Bad-Luck Basketball (4 page)

“Just think of it as our warm up before the game,” Brandon said before anyone else could jump in with something negative. “We just have to be careful and help each other up. No one falls and no one gets left behind.”

Jeff laughed. “So dramatic, Brandon,” he said.

Ignoring his friend, Brandon set out for the hill. Coach Hanson walked behind, lighting up the hill as best he could with the small flashlight.

Brandon slung his gym bag over his shoulder and started climbing. “Let's go, guys!” he shouted. He wanted to play in the game more than anything now. He was determined to make it there.

“Climb, Clovers, climb!” Tony yelled. A second later, everyone joined in. “Climb, Clovers, climb!”

Brandon felt his foot slip, but he dug it into the ground to keep from falling.
We're playing in the play-offs tonight
, he thought.
No matter what.

Further up the hill, Brandon saw the glow from the lights of the Spring Hill parking lot. He could hear the Spring Hill marching band more clearly now. “We're almost there!” he yelled.

Brandon clambered up the last bit, thinking that he'd never been so happy to reach an opposing team's school. “This is it, Clovers!” he shouted as Tony, then Jeff climbed to the top of the hill.

As the rest of the Clovers reached the top of the hill, Brandon reached down to grab Stephen's hand and pulled him up. Jeff helped Drew up. Bags were tossed into the parking lot as the Clovers reached the top of Spring Hill.

Brandon grasped Kevin's hand and pulled his teammate up. Kevin smiled as he stood up and dusted off his warm-up pants, which had gotten dirty on their trek.

“I have to admit . . . I'm glad you didn't listen to me,” Kevin said with a friendly smirk.

“Me too,” Brandon said with a laugh. “At least not tonight.”

“And for what it's worth? I'm sorry, Brandon,” Kevin said, sounding like he meant it. “It wasn't cool of me to blame the weird stuff that happened on you being bad luck.”

“The worst part was I started to believe it,” Brandon admitted. “Now I know better.”

A moment later Coach Hanson's flashlight popped up, followed by his face. “What're you guys doing?” Coach shouted. “High fiving and hugging each other? We've got three minutes until we're due on the court. Let's see some hustle, Clovers!”

Brandon and the rest of the Clovers quickly snapped back to reality, grabbing their gear, and dashing through the parking lot. They dodged in between parked cars, shouting to each other and making their way to the open gymnasium doors. It was going to be close, but it seemed like they were going to make it to the game on time.

Getting to the game is just part of it, though
, Brandon thought.
It would be nice to actually win it, too.

As the team drew closer to the gym, they watched in horror as the double doors started to swing closed.

“Hey!” Jeff shouted. “Don't close 'em yet. The Clovers are here!”

Brandon watched his teammate speed up even more, catching the door just before it closed for good on their chances in the play-offs.

Made it
, Brandon thought, letting out a sigh of relief as they ran inside.

Broken down and wiped out from their trek through the woods and up the hill, the Clovers had just made it to the play-offs.

CHAPTER 11

The Clovers ran across the gym floor toward the visitor locker rooms. There wasn't time for a proper warm up. The entire team quickly threw their uniforms on and ran back out onto the court.

The referee waited at center court with a basketball in hand as Jeff arrived for the jump. As the Clovers' starting lineup got into position, the visitor section of the crowd erupted in applause. “Let's go, Chesterfield!” someone yelled.

“Cutting it pretty close, aren't we boys?” the referee asked.

“Just lucky to be here,” Jeff replied. He nodded to Brandon, who smiled in response.

The referee blew his whistle and tossed the ball up in the air. And just like that, the Chesterfield Clovers' first play-off game in decades was underway.

* * *

There was no getting around it. The Clovers spent the first quarter of the game getting dominated by the Hornets. No matter what they did, they seemed to come up short.

This isn't what we came here to do
, Brandon thought as he watched the Hornets tear through their lackluster defense for another easy two points. It was beyond frustrating to watch.

It's not enough that we made it to the game
, Brandon thought.
We still need to play like we deserve to be here!

He watched as Jeff made a great rebound and drove it down the court through Hornets' defense. But as he neared the basket, Jeff turned and the referee blew his whistle loudly. Double-dribbling. Brandon groaned. That never happened to Jeff!

Before they knew what was happening, the Clovers were trailing by almost twenty points.

Coach Hanson called a time-out, and the starting lineup for the Clovers came in to gather at the bench. “Guys! What is going on out there?” the coach asked. “We are literally getting crushed by these guys, and the game has barely started!”

Tony shrugged. “I'm wiped out,” he said.

“Okay, take a seat, Tony. Rest up for a few minutes,” Coach Hanson said. “Charlie, you're in.”

“I don't know what's happening,” Stephen said. “But these guys seem way better than I remember them being the last time we played them.”

“They're playing better because they know it's go time, boys,” Coach said. “They know if they lose tonight, they're out. You guys need to remember the same. We got here, but now we need to play!”

The referee whistled, signaling the end of the time-out. The Clovers put their hands in and shouted, “Break!” before heading onto the court. Brandon couldn't help but notice how slowly his teammates were moving. If the Clovers didn't step it up, their time in the play-offs was over.

As soon as the ball was in play, the Hornets hijacked a pass from Kevin to Drew. They slipped through the Clovers' defense, passing it back and forth easily. Their star center popped a beautiful shot up from the free-throw line and sank it.

“C'mon guys!” Brandon shouted desperately as Drew passed the ball in from under the basket. “This isn't how we play ball!”

Charlie caught the ball and bounced it to Brandon. Faking to the left and then spinning around his guard, Brandon dribbled around him and popped a shot up. It hit the backboard, rolled around the side of the hoop, and dropped back into the hands of a Hornets' player.

Great
, Brandon thought.
Some inspiration I am.
He watched helplessly as the Hornets turned the rebound into another two easy points.

The Spring Hill crowd roared with excitement.

“We're getting killed,” Jeff said as they ran back across the court. “It feels like we're still lost in those woods.”

Brandon nodded. They were completely falling apart, and looking at the score, it seemed like they were just as lost in the game. Something needed to change — fast.

Brandon watched the Hornets' defense closely as the Clovers moved into scoring position. The opposing players talked to one another, pointing to where they thought the ball was headed. Every player looked totally focused on what was happening on the court.

Looking over at his own teammates, Brandon realized what a difference there was. The Clovers looked worn out, worried, and totally unfocused. Charlie, who had just come in for Tony, already looked ready for the bench again. Drew looked preoccupied with a cut on his leg, and Kevin looked like he was moving around the court in slow motion. Meanwhile, the Hornets' player covering him clung like Velcro. From the looks of it, the Clovers were done.

By halftime, the score was 43-17. Brandon followed his teammates into the locker room, feeling almost as defeated as they looked. Everyone acted like the game was already over.

Coach Hanson followed the players in and stood for a moment in silence. “So this is it, huh?” he asked. He pulled off his baseball cap. “We came all this way, made it to our first play-off game in who knows how long, and we're just done. Is that what I'm seeing?”

Most of the players stared at the ground. No one said anything in reply. Brandon wanted to speak up, but bit his tongue.

“I don't know what else to tell you guys,” Coach said. “But I'll say what you already know. We're losing this game. It's half over, but the way you guys are playing, it was over before the first jump.”

The locker room was silent. All the players seemed too worn down or afraid to utter a word.

“You guys aren't playing basketball,” Coach continued. “You're watching the Hornets play. And if something doesn't change, you'll be watching the Hornets win this game and advance to the next round of the play-offs.”

Coach paused again and looked around the locker room. Most of the players stared down at their feet, not meeting his eyes.

“I'll see you out there,” Coach said. “And hopefully you guys will play some basketball when you get back on the court.”

With that, Coach Hanson tugged his hat back onto his head and left the locker room.

CHAPTER 12

“Coach is right,” Drew said after a moment of silence. “We're letting the Hornets walk all over us out there.”

“And that's why we're losing,” Brandon added, unable to hold it in any longer. “We suddenly have it in our heads that we stink and don't deserve to be here.”

“We don't,” Stephen blurted. “Not the way we've been playing.”

“That's not true,” Brandon said. “We deserve to be here more than anyone else does. We fought for the last spot in the play-offs. We survived a bunch of dumb accidents, bad luck, or whatever else you want to call it.”

Brandon looked at the rest of the Clovers. From the looks on their faces, he had their attention. “Guys,” Brandon said, “we trekked through the woods in the dark after our bus broke down just to be here. And for what? To lose?”

“No!” his teammates replied, getting riled up.

“To embarrass ourselves?” Brandon continued. “To call it quits?”

“No!” the Clovers shouted.

“We're a team!” Brandon hollered. “On the court and off. Through good luck and bad luck. We stick together, and that's when we're at our best.”

“He's right, guys,” Jeff said, standing up next to Brandon. Other players shouted and clapped. Before long, all the players were on their feet.

“We beat the odds to get here,” Brandon said. “Now let's beat these Hornets!”

The metal lockers echoed with their shouts and cheers, and the Clovers emerged from the locker room as a team once more.

* * *

As the second half got underway, the Hornets didn't seem to know what hit them. The Clovers came out fighting, and by the end of the third quarter, the Hornets' lead had been cut down to eight points.

The Clovers played some tough defense. During one break-away, Kevin fired the ball to Brandon, who drove it within firing range. He faked to the hoop and fired it back to the top of the key to Jeff, who sank it for an easy two points.

“Looks like our luck is changing for the better,” Jeff said to Brandon as they hustled down court.

“Forget luck,” Brandon replied, shaking his head. “Just keep playing!”

Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Hornets led by three points and stepped up their game. They seemed to sense their opportunity to beat the Clovers easily was slipping away.

With only minutes left on the clock, Coach Hanson used their last time-out. “Guys,” he said. “I'm glad to see this new energy out there. You're all playing an incredible game, but we're running out of time.”

“They're onto us, Coach,” Tony said. “They're matching us point for point.”

Coach shrugged. “It's still your game if you want it. The team who wants it is the one that will advance. The other team goes home.”

The game resumed, and the Hornets moved through the Clovers' defense like there was nobody guarding the basket. Brandon cringed as he watched the other team's center go in for an easy lay-up.

And missed.

The ball went wild, bouncing back into the fray. Brandon scooped it up and made a fast break down court to the hoop. For an instant, he flashed back to the shot where he'd wedged the ball against the backboard. Back where his supposed bad luck started.

Not this time
, Brandon thought as he went for the lay-up. The ball dropped through the net easily. And just like that, the Clovers were within one point of tying up the game.

CHAPTER 13

As the clock counted down the minutes, the Clovers and Hornets went back and forth. Neither team was willing to give an inch, and the score stayed at a nail-biting 65-64.

Tension rippled through the crowd as seconds ticked off of the clock. During a Hornets' drive, Brandon covered his guy like a shadow. He mirrored his every move, looking for a chance to steal. When the Hornets' guard paused, Brandon lunged, knocking the ball loose.

The crowd gasped as Brandon dribbled and broke away from the pack. He saw Tony to his right and fired the ball to his teammate. The pass was hurried and almost went out of bounds, but Tony snapped it up. As he did, the Hornets swarmed the Clovers in their territory. Unable to do anything with the ball, Tony pitched it back to Brandon.

As soon as the basketball reached his hands, Brandon found a shot. Just as he put the ball up, someone shoved him from behind, knocking him to the floor.

The crowd gasped, and Brandon looked up to see the ball bounce hard against the backboard. It flew out of bounds, and a second later, the referee blew the whistle.

“Looks like you're taking two,” Jeff said, helping him up. Brandon saw the guard he'd stolen the ball from getting an earful from the Hornets' head coach.