Team Manager CHAMP!
Chapter 24
THE WOLVERINES would play in the regional semi-final on Tuesday, but the Angelines would be in the regional final on Wednesday. The boys were excited because instead of facing the top-ranked Terriers, they’d be going against the Roadrunners, a team they’d defeated soundly earlier in the season. No one could understand how they’d managed to defeat the Terriers.
“Just remember this,” Coach Neil said as they ran their drills. “The Terriers beat the Roadrunners earlier in the season by a lot more than we did. And they still lost in the tournament. I don’t expect this to be an easy game. In fact, I expect it will be the toughest we’ve had all season. Suddenly the Roadrunners, who haven’t been to regional finals in longer than we have, smell the possibility of a major upset. They are as psyched and as hungry as you are. Now let’s get those drills cleaned up and make sure tomorrow’s game is not the last game of the season. What are we playing for?”
“The Championship!”
The Angelines were not slacking off in their training and practice at all. The Wolves had defeated them in their only loss of the season by one point at the buzzer on a shot no one thought they could make.
“We need to shut down numbers 13 and 23,” Dennis said. “13 is their top scorer and threat from three-point range. We’re going to work on moving in closer from that distance on the zone. Trap her against the sideline without enough room to shoot or pass. We’re going to run the 3-2 zone, so we don’t let the other guards loose. Shift and flow. Amy—our Deviline—your number one job is to keep 13 from bringing the ball up court. Make her throw it away before she can get across the ten-second line. Judith, you’ll be rocking in and out with Amy more frequently. You did a great job Friday. I want to see more of what makes you the leader of next year’s team.”
The girls went to work, often casting Natalie in the role of the Wolves’ number 13. She was getting a workout that was more aggressive than anyone else’s as she tried to get around her teammates. Her three-point accuracy was going up, too.
Everyone was exhausted after Monday’s practice. Tuesday was a lighter practice and most of the team elected to stay home Tuesday night rather than make the hour-plus drive to the neutral court where the boys’ semi-final would be played. They promised to all attend the final on Saturday. Brandon asked Tori not to come.
“You need your rest for the game tomorrow,” he told his girlfriend. “That’s your regional championship for the taking. Don’t do anything to mess it up just because you’ve got a boyfriend playing a game.”
“Hey, you. I’ll stay home and try to get some sleep, but don’t you forget that every game…”
“… is a championship game,” he finished. He headed for the locker room to get ready for the trip south.
Brandon had a great game that night and wished Tori had been there to see him as he led the team in points and assists to a 66-57 victory.
There was a light dusting of snow and a temperature of just eight degrees when school started Wednesday morning. Dennis cut classes at DMACC so he could be at the school with his team all day. He questioned how smart he was to do that, since the girls were all in classes all morning and he didn’t see any of them until lunch. They were all excited and nervous.
They came out in their warmups for the pep rally Wednesday afternoon and spent time on the court afterward getting warmed up and having a light practice. The Boosters served dinner late in the afternoon. The girls were all dressed and ready to go by five. The game wasn’t until seven and was only half an hour away. They’d wear their white uniforms as the home team and the Wolves would be the away team.
To look at the statistics, you would think the Angelines would have no problem with the Wolves. They outshone every statistic except one. The Wolves had defeated the Angelines in January. It was going to be a tough game any way you looked at it.
They made the trip to the host gym mostly in silence. Everyone on the team was dressed to play. Dennis had observed Rosie all week and was convinced she could get in and play. He wanted her to rotate with Diane and Janice at the post position. When they ran the three-two zone defense, he wanted to make sure they could hold the position against anyone driving for the basket. The girls would do their best to keep that from happening, but stopping the Wolves’ three-point game meant they would have to come inside more.
Lana and Debbie led the team onto the floor for warmups and fired basketballs to them for dribbling drills. It wasn’t long before the cadence of the basketballs bouncing on the floor was dominating the sounds in the gym. They went through the well-rehearsed sequence with every ball hitting the floor at the same time. The Wolves stopped to notice and their coach hustled them back to their warmup drills. Then the Angelines moved to a synchronized layup drill.
“They’re like a precision drill team,” Josie remarked as she walked along the sideline with Dennis. “It gives me chills.”
“It gives them confidence. They can handle the ball with precision. Watch what happens when they go after each other.”
It was only a minute later that the group dribbling started to advance on the other group instead of passing the ball to them. The defense team started going for the ball. The precision work with synchronized bounces was put aside as the dribblers made it their mission to drive past the defenders and make it to the basket. The real objective here was to never stop dribbling. All too often, Dennis had seen a player come down the court and across the ten-second line to stop dribbling and hold the ball while looking for someone to throw to. It was much harder to guard a player who was dribbling than one who had to keep one foot anchored as she looked for a teammate.
The drills ended and they headed for the locker room to have a quick pep talk and use the toilets. Then they were back on the court in a relaxed warmup, just keeping their bodies moving until they were called for the opening ceremonies.
Then they were off and running. Diane controlled the tip to Natalie, who got it across the ten-second line and passed to Tori. The Wolves came out in a man-to-man defense and soon realized what a mistake that was. Tori faked left and then right, passing the ball off to Amy. Amy took a look at the basket and passed to Natalie who was already cutting around her defender. Once she was past, no one could stop her from dropping in the layup from just outside the restricted area.
Then the intensity mounted. The Wolves were prepared for the full court press and got the ball across the court to a free guard who drove toward the basket. She was met by the Diane and Janice wall and had to back out to reset the team. They were obviously looking to number 13 to get free for a three-pointer, but Amy and Tori pressed her until she had to give the ball up to another teammate. Finally, the Wolves had to take a mid-range shot before the clock ran down and tied the game at two all.
It was a back-and-forth exchange of points for most of the quarter, but ended with the Angelines in the lead 18-13. While the Angelines had been successful in stopping the three-point shooter so far, Natalie had managed to connect for one. Janice had been fouled on a tip in shot. The basket counted and she converted the plus-one free throw.
In the second quarter, the Angelines’ dominance on the backboard began to show, but the Wolves’ shooting got better. When they could get a shot off. Both teams were having difficulty getting clear for a shot and the Angelines ended the half with only a two-point lead, 25-23.
Both teams came out of the break ready to rumble, but it was soon evident that the Angelines had superior discipline and did not fall apart when substitutions were made or when blocked in a press. By the end of the third quarter, they’d expanded their lead to thirteen, 45-32.
“This is where the story will be told,” Dennis said. “They are going to pull every trick they know to close the gap. I expect fouls to increase as they try for more turnovers. And they’re going to try to get number 13 free for those long bombs. We’ve done well at holding her to three of them, but Tori has three and Natalie has two. And Natalie and Janice have been hot from inside. Just keep grabbing those rebounds and know where your team is. They’ll do everything they can to keep you from getting the ball inbounds. Diane, be ready to pick up the inbound pass in the corner. Ready? Who are we?”
“Angelines!”
The pressure was there. Tori could scarcely see Natalie and Amy as she tried to inbound the ball. Knowing where Diane was, she launched the ball down court. Diane had an open lane and drove for the basket, going up and stuffing the ball.
That was the real clincher for the game. The Wolves had begun to lay off Diane because she hadn’t done much except set picks and rebound. Suddenly, she was a major threat. She took the ball out on a sideline recovery and passed it in to Tori. Tori took a step to her left and passed it back to Diane in the corner. Diane didn’t even dribble. She raised the ball and fired a three-pointer of her own.
The Wolves were suddenly much harder pressed to cover players they hadn’t seen as a threat, including Amy, who threaded the needle for a layup reminiscent of Grace at Salter. And when Judith came in to replace Diane, the Wolves found themselves faced with four guards who were all over the court. Judith had three steals in a minute and a half of play and converted two of them to points. Rosie came in for the second time in the evening and hit two three-pointers and two tip ins.
The Wolves weren’t idle. They had shooters as well, and number 23 finally came alive to score three unanswered baskets from inside. Dennis made no adjustments, but the next time she came to the inside for a layup, Diane got a hand on the ball for a solid block, signaling that door was closed. That ended the Wolves’ threat.
They played hard right down to the closing buzzer, but the Angelines left the floor with their third regional championship and a score of 58-41. The trophy was presented and the girls paraded it around the gym to their cheering fans. They wrapped things up and got bundled in their coats to get back on the bus. Their driver had left during the final quarter and warmed up the bus so they could hurry through the freezing weather into the warmth. The caravan of cars with horns honking all the way went straight to PJ’s for the celebration party. It wouldn’t go too late since it was mid-week.
“What was that move at the end of the game?” Brandon asked Tori. “You just gave her that shot.”
“Um… Yeah. When we played them in January, that girl sank a three-ball from that wing at the buzzer to win the game by one point. Dennis has been driving it into us that we have to be ahead by more than three points. Well, we were ahead by seventeen, so when we were down to three seconds, I backed up a step and said, ‘Go ahead. Take it.’ Poor thing was so flustered that she threw an airball. I didn’t feel bad for her at all.”
“We’re playing Saturday. Can we… um… go out afterward?”
“You want to go out? Really? I was hoping you’d just come to the barn and fuck me senseless.”
“Yeah. That works, too.”
The girls didn’t have another game until the quarterfinals of the state tournament the next Tuesday. So, Dennis, Natalie, Lana, and Amy headed out Thursday evening to catch the semifinal game at Salter. The Crusaders had a bye on the first round and were facing the Spartans again. The Spartans had won a hotly contested game against the Knights on Tuesday to advance to the semifinal.
It was obvious from the opening tipoff that the Spartans were tired from their Tuesday game while the Crusaders were fired up but tense, after waiting since they faced the same team the previous Saturday. There was no score for the first three minutes of the game. Ardith sent Brenda and Grace into the game to see if she could shake things up a bit. Grace took an inbound pass and drove all the way to the basket to make her layup. But she was called for charging and the basket didn’t count. It was the first foul of the game. She quickly redeemed herself by stealing the ball on the Spartans’ inbound and passing to Brenda at the left wing. Brenda didn’t hesitate and drilled a three-pointer as soon as she got the ball.
That seemed to wake up everyone on both teams. The Spartans came alive with three unanswered layups and led 6-3 before Eve dropped a three-pointer in to tie the score. Laura was the next to score, also a three-pointer, but the Spartans kept closing to the inside to score layups. The ball came back to Brenda and she dropped the fourth consecutive three-pointer for the Crusaders.
Then Grace broke up a pass and took the ball for a fast break. The Spartans were fast and had three covering her as Brenda raced along a few feet away. Just beyond the foul line, Grace passed the ball to Brenda who bounced it right back to her. Both girls went up as if they were shooting, but Grace’s shot dropped into the basket. At the end of the first quarter, the score favored the Crusaders by two, 19-17.
Grace broke loose for three more layups before she was called for charging again. There was a dispute regarding the call, but the refs held fast. Ardith sent Jillian back in for Grace. The team had a hard and fast rule that if you were called for a second foul in the first half, you sat out the rest of the half. It wasn’t punishment, but was because they knew they’d need that player in the second half and couldn’t risk them being in foul trouble.
The players rotated pretty constantly with someone coming in at every clock stop. At the end of the half, the Spartans had reversed the Crusader lead at 39-41.
The winner of the conference tournament would get an automatic invite to the NCAA Division III tournament in March. The day before, Salter had been ranked third in the division for tournament prospect.
In the third quarter, they showed why. Ardith’s mantra of ‘Run, run, run,’ was easily adopted by the Salter team. And they showed why they were ranked first in the nation in shooting percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage. They opened the lead over the Spartans to seven at the end of the third, scoring nearly as many points in the third quarter as in the first half, 67-60. The lead continued to expand as the Spartans fouled more often and the Crusaders drained every free throw. The final was 90-76.
The Angelines screamed themselves hoarse at the game and promised Ardith and Brenda they’d be back on Saturday for the tournament final game.
“Good morning, students. As you all know, the Angelines won the Regional tournament on Wednesday. We expect great things from the boys tomorrow. However, this morning we were sent notice of the all-conference team selection and are happy to announce that three Angelines have been elected to the team,” Ms. Morris said over the speakers on Friday morning.
“First, the number one unanimous selection by the voting members of the conference is Natalie Armor. Natalie also leads the conference in points scored this season with 497. She also leads the conference in field goals made, three-pointers made, and free throws made. Of course, she isn’t the only stat leader from Bartley. Tori McDonald leads in assists and in steals, and has been elected to the all-conference team. Not to be left out, Diane Long, our third selection to the all-conference team, leads the conference in rebounds. These three also lead the conference in percentage of free throws made combining for an 80% average.”
Cheers could be heard up and down the school halls. Unfortunately, Dennis wasn’t there to hear them because he was in Boone for his class at DMACC.
“We want to congratulate these players and the entire Angelines team, who will be playing the Regals Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Tickets are on sale today and we will be running fan buses from the school in time for both evening games. The winner of the 6:45 game will play the winner of our game in the semi-finals on Friday morning. Now back to your regularly scheduled intellectual endeavors.”
At least this year, their game would be at a time when fans could attend. All their games the previous year had been played in the morning or early afternoon. They even had to go back to school after the games.
They worked hard on their drills and discovered they had a cheering section at practice. Students were hanging around in the gym to watch the boys prepare for their championship game the next day, and the girls prepare for the state competition the next week. It felt like the school simply didn’t want to let go of the season. Students couldn’t get enough of watching the teams play.
Sadly, the boys did not emerge victorious on Saturday evening. They were overpowered by the Tigers from the opening tipoff. They trailed by twenty-four at the end of the half, and though they gained ground in the third quarter, they lost it and more in the fourth quarter to end with a loss, 52-84.
Brandon did well, but even with three of the boys in double figures, there simply wasn’t enough depth to pull the game together. It was a long trip to the game and the fan bus followed the team bus. Tori waited for Brandon and he jumped into her car with her as soon as he could get free from the rest of the team.
“You did good,” Tori said, giving him a kiss.
“It just wasn’t enough.”
“Are you too tired to spend the night with me? I know ways to erase all memory of the game from your mind,” she giggled as she pulled out of the parking lot.
“I’m feeling better already,” he laughed. “You are so cool and so good. And pretty and sexy and smart and…”
“Willing,” she finished for him.
“We’re not going to overdo it, though,” he said. “I don’t want to do anything that will risk your performance on Tuesday. You’ve got too much going for you.”
“We’ll take a break for the week after tomorrow,” she said. “And then I’ll be looking forward to next Saturday night, too. You’ll still be my boyfriend then, won’t you?”
“I’m glued to you, baby. You want to join up with me?”
“Join with you? As soon as we get to my room!”
“I mean in the Marines. You know, it’s possible for a couple to join up together. No guarantee that we’ll always be in the same location, but we could work toward it,” he said.
“Um… Join as a couple? Do you mean…?”
“Yeah. I don’t want to say the word yet because we’re still just getting started together. But if you feel anything like I do, graduation from high school is only the beginning.”
Tori pulled up in front of the barn and ran for her bedroom. By the time Brandon got inside to join her, she was naked. She stayed that way the rest of the weekend.
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