Team Manager CHAMP!
Chapter 23
“THIS IS IT, GUYS,” Coach Neil said when his team was dressed and in the locker room. The quarterfinals were played at the Terriers, so both teams were in unfamiliar territory, though the Wolverines had been drawn to be the home team and would wear their white uniforms. “You all have your eye on the Terriers to get back what we lost in the last game of the regular season. But our sisters, the Angelines, have a saying and I want you to take it to heart. This game—tonight—is the championship game. We either win or we lose. We have a 0-0 record tonight. Everything that came before was practice. Everything that comes after this is a dream. All that counts is this game tonight. Now, what are we going to do?”
“Beat ’em!”
“How are we going to do it?”
“Run, run, run!”
“Who are we?”
“Wolverines!”
“Get out there on the court and get warmed up. We have a championship to win.”
Most of the Angelines rode the fan bus to the Terriers, about forty-five minutes away. Dennis and his girlfriends drove. The Wolverines would play the 6:30 game and they didn’t want to be stuck at the gym for the 8:00 game as well. They were surprised when Tori asked to ride with them.
“Sure. You’re okay with being out with Dennis?” Natalie asked.
“You’ve got to be kidding. We all know Dennis would never take advantage of me. I just want to get back here so I can meet the team bus when it gets back,” Tori laughed.
“Just make sure you don’t stay out late. We’ve got a big game tomorrow ourselves,” Amy said.
“Yeah. I promise I’ll be good. Brandon and I already talked about how important it was to get rest before games. We didn’t even do anything last night. I explained the rules to him and he was cool with it. No means no. Never without protection. Not in front of the children or parents.”
“That’s cool,” Lana said. “I liked him before, but your assessment just moved him up a notch in my respect for him.”
“Yeah, you know, there are things that I didn’t realize or maybe take seriously when we were all going together. It was easy to say no means no, because who wouldn’t want to have sex with me when I wanted it? And I didn’t get it often enough to even consider saying no. But I realized that it’s kind of two-edged. Not only can we say no and have it respected by the other person, but we don’t just automatically say no for no reason at all. I think we get so used to turning boys down in school that it’s just an automatic response. And most of the time, we expect them to try to convince us. Well, thank you guys for always respecting me, even when I was a wanton slut. It’s been a good lesson for me.”
“You’re welcome to go with us anytime, Tori,” Dennis said. “I’m happy you’ve found someone and I hope he’s everything you imagine he should be.”
“That’s asking a lot,” Tori said. “But the way things are stacking up, he could be. He could be.”
They got to the gym and showed their tickets. All tickets were reserved and paid for online. They were delivered to each person’s phone. They’d discovered that when they went to the game between the Roadrunners and the Tigerhawks. It wasn’t difficult to get in, but they had to stop in the parking lot and get their tickets on their phones before they could enter.
The gym was about three-quarters full. A lot of fans would be coming in only for the second game and a lot of fans from the first game would be leaving. The cheerleaders welcomed them when they arrived and organized a student cheer block. It wasn’t long before the noise was going up in volume.
They cheered each of the players as they came out for warmups, the cheerleaders coordinating a cheer for each one. “Donnie, Donnie, he’s our man. If he can’t do it, then Dave can. Dave, Dave, he’s our man. If he can’t do it Brandon can!”
Of course, Tori joined in extra loud declaring, “Brandon, Brandon, he’s MY man!”
Opening ceremonies concluded and the game got underway.
The start of the game was a bit ragged for the Wolverines as the Chargers hit two three-pointers before the Wolverines drove for a layup and scored. That point also set much of the way the game would go as the Chargers had no discipline under the basket and gave away points on free throws. Donnie made both the layup and the free throw for three points.
The Wolverines’ ability to control the rebounds was what kept them in the game and they trailed by only one at the end of the first quarter. The Chargers soon discovered they were not getting points from inside and were shooting from outside the three-point arc most of the time. Fortunately, they only converted about one out of three and the Wolverines always got the rebounds. Dave Overman had put on a couple of inches in height this year and was snatching rebounds at both ends of the court. He was racking up points, as well. At the end of the half, the score was tied, 30-30.
The cheerleaders kept the students and fans enthused during the halftime and somehow, Coach Neil lit a fire under his team at the break. They outscored the Chargers 18-13 in the third quarter and 17-14 in the final for a game-winning score of 65-57. The Bartley fans were jubilant as it was the first time in many years that the Wolverines had advanced to the regional semifinals.
Dennis and the girls joined the caravan following the team bus home. They were all excited and joined the crowd of fans to cheer the returning team. That was where Coach Neil spotted him.
“Dennis. I hate to impose on you, but could you take a look at something for me? I know you need to get your team home.”
“No problem, Coach,” Dennis said. He tossed his keys to Natalie and asked her to get their girlfriends home. Then he joined the coach as they headed to the sports therapy room.
Donnie was sitting on one of the tables, wrapped in a towel with Chris standing nearby, holding his hand.
“What’s up, man?” Dennis asked.
“That last foul,” Donnie said. “I almost think that guy was trying to take me out. I don’t even know who it was.”
“It looked pretty brutal, but you went straight to the foul line and sank two,” Dennis said.
“I didn’t feel it until after the buzzer. Now I can hardly walk. Coach says I’ve got a back spasm.”
“Dennis, I know you took the therapy and massage course last term. Could you work on Donnie a bit?” Coach Neil asked.
“Sure, Coach. On your stomach, Donnie. Let’s see how bad it is.”
Dennis wondered that the Coach wasn’t taking care of this himself. He was sure Neil was even better trained than he was. And to have Chris in the room at the same time seemed odd. She and Donnie were engaged, but having a girlfriend present for a treatment was unusual. He went straight to work and found the places where Donnie’s back was spasming. He worked on the massage for over an hour and it began to loosen up.
“Take it easy getting up,” Dennis said. “Tomorrow morning get in here for an ice bath and then a hot tub. Try to lie as flat as possible when you sleep tonight.”
“Thanks, Coach,” Donnie said. “It feels a lot better, but I can tell it’s iffy. I’ll be here first thing in the morning.” He went off slowly to get dressed and go home. Chris, of course, couldn’t follow him.
“I’ll make sure he rests and doesn’t get too active,” she said. “I already told him no fun stuff tonight. I might get to play tomorrow!”
“You might indeed, Chris. It’s been a pleasure having you on the team.”
Neil waved Dennis into the office before he went home.
“I can see you’re asking why I didn’t do all that myself,” he said.
“Yeah. And why Chris was in there during a treatment,” Dennis added. Of course, while he was actually working on Donnie, he’d lost track of both Neil and Chris, but he knew they were watching.
“All the same reason. This whole morality investigation has all the coaches a little spooked. The school board issued some guidelines regarding interactions that just make it hard to do our jobs sometimes. Coaches are not supposed to be alone with members of the team in the locker room or therapy room. We are not to physically maintain contact with a student beyond a list of acceptable touches on back and shoulders when the student is fully dressed. If anyone else had been available among the guys, I’d have had one of them stay with us, too. As it was, I took what I could in you and Chris.”
“Gosh, Coach, that’s terrible. Um… Why didn’t I get a copy of these rules?” Dennis asked.
“Same reason I had you do the massage. You aren’t a school employee. You’re a student. When the lawyers did their investigation a couple of weeks ago, one of the things they turned up was that you are exempt from the laws regarding student-teacher contact. It’s a crazy mixed-up world, Dennis. I just want to say thank you for stepping in.”
“You’re welcome, Coach. I’ll get going now.”
“See you tomorrow. Good luck, if I don’t get a chance to tell you before the game.”
On Friday morning, the teams got the news that by some quirk of fate, the regionally top-ranked Terriers had been upset by the Roadrunners 58-49. The Wolverines and Roadrunners would meet on Tuesday. The game would be played in a neutral location over an hour south. Neither team had played in the Panthers’ gym. The Wolverines would wear home uniforms.
Friday afternoon, another pep rally got everyone excited about the 7:00 game of the Angelines against the Cardinals. The girls invaded the sports therapy room and all worked on each other, as well as getting in the hot tubs to relax a little. The boosters served an early meal to the Angelines and made sure it wasn’t too heavy. Most of the girls still ate lightly.
At six-thirty, the girls hit the court for warmups. Lana and Debbie ran the drills with a full team dressed and ready to play. Rosie was taped and dressed, but Dennis still wasn’t sure he’d play her. She insisted she was feeling fine, but it was a big risk when they had four more games to look forward to before the state championship.
The opening ceremony for the game started promptly at 7:00. After the anthem, the teams quickly lined up for the tip-off. The tip was controlled by Diane straight into Tori’s hands. She was under pressure from the start with two Cardinals trying to keep her from crossing the ten-second line. Amy came forward to catch a pass and bring the ball across, only to have it stolen. The Cardinal ran the court and made an easy layup for the first score. This time, the Angelines were more prepared for the instant full-court press and Natalie dribbled around her defenders to get the ball downcourt. Her way into the lane was blocked and she tossed the ball back out to Tori who didn’t hesitate to launch the first of several three-pointers.
Then the Angelines showed what full-court pressure was really like. Twice, the throw inbounds was deflected as Janice used her height to stop the pass. The third time, the pass made it inbounds only to have Amy steal it and flip it over to Natalie who was waiting under the basket.
From that point on the Angelines used every opportunity to score and drove the tally up to 28-10 at the end of the first quarter. Dennis began shuffling his subs in during the second quarter and, while extending the lead, the team did not do as much to outdistance the Cardinals as they had in the first quarter. The half ended with the score at 39-13.
“I was hoping we’d be on the thirty-five-point continuous clock at the start of the third quarter,” he told the team. “Do not let up. Remember, this is where the Cardinals wake up and start building steam. We will need every point to stay ahead in the final quarter.”
The girls took his warning to heart and were prepared for the revived Cardinals when they took the floor. The entire third period was a seesaw of scoring and ended at 57-31. Both teams had scored eighteen points.
Dennis had been right about the bias against the taller team, too. In the fourth quarter, it seemed they were called for everything, sending the Cardinals to the foul stripe eight times. The Cardinals only hit about half of them, but fouled only 13 times in the game compared to the Angelines’ 19. The Angelines hit 4 of 6 attempts while the Cardinals hit 9 of 18.
In the fourth quarter, as if he’d seen the game before, Dennis’s predictions about the Cardinals really came true. Their shooting percentage went up and the Cardinals scored as many points in the last quarter as they had in the previous two. With just seven points in the quarter, the Angelines still had a wide enough lead to win the game 64-51. They would move to the regional final game against—they assumed—the Wolves on Wednesday.
“Way to go hot stuff!” Natalie said to Tori. “Five of five from beyond the circle and twenty-two total.”
“They were so concerned about keeping you out of the key that they kept leaving me wide open. I just had to take advantage of it,” Tori laughed. “And besides, even keeping you out like they tried to do, you came away with sixteen.”
“And four fouls,” Natalie reminded her friend. “I can’t believe they called me for charging twice and disallowed the baskets. Those should have been extra point shots.”
“I could sure see what Dennis meant about the bias against big girls vs. little girls,” Diane said. She’d finished with ten points, but picked up three fouls. “It doesn’t seem right, but I suppose it’s inevitable. Little girls do fly when you hit them.”
“We won’t have to worry about that against the Wolves,” Amy said, assuming they’d be playing their rival the next week. “And remember, they play tight, too. We had twice as many free throw opportunities against them and made three times as many. If your three-point game is on, we won’t have any problem with them Wednesday, Tori.”
“And we need to stop that gal who made five of them against us,” Tori agreed. “Including the one at the buzzer that gave them the game.”
“We’ll have more players for this match than we had last time,” Natalie said. “And we know how to prevent having a last-second basket beat us.”
“Lead by more than three!” They all chorused. Dennis had pounded that into them during their three-pointer shooting drills.
Everyone was interested in some playtime Friday night. Brenda and Ardith were still at Salter, preparing for their last game of the regular season. Like Bartley’s, it was a makeup game from early in the season. The Salter team would be planning for their first game of the Conference Tournament on Wednesday. The Angelines would be playing for the regional championship the night before and hoped to attend the Salter game victorious.
Tori and Brandon waved goodnight to the others as Dennis, Amy, Lana, and Natalie headed for Natalie’s house for a change. Natalie’s bedroom was definitely not big enough for the crew, so they camped on the floor of her family room after having pizzas at PJ’s.
“A winning game always makes me horny,” Amy said. “Even when I don’t do anything.”
“Don’t talk yourself down,” Dennis said as he kissed her. “I wouldn’t keep starting you if you didn’t do anything. You disrupt more plays than I’ve ever seen before. The girls you guard just get so flustered they throw the ball away.”
“Another new nickname,” Lana said. “Our Deviline Disrupter.”
“Aw, you guys,” Amy moaned as the last of her clothes joined the pile on the floor. Dennis had his head between her legs as Natalie rode her face. Lana was busy with her classmate’s nipples, making sure she rose quickly to the first orgasm of the night, which Amy screamed into Natalie’s pussy. Lana got the next round of attention as Dennis slid smoothly into her pussy and began the steady rise to a mutual orgasm while Natalie and Amy were occupied kissing and petting. The lovers were scarcely aware of the others in the room as they reached fulfillment.
“Oh, that was good,” Lana moaned. “I think my libido is increasing. I just want to do this all the time these days.”
“It’s a good thing there are enough of us to keep each other satisfied,” Natalie said as she popped her mouth off Dennis’s cock and rolled on a condom. Amy headed south between Lana’s legs to lick up the gooey center. Natalie sank onto Dennis and began the slow rocking motion the two loved. It wasn’t long before they began to mount again and the sounds of orgasms filled the room again.
They cuddled together and fell asleep wishing their other two lovers were with them. All four considered Ardith their lover already. They couldn’t wait to get out of high school.
In the middle of the night, Dennis felt Amy wiggling against him. He wrapped his arms around her.
“I love you, sweetheart,” he murmured as he became erect between her cheeks.
“It’s five days until our next game,” Amy whispered. “I’ll have plenty of time to close up if you push into my bottom a little. Or a lot. Push in a lot.”
Dennis found her already lubricated and found her back door easily. He pushed slowly as Amy adjusted to the invasion of his cock through her sphincter. Soon, though, he was fully inside her bottom and the two moved together. Lana kept Amy’s moans from being so loud they’d wake the parents as she diddled Amy’s clit and kissed her.
Natalie cuddled behind Dennis and thrust her hips with his as he fucked their girlfriend When Dennis and Amy came, it wasn’t difficult for either Natalie or Lana to finish stroking one off as well. Dennis headed to the bathroom to wash up and found all three girls cuddled together asleep when he returned to the bedroll. He cuddled in behind Natalie and she sleepily turned her head to kiss him as they all fell into sated sleep once again.
It seemed like a lazy weekend for everyone. They circulated from house to house doing chores on Saturday until it was time to leave for the ballgame. It was nearly a two-hour drive to the Dutch, but more than ever, Dennis, Amy, Natalie, and Lana felt they were going to watch their team from their college.
And the Crusaders did not let them down. They ended a near perfect season with a 109-64 victory over the Dutch that was marked by numerous steals, fast breaks, and eight players in double digits. It was the forty-second consecutive victory of the Crusaders over the Dutch. The crew greeted and congratulated the players outside the locker room and they wished each other luck in the tournaments later in the week. Then the kids drove back to Bartley, with a stop in Des Moines for dinner.
They cuddled up with each other in Dennis’s bedroom that night and went to church Sunday morning to listen to Peg sing.
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