Three-Point Play
Other Books in the
Spirit of the Game Series
Goal-Line Stand
(Book 1)
Full-Court Press
(Book 2)
Second Wind
(Book 3)
Stealing Home
(Book 4)
Cody's Varsity Rush
(Book 5)
Split Decision
(Book 7)
Ultimate Challenge
(Book 8)
ZONDERVAN
Three-Point Play
Copyright ® 2005 by Todd Hafer
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
ePub Edition November 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-87059-3
Requests for information should be addressed to
Zonderkidz, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hafer, Todd.
Three-point play / Todd Hafer. â 1st ed.
p. cm. â (Spirit of the game series; bk. 6)
Summary: During his freshman year of high school, Cody learns lessons about leadership and teamwork while playing football and basketball and while coping with his widower father's remarriage.
ISBN 0-310-70795-1 (softcover)
[1. Christian lifeâFiction. 2. FootballâFiction. 3. Basketballâ Fiction. 4. LeadershipâFiction. 5. RemarriageâFiction. 6. Conduct of lifeâFiction. 7. High schoolsâFiction 8. Schoolsâ Fiction.] I. Title. II. Series: Hafer, Todd. Spirit of the game series; bk. 6
PZ7.H11975Thr 2005
[Fic]--dc22
2005006501
All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version
®
(niv
®
). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan.
Cover design by Alan Close
Interior design: Susan Ambs
Art direction: Laura MaitnerâMason
Photos by Synergy Photographic
Contents
To the life and memory of Tim Hanson,
a true athlete, a true friend.
I
love sports. I have always loved sports. I have competed in various sports at various levels, right through college. And today, even though my official competitive days are behind me, you can still find me on the golf course working on my game, or on a basketball court playing a game of pick-up.
Sports have also helped me learn some of life's important lessonsâlessons about humility, risk, dedication, teamwork, and friendship. Cody Martin, the central character in the Spirit of the Game series, learns these lessons too. Some of them the hard way. I think you'll enjoy following Cody in his athletic endeavors.
Like most of us, he doesn't win every game or every race. He's not the best athlete in his school, not by a long shot. But he does taste victory because, as you'll see, he comes to understand that life's greatest victories aren't reflected on a scoreboard. They are the times when you rely on a strength beyond your ownâa spiritual strengthâto carry you through. They are the times when you put the needs of someone else before your own. They are the times when sports becomes a way to celebrate the life God has given you.
So read on, and may you always possess the true Spirit of the Game.
Toby McKeehan
C
ody Martin smiled as he walked past the Grant High School gym.
Ah, the sights and sounds of basketball practice,
he thought.
You gotta love'em
.
He stopped momentarily at the south gym doorway and surveyed the flurry of activity: the rat-a-tat slapping of leather on hardwood as Terry Alston showed off his dribbling skills near the south baseline. The clang of Greg “the Cannon” Gannon's high-arcing jump shots as he tried to find his range from twenty feet. The squeaking of Terrance Dylan's shoes as he ran agility drills along the east sideline. Taking stock of it all was Coach Clayton, who had moved up from his Grant Middle School position to lead the Eagle freshmen. The loose-limbed coach prowled the near sideline sporting a brand-new blue and silver warm-up suit, offering such helpful pointers as, “For the love of Rick Barry, will you puh-leeze concentrate when you shoot free throws, Mr. Matt Slaven?”
It was 6:25 in the morning on the second Monday of November, five minutes before the first frosh basketball practice. Gannon launched an air ball and almost ran into Cody as he scrambled to retrieve it.
“Hey, Martin,” he panted. “You gonna join us this morning?”
Cody wagged his head. “Uh, Gannon, it's still football season for me. Second round of the play-offs are this Friday, in case you haven't heard.”
Gannon shrugged. “I know. I just thought you might put in double duty. You know, run with us in the mornings, do football in the afternoons.”
“Did a basketball hit you in the head, dude?” Cody asked with a chuckle. “I'm so sore I'm walking like Frankenstein. That's why I'm here so early. Gonna take a whirlpool, gonna have Dutch help me with some stretching.”
“Well, I wish you guys well,” Gannon said. “But we're gonna miss you. And Pork Chop, too. It rocks that you're both playing varsity football as freshmen. But we're thin without you. Especially on defense. We need some stoppers like you and the big fella. What's Porter weighing now, anyway? About 225? We could use that beef under the boards.”
Cody turned to the locker room. “Hey, I hope we're out here with you soon,” he said. “But not
too
soon.”
With an involuntary groan, Cody slowly lowered himself into the bubbling water of the stainless steel whirlpool tub in the training room.
I wonder if there's any part of me that
doesn't
hurt.
He considered the question for a moment.
Maybe my hair. And I think my ears are okay.
As he felt his aching muscles begin to relax, he leaned his head back and replayed the highlights of the Grant Eagles' win in the opening round of the Colorado high school football play-offs, just two days before.
Bishop Moreland was a Catholic school in the southern part of the state. Cody and his teammates had watched a video tape on them during their lunch hours leading up to the game. The Bulldogs were huge, but they looked a bit slow. Their offensive line didn't explode off the snap the way Pork Chop and his O-line teammates did.
On the other hand, Moreland had a 230-pound fullback named Michaels who played like a human battering ram.
If that guy breaks through the line and into the secondary
, Cody thought with a shudder the first time he saw Michaels on tape,
I don't know how I'm supposed to bring him down. He weighs twice as much as I do!
Fortunately for Cody, when game day arrived the Eagles stacked their defense against the run, putting five players on the line with three linebackers playing tight behind them. That meant only three defensive backs, making Cody the odd DB out. He entered the game on likely passing downs, but even in these situations, the Bulldogs favored sending Michaels into the teeth of the Grant defense.