to you about this, or anything else. I’m sorry your friends were hurt. I kind of like them all.”
The two leaned against the back of Tori’s car and he kissed her. Not a big deep kiss, but enough to let her know he was sincere. After a moment, she pushed him away.
“We’re still on school grounds. They’ve been tightening up on enforcing PDAs this year,” she explained.
“Be honest with me, Tori. Like I’ve been with you. You really broke up with him… them… didn’t you? I don’t want to be led on, either.”
“We broke up,” she said. “I broke up with them because I wanted to find a guy of my own without competing with a bunch of other girls. I still love them. All of them. They’re my real friends and my teammates. I would… I shouldn’t even say what I’d do if I found out who hurt them. I wouldn’t be kind. That’s what it means to be an Angeline.”
“I’d like to be the guy you found, Tori. I’ll do everything I can to… well, to help you.” She gave him a hug and turned to her car.
“I’m sorry I went ballistic on you. Um… If the offer is still open, I’d love to see you Saturday. I’m… uh… available all day. Just let me know when.”
“I understand things came to a head while we were out of town Tuesday night,” Coach Neil said as he sat with Dennis in the coaches’ office Friday morning. He and Dennis hadn’t had a chance to connect this week because Dennis had been busy most mornings at DMACC. School there was closed for the day.
“My lawyer says things were all clear and there won’t be any further questions asked,” Dennis said. He was studying a video of the team they’d face Friday night. The Lions were a formidable opponent.
“Wow! Look at the height of that team!” Neil said, looking over Dennis’s shoulder.
“Yeah. They are going to close us out under the basket. Fortunately, they don’t have a bunch of great shooters. They’re only hitting half their free throws and barely thirty-five percent of their field goals. But they’ve been playing all 3A teams, too,” Dennis said.
“I studied the boys’ game, too. We’re facing the same thing. What’s your strategy?”
“Draw fouls and hope our free throw game is on. And hope my three-point shooters are hot. Not sure what else I can do, but trust in the girls,” Dennis said.
“My thinking exactly. I don’t know if the guys are up to this, though.”
“Coach? Say, about what happened at the board meeting. I really appreciate you getting the message to us on Sunday. It gave us a chance to prepare,” Dennis said. “If you don’t mind my asking, when did you find out about what was going down?”
“I got a call from Dr. Jones on Friday, just before we left for Woodward Academy. Sorry I couldn’t get to you before Sunday. I had to talk to the other coaches and chose Janet to talk to you.”
“I really appreciate it. I think that will be a relief to Tori, too. She was worried about something she said, but that wasn’t until Saturday.”
“No. Everything was in motion at least by Thursday.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, Tori,” Dennis said when they got to the locker rooms. “I wanted to tell you that you can relax about Brandon. The whole thing with the accusations was in motion back as far as at least Thursday. Nothing you said could have affected it.”
Tori threw herself at Dennis and hugged him. Then she backed away and glanced down the hall where Brandon was just coming into sight.
“I wish I’d known that before I blew up at Brandon last night after practice. I need to go patch things up. Be right back.” She took off down the hall to intercept Brandon before he entered the boys’ locker room. Dennis went into the training and therapy room. It wasn’t used much because the school didn’t have a physical therapist on staff. In the room, Rosie was waiting for him.
“You ready?” he asked.
“I’m so excited to get back on the court, you wouldn’t believe it!”
“Good. Let’s get you taped up. The ankle’s been looking good this week. Any pain?”
“Nope. I’m good to go.”
“Well, we’ll probably need you tonight, so I’m glad you’re fit. We’re missing six who got the flu this week. Fortunately, our front lineup is still all healthy.”
The game against the Lions was a brutal slog. They were three minutes into the first quarter before the Lions made the first score by dropping a three-pointer. That lit a fire under the Angelines and they returned with a two and exchanged scores with the Lions until they took the lead at 8-7. At that point, they managed a layup and Tori hit two free throws to lead at the quarter 12-7. It was the highest scoring quarter in the game. True to Dennis’s prediction, the Lions effectively blocked any approach to the basket. Natalie was called for an offensive foul when she tried to drive through and Dennis waved her off of further attempts. She responded by sinking her first three-pointer to end the half with a 22-17 lead.
That was the high-scoring half. In the third quarter, the Angelines hit one basket—a short jumper by Janice on the inbound under the basket—and four free throws, while the Lions scored only once. That extended the Angeline lead to nine, but the Lions came back strong—for this game—in the last quarter with two scores in the first four minutes while the Angelines had none. With the lead whittled to five points, Dennis called a timeout and got his team in to talk to them.
“Stay calm,” Dennis advised his players. “I’ll be shifting Amy, Janice, Judith, Rosie, and Leanne in and out as the rest of this plays out. I want you all fresh and fast. Tori, Natalie, and Diane, I’m going to need you three to be the constants. I hate to do this, but we’re shifting strategy. I want you to play keep-away.”
“What? What about the shot clock?” Natalie asked.
“Don’t worry about the clock. I’ll watch it. Just make sure you maintain control of the ball and keep it out of their hands. When they approach you, turn away and get rid of the ball. Post position, Diane, you’ll be on the move all the time, left, right, and back. Be ready to be a relief valve if a guard gets in trouble. Guards, stay well back from the circle. Got it?”
“Got it!”
“Who are we?”
“Angelines!”
Dennis watched the shot clock carefully. At twenty-nine seconds, he called time out for thirty seconds. So far, the Lions hadn’t gotten close.
“Okay. Same strategy. You’re doing great. Wait for the fouls. They’re getting frustrated.”
The girls hit the court again and true to Dennis’s prediction, one of the Lions gave up waiting for something to happen and fouled Amy. They weren’t yet in a shooting situation, which required seven fouls on a team in the half before there were free throws. Tori took the ball out of bounds and threw it to Natalie with a reset shot clock. Dennis called timeout again before the clock ran down.
“This is crazy-making!” Natalie said. “I just want to shoot the ball!”
“You’re doing a good job. Two more minutes and we’ll have them nailed. Get in there and show them ball control.”
On the inbound, a Lion got a hand on the ball and knocked it down court. There were no Lions waiting for it and Natalie ran it down before her opponent could reach it. She reversed and got across the ten-second line before flipping the ball to Tori. Encouraged to be more aggressive by their coach, a Lion finally got too aggressive and fouled Natalie. It was the eighth foul of the half and Natalie went to the stripe to hit two perfect swishes to stretch the score to a seven-point lead with fifty seconds left to play. This time it was the Lions’ turn to call time out. Their objective was to stop the clock, not just to keep possession.
The Angelines kept the pressure on as the Lions brought the ball inbounds and it was nearly knocked away. On a drive for the hoop, a Lion was fouled by Natalie who had let one foot drift into the protected zone under the basket. The player went to the foul line to shoot two. She missed both.
The last fifteen seconds were the fastest of the game. The Lions stole the ball as the Angelines inbounded it. The shot was off the mark and Tori grabbed the rebound. The Lions were all over the back court and Tori launched the ball all the way down to Diane, playing back near her foul line. She had a clear path to the basket and dribbled twice before she launched herself up to slam-dunk the last score of the game. Angelines 32 to Lions 23.
“Wow, girl. That was amazing! Were you girls holding back on us?” asked the Lions’ tall center, who’d been face to face with Diane most of the evening.
“I wish!” Diane laughed as the two shook hands. “You guys had us shut out of the lane. You’re awesome.”
“I never expected to get beat by a 2A team. How’d you learn to dunk the ball?”
“My coach taught me. It was a lot of body mechanics and strengthening drills,” Diane said.
“Really? Too bad you lost her. I heard she quit.”
“Yeah. She took the coaching job at Salter. But I mean Coach Dennis, over there.”
“No kidding? Like isn’t he in high school?”
“Yeah. My classmate and former boyfriend. I think he and Natalie will both join Coach Graves at Salter. I’m headed for Northwestern.”
“You did it!” he said as he hugged each of the eight girls who played that night. “I wish we’d had more players and I wish we’d won the JV game, but it was just as important to get all those girls on JV real playing time. They only had one more on their team than we did. I just can’t tell you how proud I am of you.”
“Um… Nat said you’re going to watch Salter play tomorrow afternoon,” Tori said. “Is that, like closed to just… um… you know… you guys, or could the rest of us go, too?”
“Oh, heck, yeah. Let’s all go and watch how our former coach and teammate handle the Norse,” Dennis said. “Um… Anybody else?”
“I’m going to suggest the game to Brandon,” Tori said.
“We’re definitely in,” Judith said, hugging her sister.
“Sure, why not?” Rosie asked turning to Leanne. “Can we ride with you, Diane?”
“Oh, yeah. It’ll be like old times. Anybody else?”
“If anybody’s got room, I’d like to go,” Janice said.
“We can make room,” Diane said. “That old boat of mine will carry five, easy.”
“The land yacht proves its worth,” Judith growled. “I get it next year!”
After the group got their showers, they went up to watch the second half of the boys’ game. The boys were not faring so well with the taller and stronger Lions’ team. The guys were playing short-handed, as well. Brandon got the nod to start with only six players on their team. He managed fourteen points but that was nowhere near enough to help. The Wolverines were down seven at the half and looked like they might make a comeback in the third, but ultimately lost 53-64.
Tori stopped to console her boyfriend and they agreed on the game the next day.
“You’re really going to come here next year?” Diane asked Natalie as they entered the fieldhouse at Salter on Saturday afternoon.
“Yeah, if they make the offer. Ar… Coach Graves doesn’t want to make too big a thing about recruiting us the minute she left Bartley. They’re still working out the financial packages they’re offering…” Natalie cut herself off. No one knew Amy and Lana would be joining them, too. She almost let the cat out of the bag.
The Crusaders had beaten the Norse in a make-up game on Monday night, but this was another conference game that had been on the schedule. They’d had no other games this week. The Angelines all cheered heartily for Brenda when she ran out with her team and waved at Ardith. They watched the precision of the drills the team ran during their warmups.
“That one’s cool,” Judith said. “Why didn’t Coach ever teach us that one?”
“I think the girls here were doing it before she took the job,” Dennis said. “I’ve been tracking it, though, and will try to introduce it in practice on Monday. I didn’t want to lose focus with our last two games of regular season coming this week.”
“Yeah. Maybe we should just do it in practice and not as part of our regular routine,” Lana suggested. “I need to learn that one, too.”
“Are you and Amy going to come here when you graduate?” Tori asked.
“Are you kidding? With Dennis, Natalie, Brenda, and Coach Ardith here, where else would we go?” Lana laughed. She hugged Amy and then turned to give Dennis a quick kiss on the cheek.
“You guys are really something else,” Brandon said. “Thanks for allowing me to tag along today. Tori said it would be okay.”
“You bet, bro,” Dennis said. “Tough break on the game last night. Having half the team out sick didn’t help things.”
“Yeah. With Dave and Donnie both out, we were doomed. Greg really stepped up last night, though. He deserved a chance to shine like that.”
“I think that’s one of the things the coaches like about a loss like you had last night. Not that the coaches like to lose, but that they get to see players other than their stars step up and show what they’ve got. And you all did well,” Dennis said.
“So, you plan to come here for college, too?” Brandon asked.
“If everything works out. It looks good right now. Where are you planning to go?” Dennis asked.
“Oh. Well, I like to play ball, but I’m not really a great student. I’m thinking I’ll join up after high school. Probably marines,” Brandon said.
Dennis saw Tori look at him a little strangely and wondered if that was news to her.
The anthem was played and the game got started. Ardith hadn’t changed her lineup at all and this time Payton controlled the tip. They were almost two minutes into the game before anyone scored. Eve was fouled on a shot under the basket and made two free throws. From there, the game bounced back and forth for a couple of minutes when Eve sank two consecutive three-pointers to give Salter a 12-6 lead. After a Norse timeout, the Crusaders really opened up. They played their kind of ball game and kept the pressure on all the time.
“Watch this,” Dennis said when Brenda and Grace were sent in. “You’ve never seen anyone run up and down the court as fast as Grace. I don’t know why, but she and Brenda always seem to be sent in at the same time.”
“Coach says she’s got seven starters,” Amy said. “Bren said she works out a lot with Grace. Look! Look! Look!” Just at that time Grace came driving hard down the court with Brenda a few steps away. The Norse had three defenders against the two Crusaders. Grace cut outside and threw the ball to Brenda who took two steps and passed it back to Grace as she cut for the basket. It was a beautiful layup and Grace drew a foul as well, making it a three-point play.
By the end of the first quarter, the Crusaders were up 29-19. For the rest of the game the Crusaders commanded the court, outscoring the Norse in both the second and third periods. Grace, Jillian, and Laura all garnered four fouls and sat out the last five minutes of the game, giving some of Ardith’s less experienced players a chance on the court. They were outscored in the fourth, but held for a 90-66 victory.
Ardith and Brenda came up to join the team for the men’s game. She was reserved and said she’d only be able to stay until halftime. She pointed at Dennis.
“I’m not going to lecture you one way or another, but that strategy you pulled last night won’t work in college,” she said sternly.
“Why not, Coach?” Judith asked. “It sure worked last night.”
“In case you didn’t notice during our game, the shot clock doesn’t reset at every break. If you had five seconds on the shot clock and called a timeout, you’d still have five seconds left when you inbound the ball. The rule was instituted specifically to prevent the kind of keep-away ball you played last night,” Ardith said. “But you did a great job last night. Congratulations on beating a tough team.”
Ardith said goodbye at halftime and left the stands.
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
