Coach Cory went with their regular starting lineup, what Pedro was sure now would be the regular starting lineup the rest of the season unless somebody got hurt:
Ned, Joe, Jeff, Dave, Jamal.
In the huddle right before the game started, it almost seemed as if he’d prepared what he wanted to say to them the way Pedro had prepared his speech for the debate.
“We’re winning this game today,” he said. “We’re winning the
championship
of today. We’re winning because we’re not going to let them go through another season undefeated. We’re winning because we’re not letting them think from now to the playoffs that they got our number. ’Cause they don’t. ’Cause when we play Knights basketball we’re the best. So that’s all I’m asking you to do today: Don’t play
your
game. Play
our
game. ’Cause it’s not gonna be just one of you beating them today on their own dang court. It’s gonna be all of you.”
I hope,
Pedro thought.
And it sure looked like a total team effort at the start when Joe Sutter, of all people, was left wide-open because of double-teams on Ned, and Joe promptly made the two longest outside shots he’d made all year.
Just like that, the Knights were ahead, 4-0.
Dave DeLuca, maybe just going on pride, was doing a much better job on Kyle Sullivan than last game. Kyle was getting his points, and so was Nate Clark. But they had to work to get them, and knew they were going to have to keep working and keep scoring to stay in the game.
Because as soon as Joe stopped shooting, Ned started.
And in the first half, he could not miss.
He couldn’t miss even when he was off-balance a little, or didn’t seem to have the best look at the basket. Or had a hand in his face. Didn’t matter whether they were double-teaming him or not. Pedro had never seen him this hot, or shooting this much. Coach might have said it wasn’t just going to be one of them today, but right now that’s exactly the way it was.
It was Ned against the world.
Being the man.
Coach left him in with the second unit, but Pedro just did what Dave had been doing when Dave was at the point, which meant giving Ned the ball and just getting out of the way.
At the half, the Knights were ahead, 36-24.
Ned had twenty of the Knights’ points.
“It’s like he’s trying to prove some kind of point,” Joe said to Pedro.
“Yeah,” Pedro said. “
Lots
of points.”
For this one half of basketball the guy Pedro used to think was the ultimate team guy had become a one-man team. But nobody on the Knights was complaining one bit, mostly because it was sure working for them.
Until Ned went cold.
He had briefly come out passing at the start of the third quarter, maybe as a way of throwing the Warriors off. But Jeff missed a wide-open look and then missed another after Ned had drawn most of the coverage to himself. Jamal missed one in the lane, a wide-open layup. In the same stretch Kyle hit two fast baskets for the Warriors, then made a couple of free throws, Dave having fouled him as he went for a third.
Just like that, the lead was cut in half, only two minutes into the quarter. Suddenly the Knights were playing tight. Not only had the momentum of the game changed, but you could see the Warriors feeding off it. After Nate got loose for a couple of easy baskets, the Knights were only ahead by two.
Usually Ned could change the momentum of a game all by himself, by the force of his own game. Just not today. His shooting touch was gone.
He had torched the kid guarding him, Josh Watson, the whole first half, but now Josh was dogging him all over the court, putting a hand on him off the ball sometimes just to annoy him—and it was working. Ned kept missing.
The Warriors were up a basket. Coach Cory put Pedro back in with two minutes left in the quarter, telling him to get everybody back involved in the dang game. But no matter how much he tried to swing the ball, once it got to Ned, it stopped, nearly every time.
Ned was pressing now, forcing shots, like he was letting everybody know he was going to shoot his way out of this, no matter what.
Only he couldn’t. He kept missing. It was why Coach Cory finally took him out at the start of the fourth quarter, saying he wanted to give him a rest. But as cold as Ned had been, the Knights still looked lost with him on the bench, and the Warriors quickly built their lead to eight.
Coach Cory knew he had no choice, and after a couple of minutes that he hoped had cleared Ned’s head, he put his star right back in the game. Trouble was, Ned really had needed the rest. And still needed it. He had tried playing one-on-five for way too much of the game and now it wasn’t just that he’d lost his shooting touch, he’d lost his legs, too.
Even with that, the rest of the guys on the floor treated him like their best option.
He was the man for them even when he wasn’t.
There were four minutes left when Coach Cory came down to where Pedro was sitting. The Knights were down by ten now, and fading fast.
“You’re the only one I have who can do this,” he said to Pedro.
“Do what?”
“Turn us back into a team.” He smiled. “Go save him and go save us.”
Nate was getting ready to shoot two free throws when Pedro subbed in. Before he did, Pedro quickly called everybody around him.
Ned had been trying to send Pedro a message all season. Now it was Pedro’s turn.
“Five playing as one the rest of the way,” he said. “Five as one. Now let’s
do
this.”
Nate made one of two free throws. Wilton was up eleven, 53-42.
That was when the Knights made their stand. Joe got a wide-open look at a three-pointer and buried it after Pedro barked at him to shoot. Then Pedro stole the ball from Kyle Sullivan and fed a streaking Jamal for an easy layup.
53-47.
Just like that, the momentum was back with the Knights, as if someone had thrown a switch. Pedro could feel it, he knew his teammates could feel it. They were the ones playing with energy now, the best kind of basketball energy there was:
Five playing as one.
Nate forced a jumper that missed by a lot. Joe grabbed the rebound and fed Pedro, who dribbled down the court and broke free in the lane, looking to feed either Jamal or Ned. But when nobody stepped out on him, he ended up with a clear path to the basket. He laid the ball home.
53-49.
Now it was the Warriors who looked tired, who’d lost
their
legs. Kyle missed with a jumper. Joe grabbed another rebound and fired an outlet pass to Pedro at midcourt. He had Ned cutting behind him, Jamal flying to catch up with them on Pedro’s right.
Ned was the one with two good steps on his man, Josh Watson.
But instead of passing the ball to Ned as he cut to the basket, Pedro told him with his eyes to pull up on the wing for a three-pointer. As soon as he did, Pedro hit him with a sweet bounce pass.
Josh tried to catch up at the last second, thinking he could block the shot. But he was too late. Ned let the ball go, and even with Josh flailing at him and clipping him on his wrist, Pedro could see just from his release that he’d regained his form at the best possible time.
One ref put both arms up as soon as the ball went in, making it official that the shot was a three-pointer.
At almost the exact same moment, the other ref blew his whistle, calling a foul on Josh.
Ned didn’t look at either one of them and didn’t change expression—he just nodded. He walked to the line, took the ball, looked as cool as the Ned of old and made the free throw that made it a four-point play.
His first basket of the fourth quarter.
One minute left.
The Warriors called time-out. In the Knights huddle Coach Cory said, “I saved one more time-out for when they miss.”
Not if they missed.
When.
Coach said to Pedro, “Can only be Kyle or Nate taking the shot. You got Kyle?”
“All day,” Pedro said.
To Bobby Murray, Coach Cory said, “What about Nate the Great?”
“He’s done,” Bobby said, “like dinner.”
Coming out of the time-out it looked like the Warriors might run the clock all the way down, since there was no shot clock in sixth-grade basketball. But they made their move with twenty seconds left.
Kyle had the ball up top. Pedro had been waiting for him to make his move and now he did. Pedro couldn’t see what was happening behind him, but knew Nate had to be running around trying to shake free of Bobby. But he couldn’t get open, because Bobby was all over him.
Kyle had to do something on his own.
He had started dribbling slowly to his right. Now he picked up the pace. The best move he had was ducking his shoulder and going around the corner, just using a burst of speed to beat you off the dribble, leaving you in the dust.
Only Pedro was ready for it, overplaying him, knowing Kyle didn’t like going to his left. Pedro beat him to the sideline, planted his foot there, which meant Kyle had to reverse the ball or get rid of it.
With time running out on him.
Had to be under fifteen seconds now.
For one moment, Kyle tried to look everywhere at once, at Pedro, at Nate, at the clock. As soon as he did, he dribbled the ball off his foot.
Out of bounds.
“Off him!” Kyle yelled to the ref, pointing at Pedro.
The ref grinned at him. “Only if he’s wearing one of your sneakers, son.”
Twelve seconds left.
Pedro called the Knights’ last time-out.
It had taken longer than it was supposed to. A lot had happened in just a handful of games. But Pedro was finally where he wanted to be.
EIGHTEEN
When Coach Cory started talking in the huddle, he was talking only to Pedro and Ned.
“Seems to me that for a couple of knuckle-headed sixth-graders,” he said, grinning as he did, “that you’ve always had options on top of options for those pick-and-rolls of yours. Just pick the one you like best now.”
They both nodded.
To Joe and Jamal and Bobby, Coach Cory said, “Joe, you clear out over to the left wing. Bobby, you’re up top. Jamal, you move around in the lane—just don’t clog it up if you see somebody comin’ your way.”
Now Coach Cory spoke to all of them. “We clear?”
They all nodded.
He put his hand out and they put theirs in on top of it.
“You know all the fun I’m always talking about in basketball? Well, this here is that fun.”
The horn sounded. As they started walking back on the court, Ned grabbed Pedro by the arm. “I’ve been messing up,” he said. “Big-time.”
“You just missed a bunch of shots you usually make,” Pedro said.
“I’m not just talking about today,” Ned said. “I’ve been a jerk.”
Pedro grinned. “We can debate
that
another time. Right now, let’s just win the game.”
“Got a plan?” Ned said.
“Yeah,” Pedro said. “We outwork their butts.”
“Pick-and-roll without the pick?” Ned said.
“Thought you’d never ask.”
They pounded fists. The refs were taking a little extra time, because something was wrong with the scoreboard. While they straightened it out at the scorers’ table, Pedro got between Joe and Bobby and told them what the plan was.
Joe said, “Are you insane?”
“Probably.”
Joe nodded. “I’m good with that,” he said to Pedro.
Pedro knew what was going to happen. He could see it inside his head. Could see it happening like his dad making that bicycle kick of his, putting the ball in the net every single time, one move leading to the next.
And to the next.
Jamal inbounded the ball at half-court. Pedro went and got it, as Joe and Jamal and Bobby cleared out. Kyle was on Pedro, and Josh Watson was still on Ned as Ned came running toward Pedro, looking for all the world like he wanted to set a huge pick.
Josh called it out.
Pedro didn’t care. He knew what was coming the way Ned did, because they were back to reading each other’s minds the way they used to.
It went exactly the way it had in the pickup game right before the season started. Ned stopped before he set his pick. Josh laid off him, giving him room, expecting him to break for the basket whether he’d set a pick or not.
Pedro checked the clock.
Eight seconds.
Instead of cutting for the basket, Ned popped back into the corner. When he was open, Pedro whipped the ball over to him.
As soon as he did, it wasn’t just Josh covering him, it was Kyle running at him, too. Like the last game. It was the same spot where Ned had just made his three-pointer. The Warriors weren’t going to leave him open from there.
When Ned saw the double-team, he kicked the ball right back to Pedro, wide-open now at the right of the foul line.
Wide-open for the same shot he’d missed against Wilton the other day.
Only they had more time today.
So
now
Ned cut down the baseline for the basket, hand up, calling for the ball. A step ahead of Josh Watson.
Ned was open, too. Just not enough.
Trust it, Pedro’s dad always said.
Trust it.
So Pedro trusted that Joe Sutter, the real hot hand today, was where he was supposed to be. Where Pedro had told him to be.
Pedro’s eyes never left Ned as he one-handed a no-look pass all the way across the court to his best bud.
Then all he had to do was watch as Joe caught the ball and didn’t hesitate. No time for that. He just squared his shoulders and let the ball go and watched along with everybody else as the shot that beat Wilton hit nothing but net.
Game.
NINETEEN