Team Manager CHAMP!
Chapter 21
TORI AND BRANDON stopped in Des Moines for a burger and a movie on the way home, extending their date as much as possible. They’d held hands all afternoon and had a few really nice kisses in the theater. When they pulled into Tori’s drive, she had him park by the barn. Then the making out got serious. Tori was afraid things might be going too fast and pushed away a bit.
“Marines?” she asked, remembering Brandon’s earlier comment.
“I think so. I mean, look around. From what I can tell, Bartley is a really nice town and all, but it’s not exactly brimming with opportunity for guys who aren’t farmers and aren’t headed to college. I can’t see settling down to a minimum wage job and trying to get married and raise kids with no more support than that,” he said. “How about you?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve been thinking about the same thing. I’m not opposed to having babies, but I’d like to see some of the world first. I talked to a recruiter over Christmas break. Um… Don’t tell anyone, okay?” she said.
“No problem. I understand small town gossip can be killer.”
“Where’d you live before this?”
“Cedar Rapids. Washington Warriors. Yay-rah.”
“That was the most unenthusiastic cheer I’ve ever heard,” Tori laughed.
“It’s a 4A school and has four boys’ basketball teams—freshmen, sophomores, junior varsity, and varsity. The chances that I’d ever get to play in a real game were slim,” he chuckled. “Coming to Bartley really gave me an opportunity to play.”
“But you’re good! Why wouldn’t you get to play at Washington?”
“I’m only five-eleven. Twelve of the fifteen varsity players are over six foot and the three shorter ones are prodigies. Probably like Dennis. I don’t know why he doesn’t play,” Brandon said.
“You didn’t know Dennis our freshman and sophomore years in school. For that matter, all through grade school and junior high. I was in class with him and never even looked at him until we were in track season as sophomores. He was short and wore thick glasses. During the summer a year ago, he had eye surgery and grew eight inches. And he’s a workout demon, so all of a sudden, we had an Apollo in our class. Last year, there were even kids who introduced themselves to him who had no idea who he was,” Tori said.
“Yeah, well he could play now, right? He’s certainly got a lot of hot girls as girlfriends.”
“Don’t even think about the other hot girls. This is the only one that counts, mister. Besides, all the girlfriends were on board before his surgery and growth spurt. There was just something irresistible about him when he started leading conditioning. And… um… his peripheral vision isn’t good. He has to wear goggles if he gets on the court to play so his eyes don’t get hurt. Still, don’t ever challenge him to one-on-one. Ask Bryce what happens.”
“Well, just watching him in conditioning, I wouldn’t want to compete with him. Um… I’m not competing with him now, am I?”
“No, baby. Right now, I’m all yours.”
They went back to kissing and Brandon was invited to get personal with two of the world’s most perfect tits. Finally, Tori gasped and pushed him back.
“I don’t want to be a tease, but this is just our second date. We shouldn’t go any further than this. I think I’d better go in.”
“Yeah, you’re right, and I’m not really prepared for anything more, you know?”
“Yeah. Rule number two, never without protection,” Tori said, automatically. “And… um… Never before the third date.”
“I’d like to have a third date, Tori. Do I have a chance at that?”
“I’m available all day tomorrow.”
“What do you think, Dennis? Is Brandon for real or should we have an intervention with Tori?” Natalie asked when the five had gathered at Amy’s house.
“Honest? I don’t see a single red flag, except he’s dating a girl I still kinda love. And I suspect that’s why you’re asking the question,” Dennis said.
“Yeah. I mean, we knew she’d find someone when she broke up with us, and I really wish the best for her, but I still feel protective,” Amy said.
“Our best bet is to not interfere at all and let things play out as they will. Broken hearts are part of life. I don’t wish that for Tori, but I don’t want us to mess anything up for her, either,” Brenda said.
“Easy for you,” Amy sighed. “You live way down in Salter with the woman we all want to be closer to.”
“It’ll come, sweetie. We just can’t rush it. There’s too much at stake.”
“Rosie, we’re going to rest that ankle again tonight,” Dennis said on Tuesday as the team prepared to travel to the Hounds.
“It feels okay.”
“I’m glad it does, hon, but I don’t want to risk not having you for the regionals. I shouldn’t have tapped you to play Friday, but we were kind of desperate with so many girls sick. I needed you to come in off the bench and you did just great.”
“It was hard to stay out of the scrum under the basket. I’m not used to playing guard,” she said.
“You did exactly what we needed. That’s being a team player. Remember, Diane didn’t score until that last second slam. I really want you ready and fit for the tournament, so keep working it, but let’s not get you in a situation where you could be injured again.”
“Okay, Coach.”
Rosie headed for the locker room to help others before the hour-long bus-ride to the Hounds.
“You really care about all of them, don’t you,” Josie said.
“Yeah. I’d never forgive myself if I put Rosie in when it wasn’t necessary and she got injured. She’ll anchor the team next year,” Dennis said.
“Look at me,” Josie commanded. Dennis snapped around to face his assistant. “I mean you care about each girl, not just about the team. Even the freshmen who don’t ever play on the varsity team worship you. And it’s all because of the way you care about them. It will be hard not having the leadership of Natalie, Diane, and Tori next year, but whoever gets tapped to be coach is going to have a lot to live up to.”
“Um… Thanks, Josie. How are things going with you and the family? I hardly ever see Lyle these days.”
“State tournament is this week and we’ve got some boys—and a girl—who stand a chance to place. He’s been buried in the prep. It sure is nice to have Fru Elsa helping out there. She does a lot more than I do here for the girls,” Josie said.
“She’s got you calling her ‘Fru Elsa,’ too?” Dennis laughed.
“The whole team. She’s like their den mother. Even Lyle calls her that.”
“She’s really great. So, um… with both you and Lyle here at school, is Lydia holding up okay? Maybe we should organize a cleaning brigade as a thank you. After the season is over, I’ll come out to check the fields and equipment. Randy’s still managing the farm and he’s told me he wants me to plant wheat as soon as we can get into the field.”
“He’s a great landlord.”
“He manages the rental, too?”
“Oh. Maybe you aren’t supposed to know. But I opened my mouth anyway. Randy and Elsa own the property. We rent from them.”
“Gosh! I had no idea. No wonder he wants me to work the farm this summer. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here this summer, though. It depends on how fast I manage to move,” Dennis said.
“You’re going to Salter?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Well, keep up appearances. At the moment, the heat has shifted from you to us,” Josie said.
“What’s happening?”
“Some busybody is raising questions about Lyle’s unorthodox family and suitability as a coach for high school students. It’s not the first time we’ve faced that. It will be okay.”
“Somebody always has to make trouble. Good luck. If there is anything we can do, please let us know,” Dennis said.
“We’d better head for the bus.”
It was a vastly different game Tuesday night than it had been on Friday. The Angelines were still a little embarrassed about their early-season defeat of the Hounds 75-4. They didn’t want to humiliate their opponents, but it was hard when a team played as badly as the Hounds did.
The Angelines couldn’t have given the Hounds more opportunities if they had shot for them. At the end of the first quarter, they led 25-5.
“At least they’ve scored more in this quarter than they did in the whole game last time,” Amy sighed. She’d hit two baskets when the Hounds left her all by herself on the right side of the key.
The big surprise of the game was Tori. She played the point guard, and whenever the shot clock was winding down, she threw the ball at the basket. And sank them. By the end of the third quarter, she’d made seven of nine three-pointers. She added two from inside the circle and a free throw to end the game with a personal best of 26 points. Dennis played three of the freshmen he’d brought along for most of the fourth quarter with the thirty-five-point continuous clock running. The Hounds finally found someone they could compete with and outscored the Angelines 16-4 in that quarter. That was far from being able to overcome the huge deficit and the Angelines took home their twentieth victory of the season 77-32.
The boys did not fare as well in this meeting. They’d defeated the Hounds 65-50 early in the season, but the Hounds came back in this game to claim a 55-59 victory over the Wolverines. They would face even stiffer competition Thursday night against the Terriers.
The Tuesday night game should have been their last game of the season, but the game against the Terriers had been postponed from earlier in the season when both teams had been struck by the flu and couldn’t field a team. That meant Thursday would be the last game of the season and would be played at home.
“You guys were awesome last night,” Brandon said when he came to the table at lunch. “Especially you, hotshot!”
“I just kept putting them up and they kept dropping in,” Tori laughed. “You didn’t do bad yourself with eighteen.”
“Wasn’t enough to pull it out. Now the guys think I was bad luck.”
“They should be thinking about the Hounds’ star player who wasn’t in the game the first time they played,” Dennis said. “That game’s past. How are you going to stack up against the Terriers tomorrow?”
“You tell me, Coach. I’ve never seen them play. Any tips?” Brandon asked.
“This goes for the guys and the girls both,” Dennis said. “The Terriers are as scrappy as their name implies. The guys have only lost two this season and they were both close. The girls don’t have as good an overall record, but when you look at the stats, you discover the Terriers never let down. They play straight through to the last buzzer and they play hard. Both the Wolverines and the Angelines have their work cut out for them.”
“I saw the brackets for regionals,” Diane said. “We’ll end up playing the freakin’ Wolves again in the final. We are so going to get revenge!”
“We don’t even know who we’re playing in the first game yet because they have to play a round one game Saturday,” Dennis said. “Besides, tomorrow night’s game against the Terriers is the championship game. It’s the only one we need to worry about right now.”
Practice was over in plenty of time to catch the Crusaders’ 6:15 game online. They gathered at Dennis’s house so Peg could join in watching ‘her sister’ Brenda make a swish. She didn’t have long to wait. As was typical, Brenda and Grace came into the game about three minutes into the first quarter. Brenda took the first opportunity and bagged a three-pointer from the right wing. Grace responded with ten straight points, all on layups and fast breaks.
The Crusaders went into halftime carrying a 51-25 lead. They didn’t let up in the third quarter. Grace once again scored ten points to end the quarter with twenty. Ardith left her in as she substituted more players from the bottom of the bench. Even Makayla went in to score a field goal and to grab two rebounds and a steal in the last three minutes of the game.
The story all belonged to Grace, though, as she sank 75% of her shots from the floor and two free throws for a total of twenty-seven points in the Crusaders’ 89-55 victory.
The best thing about having rescheduled the game against the Terriers was that the Angelines would have their last regular season game at home. In fact, they’d have the first two games of the regionals at home as well. The last game of the regionals was usually played at a neutral arena, and then the state championships were played at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
The bad part, of course, was that they were a formidable opponent. Janice controlled the tipoff, but it was the Terriers who scored first. The score teetered back and forth through the entire first quarter and ended in a tie.
The game continued in the same manner and the first half ended with the Terriers up by one 25-24. The Angelines opened a five-point lead in the third quarter and managed to hang onto most of it for a 53-49 victory. They all breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” the announcer bellowed before they’d retreated to the locker room. “We would like to officially recognize the new champions of the Wild Rivers Conference: the Bartley Angelines! Number 1, junior Judith Long. Number 3, senior Tori McDonald. Number 10, junior Amy Unger. Number 12, senior Natalie Armor. Number 13, senior Leanne Vining. Number 14, senior Diane Long. Number 20, senior Shelby Owens. Number 23, junior Rosie Barnes. Number 24, sophomore Bobbie McCaul. Number 32, sophomore Daphne Fisher. Number 34, sophomore Karen Scott. Number 42, sophomore Janice Goodwin. Number 44, freshman Jayden Davis. Number 54, senior Chris Davis. The Angelines are coached by senior Dennis Enders, Assistant coach Josie Kelly. They are managed by junior Lana Brown and senior Debbie Stackhouse. The Wild Rivers Conference Champions! Undefeated in conference play.”
There were a lot of cheers and the boys’ varsity ran onto the floor, each giving a high five to the girls as they left.
“Now what?” Judith asked. “We just hang around and wait to see who we play Tuesday?”
“Well, we’ll know that Saturday night. The Roadrunners play the Tigerhawks at 7:00,” Dennis said. “I’m thinking we should get a couple of good practices in before that. We need to work on that three-point drill. Natalie, Diane, and Tori, your free throws won us that game. But hitting 25% from three-point range isn’t going to get us there. And way to go, Diane. Six rebounds and a block to go with your seventeen-point game.”
The girls cheered and went up to watch the boys’ game. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, the outcome was not as favorable. They fell 47-61. Brandon had an off night and couldn’t seem to hit anything. He came off the court with only two points and four fouls.
Everyone was a little low on energy at practice Friday. Dennis gave everyone a normal conditioning session but he could see the energy ebbing. The boys were worried. They’d dropped the last three games of the season and were afraid people would begin thinking of them as a repeat of last year’s disaster. Last year, a promising boys’ team had lost the last five games of the season and the first game of the tournament, then went on to place last in every track meet until Coach Andy terminated boys’ track. It was revealed that they’d been blackmailed in a way, to lose every match in order to keep the girls safe.
Dennis managed to get the girls focused on the three-point drill and by the end of practice, they were feeling pretty good. They all went to their own homes instead of going out.
All except Tori. She met Brandon and they went for pizza.
“Other than crappy because you played a lousy game, how are you feeling tonight?” Tori asked her boyfriend.
They sat on the same side of the booth at PJ’s. The players from both teams who came in for an after-game date or treat came by to say hello, but when one started to join them, Tori waved him away.
“You don’t want to sit there. There’s something sticky all over the seat,” she said by way of explanation. The guy shrugged and headed over to where some of the other guys were sitting.
“That was clever,” Brandon said. “Sure you want to be alone with me? I mean, I was kind of a dud tonight. I hit one basket out of ten shots. Don’t think I’ll be starting Monday.”
“Never can tell. Coach Neil is pretty observant. It might have been something else entirely that went wrong. I like that about Dennis, too. You know Diane has started at the post position in every game? Even when both Janice and Rosie were fit and grabbing rebounds. But she just anchors the team and feeds the ball to where it needs to be. I watched the girls’ JV team this afternoon and they’ve got a long way to go. When one of them had the ball, the others just kind of stood there and waited,” Tori said.
“That sure isn’t the way the Angelines play,” Brandon agreed. “You guys are always on the move.”
“Natalie, Amy, and I can always depend on Diane as a safety valve. We could be completely boxed in and all of a sudden, Diane’s there to help us out. And then, tonight she turns around and scores seventeen points. Clean.”
“So, you think Coach Neil sees something in me that might keep me playing?”
“Yeah. He probably figures it’s just your time of month, you know? Dennis always has to work around the girls.”
“I don’t think I can use that as an excuse tonight,” Brandon laughed.
“Neither can I,” Tori responded. She’d planned to take Brandon to her room and make love with him on Sunday, but Saturday night she’d had her monthly visitor and canceled their date.
“Um… You mean…?”
“Would you like to come home with me, Brandon? I’ve got a nice place we can go.”
“Oh, geez, Tori. I’m… You’re sure?”
“Don’t get all shy on me now, lover. I’ve got a big desire, and it’s all for you.”
The two left half a pizza on their table and headed for the door.
“Wow! You’ve got your own practice court out here?” Brandon said when she led him into the barn.
“Yeah. The whole team came out here to practice in the summer and over holidays. There’s no rule against us practicing anytime we want to. Just against having a faculty coach with us.”
“Wicked.”
“You don’t know wicked yet,” Tori grinned, grabbing his hand. She led him to the remodeled stall that was now her bedroom suite.
“You… Wow! I thought you were like leading me to a hayloft or something.”
“Believe me, this is a lot more comfortable than hay.”
Once they were actually in Tori’s bedroom, both seemed a little unsure of how to proceed. They kicked their shoes off and Tori worked her way into his arms for a kiss. The kiss broke their stasis and before long, the teens were stretched out on the bed in just their underwear.
“You’re so beautiful, Tori. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
“I’m feeling pretty lucky right now, myself.” She shed her bra and pressed her breasts against his chest as they continued to kiss and fondle each other. Before long the remainder of their underwear was gone and Tori was fondling Brandon’s dick as he felt between her legs. Neither was disappointed in what they found.
“Um… I think I’d better get a condom or I might be making a mess soon,” he said.
“I have a supply right here,” she answered. She pulled a condom out of her bedside table drawer and applied it to his cock. “Now lie back and let me do the work this time,” she said.
“Believe me, this is no work at all,” he answered as she slid down his cock. “You’re incredible!”
“Ain’t bad yourself. Oh, God, Brandon. You feel so good in me.”
“Can I touch you while you’re doing the work?”
“Oh, yeah. Please touch me anywhere you like.”
Where he liked was wedging one hand between them until he found her slippery clit and began rubbing it. Once he found the target, Tori mounted quickly, whining out an orgasm as she slammed her lips against his. Then they rolled over and Brandon picked up the pace, plunging his cock into her smooth hot quim. Before long, Tori was ready again and Brandon unleashed his first load of the night.
It was only the first.
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